"Why haven't you slept yet? Are you waiting for me?"
Nathaniel's voice was muffled, his hand gently teasing Madeline's earlobe as he murmured. His tone, laced with the familiar indifference that had begun to suffocate her, only made her stomach churn more. Whether it was the perfume on him, her morning sickness, or the nausea that came from his presence, Madeline didn’t know. All she knew was that she couldn’t breathe.
Unable to hold it in any longer, she pushed him away and rushed to the bathroom. Her stomach heaved, forcing acid up into her throat, and she collapsed by the toilet, her entire body trembling.
Nathaniel quickly followed her, his hand rubbing her back with an almost mechanical concern. "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? I'll take you to the hospital."
He made a move to grab his coat, but Madeline, her face pale and her mind racing, quickly grabbed his hand and stopped him. "No, I just ate something bad," she lied, her voice strained.
Nathaniel seemed unconvinced but helped her back to bed. "I’ll get you some water," he said, his voice still tinged with worry.
Once he left the room, Madeline’s eyes immediately flicked to his phone, which was sitting on the bedside table. The screen lit up with another message from Zoe.
“I'm sorry, I'm too nervous. I'm about to give birth, and I'm too scared. I prepared some food. Can you come tomorrow?”
Madeline’s heart twisted. She pretended not to see the message, her body sinking back onto the bed. She closed her eyes, pretending to rest.
When Nathaniel came back with a glass of water, he gently fed it to her, his hands tender as ever. "Madeline, I’ll go with you to the prenatal checkup tomorrow," he said, his voice soft with an intention that felt foreign.
"No," Madeline replied, her voice quieter than she intended. "I’ve already told the doctor that I won’t do IVF."
Nathaniel’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise, but relief quickly followed. "Then we have to go and see the results from last time."
"The doctor said I am not pregnant," Madeline said flatly. "So you don’t need to go tomorrow."
Nathaniel stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. He seemed to want to say something, but ultimately, he didn’t. Instead, he pulled her into an embrace and lay down next to her.
His hand, warm and possessive, gently circled her lower abdomen. Madeline’s body stiffened at the touch, and she instinctively recoiled. "Nathaniel, don’t," she whispered, the words barely escaping her lips. "I’m not feeling well."
A low laugh rumbled from his chest. "Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. Go to sleep."
But when Madeline awoke the next morning, she instinctively reached for his side of the bed, only to find the sheets cold and empty. For a moment, she froze, before a bitter laugh escaped her lips. Zoe’s due date was approaching. Nathaniel must have gone to be with her. She should have known better than to expect anything else. She really needed to change this habit of hers—of still hoping he would stay.
The breakfast from the previous night was replaced with a new meal, and a note from Nathaniel was left behind.
“Last night’s food has gone bad. I’ve already thrown it out. When you wake up, heat it up. Don’t hurt your stomach. Call me if you need anything.”
Madeline stared at the empty trash can for a moment, then poured the still-warm breakfast into it, the weight of everything crashing down on her. It wasn’t the food that had gone bad. It was Nathaniel.
Madeline’s hands trembled as she hastily stuffed the last of her things into her suitcase. There wasn’t much to pack—just a small box containing the few belongings that truly belonged to her. Most of the things in her home had been gifts from Nathaniel. She didn’t want any of them anymore.
Once the box was sealed, she called a courier service. She filled out the form with her parents’ address in another city. The thought of going home, of being with people who loved her without conditions, felt like a distant dream—one she hadn’t allowed herself to entertain for five years. During all that time, she had been too ashamed to let her parents know about her struggles. She had done everything she could to give Nathaniel the family he wanted, enduring treatments, prayers, and hopes, always hiding the painful truth from the people who cared for her most.
This time, though, she was determined. She wanted to go home and never leave. The outside world had grown too cold, too cruel. The man she had trusted with her heart—the man she thought would be her rock—was the one who had pushed her into this abyss.
She walked into the mall, her mind set on buying a gift for her parents to show them how much she appreciated them, even though she hadn’t been around as much as she should have. As she was about to pay for a suit she’d chosen for her father, her eyes caught a familiar figure entering the store. It was Nathaniel, followed by Zoe, her pregnant belly obvious as she shyly stepped in behind him.
Madeline froze, her heart pounding in her chest. She quickly ducked into the nearest fitting room, her breath shallow and frantic. She didn’t want to be seen. Not like this. Not when the truth was finally out, and everything had crumbled apart.
From the fitting room, she could hear their voices clearly. Zoe’s cheerful voice rang out, "Nathan, what do you think of this suit?"
