I came to with the sharp sting of disinfectant in the air and blinding white light pressing against my eyelids.
For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Then everything rushed back all at once, hitting me so hard it felt like I’d been thrown.
My throat tightened as I blinked slowly and forced my eyes open. A nurse noticed immediately and moved closer.
“Oh, you’re awake,” she said softly. “I’ll go get the doctor.”
I tried to push myself up, but pain spread through my body in waves. My hand went straight to my stomach without thinking.
The baby.
Before fear could fully take over, the door opened and the doctor came in, flipping through my file as he walked.
“You collapsed because of incorrect medication,” he explained calmly. “But the baby… is still alive.”
My breath caught.
Part of me expected relief. Maybe even happiness. But there was nothing like that—just a strange emptiness sitting heavy in my chest.
Because that baby… I didn’t even know who I was supposed to be carrying it for anymore.
Julian or Kieran. Either answer felt like poison.
The doctor studied me closely. “Would you like to listen to the heartbeat later?”
I immediately shook my head.
His brows rose slightly. “Ms. Calloway—”
My voice came out broken. “I want it terminated.”
He paused. “You’re requesting an abortion?”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “As soon as possible.”
He exCallowayd slowly, like he was weighing every word before speaking. “Aria… with your condition, you know how hard it was for you to get pregnant in the first place.”
I stayed silent.
“If you proceed,” he added carefully, “you may not be able to conceive again. Are you certain?”
My chest twisted painfully, but I still nodded.
He looked at me for a long moment, something like pity in his eyes. “Alright. I’ll schedule it in three days.”
Three days.
Three days to cut the last remaining thread tying me to Julian. Three days to erase everything. Three days to learn how to breathe again.
When he left, I sank back into the pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling as my thoughts dragged me somewhere I didn’t want to go.
—
Two years ago.
I was carrying grocery bags in one hand and school books in the other when I saw her collapse.
Julian’s grandmother—Rosemarie.
I didn’t know her then. Just an elderly woman suddenly falling on the pavement, clutching her chest, struggling to breathe.
Something in me reacted before I could even think. I dropped everything and ran.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?” I asked, lowering her carefully. Her breaths were shallow—too shallow.
A heart attack.
My hands shook as I called emergency services, then immediately started first aid. I remembered every training I had, every drill I’d ever done. I kept her stable, kept her talking, checked her pulse again and again while waiting for help.
When the ambulance finally arrived, she grabbed my hand tightly.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “You saved me.”
At the time, I didn’t understand how serious those words were.
The next day, her entire family appeared at my hospital—including Julian.
He barely looked at me then. Polite, distant, like I was just another stranger.
But Rosemarie… she held onto me like I mattered.
“You’re different,” she told me. “You saved my life. Let me give you one in return.”
I was drowning back then. Barely surviving—living in a cramped apartment with my sick mother, juggling hospital shifts and school, terrified my scholarship could disappear any day.
I had nothing stable. No safety net. No future I could trust.
So when she suggested marrying her grandson… I thought maybe life was finally giving me something back.
A home. Security. A family. A chance to finally breathe.
Julian smiled at me too. Soft. Kind. At least, I believed it was real.
Two years passed like that.
Dinner dates. Quiet conversations. Hands brushing like it meant something. Waking up next to a man I thought I knew.
Two years of believing I was loved.
Now I knew better.
It was never Julian.
It had always been Kieran—the twin I never even knew existed.
And Julian… the real one… belonged to someone else entirely.
The realization made my stomach turn.
A knock pulled me back. A nurse came in holding a small cup.
“I brought you water. Try to rest,” she said gently.
I nodded and took a small sip, even though my stomach was already uneasy.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting exhaustion pull me under.
Peace lasted barely half a minute.
My phone suddenly vibrated hard against the bed.
I reached for it, expecting a hospital update… or maybe something ridiculous like Julian checking in.
But the screen made my blood run cold.
Hospital Alert: URGENT — Maria Calloway
My mother.
My chest tightened instantly. She was at the cardiac center.
Before I could even process it, the phone rang again.
This time, it was her.
I answered immediately. “Mom? Mom, are you alright?”
Her voice was faint, fragile. “Aria… I’m okay. What about you?”
Tears stung my eyes. “I’m fine, Mom. Why did the hospital contact me? What’s going on?”
She let out a weak, shaky laugh. “I just… wanted to hear you. I don’t think I can wait until your wedding anymore.”
My chest cracked.
“Mom, please don’t say that. Don’t talk like you’re—”
“Listen,” she interrupted softly, each word slower than the last. “You’ve always been strong, Aria. Stronger than I ever was.”
“Mom…”
“I’m proud of you,” she whispered. “And I love you. Always.”
A sob broke out of me. “I love you too. Please don’t hang up—just stay with me—”
“I’m sorry, baby.”
The line cut.
“No—Mom! No, no, please—Mom!” I screamed into the dead silence.
I ran.
Out of the room. Down the hallway. Past nurses calling after me. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
My legs barely worked, my vision blurred, but I forced myself outside, got into a cab, and begged the driver to go faster.
The ride felt like it stretched forever, each second crushing my chest a little more.
When I finally reached the hospital and rushed into the ICU, everything went quiet.
A nurse looked up.
One glance at her face told me everything before she even spoke.
“Aria…” she said gently, stepping closer. “I’m so sorry. Your mother… didn’t survive.”
