The sharp crack echoed in the sterile clinic. My head snapped to the side, the sudden impact rattling my teeth. A searing pain bloomed on my cheek, followed by the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. I stumbled, tasting copper and bile.
Jaxon stood over me, his hand still raised, his eyes cold and contemptuous. He looked at me as if I was something dirty, something to be discarded. Then, he slowly lowered his hand, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just struck the woman carrying his child.
"Look what you've done," he hissed, his voice laced with ice and disgust. "You're stressing out Kassie. Can't you see how fragile she is?"
Fragile. My mind registered the word, a cruel irony. I was the one bleeding, the one whose world had just imploded, and I was being accused of fragility. The man I loved was gone, replaced by this cruel stranger.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, my fingers trembling slightly. The coppery taste confirmed the bite inside my cheek. It wasn't the first time he'd lost control when Kassie was involved. It always ended with Kassie playing the victim, and him defending her, no matter the cost.
"What did you expect, Jaxon?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, yet laced with a chilling sarcasm. "Did you expect me to congratulate you? To throw you a party for abandoning me and our child for another woman? For another family?" My voice rose, a raw, primal scream threatening to burst from my chest. "You married her! You had a baby with her while promising me forever!"
His jaw tightened, a flicker of guilt, a ghost of the old Jaxon, passing through his eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it came.
"Alexis, listen to me," he said, his voice surprisingly calm, almost soothing. It was the calm before the storm, the calm of a predator. "Kassie is… she's very delicate. And her family is important to the Fuller Group. This marriage, it's temporary."
Temporary. The word sliced through me like a dull blade. "Temporary?" I echoed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "What, is the baby temporary too? The wedding ring? The vows?"
He stepped closer, his hand reaching for mine. I flinched away. "No, hear me out," he pleaded, his voice softer now. "I'm with her because she needs me. She has no one else. But you, Alexis… you're strong. I know you are."
His grip on my arm tightened, pulling me closer. "Just give me a year. After Kassie gives birth, I'll finalize things. Then we can get married. I promise you, in one year's time, we will have the wedding we always dreamed of." He looked at me with an intensity that, in a different life, might have been convincing. But not now. Not after everything.
I said nothing, my gaze fixed on some distant point beyond his shoulder. My mind was a blank.
"Jaxon, darling?" Kassie's sweet, impatient voice cut through the air. She was standing by the door of the examination room, her hands on her hips. "The doctor said I need rest. And I'm starving. Are you coming or not?"
Jaxon stiffened. His eyes flickered from me to Kassie, a clear choice laid out before him. Without a word, he released my arm, turning abruptly and walking towards Kassie. He didn't look back.
I watched him go, watched him take Kassie's hand, watched him disappear down the corridor. In that moment, I understood the stark difference between love and cold, calculated neglect. I understood that I was not chosen. I was merely an inconvenient truth.
