She seemed to be laughing at how I failed to protect her, at how stupid I was for holding onto love and at me—so heartbroken I couldn’t even speak.
Since the miscarriage, I had been in a haze. The doctor called it mild depression, so Kevin took it all into his own hands.
He hid everything about the baby, moved us to a new place and even got Molly, a nurse, to take care of me.
Kevin rushed after me, looking panicked.
He pulled me up with this horrified expression and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Sabrina, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Why did you push me away? I can’t lose you, I only have you left. Please don’t push me away."
He held me so tightly, his damp head resting on my shoulder. I almost reached out to comfort him, but the rose scent on him snapped me back to reality.
That was Molly’s shower gel. She had told me it was her favorite, which meant Kevin must’ve gotten it specially for her.
This guy, who had just been sleeping with another woman, was still lying to me, whispering sweet words.
I tried to pull away, but when I saw his tired face, I managed to speak as calmly as I could. "Maybe the new meds Dr. Leighton prescribed are messing with me."
Kevin sighed with relief and grabbed my hand, leading me to the couch. He knelt down, grabbed a wet tissue and started wiping my hands like he was trying to fix everything.
That damn rose scent again. Why did everything in the house smell like roses now?
"I made your favorite for breakfast, soy milk and fried eggs," he said.
I glanced at the soy milk on the table, but my stomach turned. The thing that had covered the photo earlier, some weird white lace underwear, made me feel even worse.
However, I forced a smile at Kevin.
"Kevin, Sabrina might not feel like eating right now. Should I share my orange juice with her?" Molly asked, holding up a glass of bright orange liquid.
The red string bracelet on her wrist caught my eye, standing out like a flashing neon sign.
Kevin had the same one in his car. I remembered how he had taken my carefully chosen amulet, the one I had gone out of my way to get and replaced the string, saying it would look better and more discreet for work.
He swore it didn’t change the meaning. At the time, I’d believed him. Now, seeing that identical red thread on Molly’s wrist? The meaning was all too clear.
"This is freshly squeezed by Kevin this morning!" Molly added, smiling at me as if she didn’t notice my stiff expression. "Sabrina, you’re so lucky. A husband like Kevin? Handsome, rich, thoughtful—you’d better keep an eye on him. Wouldn’t want someone else to snatch him away!"
Kevin, still focused on cutting the ham and eggs on my plate, shot her an annoyed glance. "Molly, stop it. That’s not appropriate."
She wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Instead, she slid the medicine box toward me, her voice dripping with fake concern. "How did you sleep last night, Sabrina? Was the new prescription any better?"
I didn’t answer right away. My eyes caught hers, then flicked over to Kevin. He was too busy pretending to care about the ham to notice her smug little smirk.
"Did you hear anything… unusual?" Molly pressed, leaning just a little closer. "Or maybe see something strange?"
My hands clenched in my lap, gripping the fabric of my skirt, but I managed a small shake of my head.
Kevin broke the silence. "Come on, sweetheart. At least have a bite of these eggs," he said, holding out a forkful with that same overly patient tone he always used when he thought I might break.
I looked at the eggs, at his hopeful face and shook my head. I let my shoulders sag, playing up the exhaustion instead of the anger bubbling under the surface.
Molly didn’t miss a beat. "Oh, let me help!" she chirped, standing up and grabbing Kevin’s hand. Before I could react, she popped the eggs into her mouth, then licked the fork with a slow, playful grin.
