Eloise POV:
My entire body began to tremble, a violent, involuntary shaking that started in my knees and rattled through every bone. The air in the room thickened, suffocating me.
Campbell, meanwhile, had clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with exaggerated shock. "Oh my god," she breathed, her voice muffled but still carrying. Her gaze darted to me, a flicker of wicked satisfaction in their depths. "Eloise, is that true? You… you actually got rid of your baby?" Her tone was a sickly sweet blend of horror and pity. "Oh, that poor, innocent soul! It never even had a chance, did it? We should light a candle for it, or maybe even put up a little tombstone."
"Shut up, Campbell," I choked out, my voice laced with a venom I didn't know I possessed. "You have no right to speak of children, of innocence. You have no right to desecrate that memory with your lies and your pity."
Campbell' s lips trembled, and she immediately turned her tear-filled eyes to Dawson, seeking his pity, his protection. But Dawson was no longer looking at her. His gaze was fixed on me, his face pale, his eyes wide with a dawning horror. For the first time, he seemed to realize the monstrousness of the words he had just uttered.
My past, our shared moments of fragile hope and crushing sorrow, replayed in my mind like a broken film reel. His arm around me, his comforting whispers, his solemn promises that we would try again. All of it, every cherished memory, every moment of supposed love and support, crumbled into dust. The beautiful facade of our life together imploded, revealing the ugly, festering truth beneath.
Tears, hot and bitter, streamed down my face, blurring my vision. My legs threatened to give out. My head throbbed, a relentless drumbeat of pain and despair. The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing me down.
"Eloise?" Dawson whispered, his voice hoarse, his face a mask of sudden terror. He took a hesitant step towards me, clearly horrified by his own cruelty. "I… I didn't mean it like that. I was just angry."
"Angry?" I laughed, a raw, broken sound that ended in a strangled sob. "You were angry? Oh, that explains everything, doesn't it? Just like you were 'angry' when you missed my father's last moments, when he was dying in that hospital bed, waiting for his son-in-law to say goodbye." I watched his eyes dart away, a flicker of guilt, of shame. He had always been my father's favorite, the promising young man who promised to take care of his daughter. My father had loved him unconditionally, excused his ambition, understood his drive. And Dawson had repaid that love by being absent when it mattered most.
"You're right, Dawson," I continued, the words now pouring out, fueled by years of unspoken resentments. "You didn't mean it like that. You just meant it. All those promises, all those 'I'll be there for you's, all those 'we'll try again's. They were all hollow. Just like you. You were never truly there. You were always chasing something else, someone else." My voice rose, raw and desperate. "You are a coward, Dawson. A selfish, irresponsible coward who takes and takes, and when you're cornered, you lash out with the cruelest weapon you can find. You will never, ever be able to undo the damage you've done. You will always owe me. You will always be a betrayer."
He stood frozen, his face ashen, his eyes wide and vacant. A rare, profound bewilderment crossed his features. He was visibly shaken, truly lost for words.
I wiped the tears from my face, a grim smile twisting my lips. I looked him dead in the eye, my voice unnervingly calm, almost cheerful. "But you know what, Dawson? It' s fine. I don't need your pity, or your promises, or your money. I have enough money to take care of myself. Enough money to make my own choices. Even if those choices are painful."
His eyes narrowed, a flicker of confusion. "What... what are you talking about?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper, a strange tremor in it.
A sliver of cruel satisfaction, a dark, fleeting pleasure, bloomed in my chest. He was afraid. He was finally afraid. He realized there was something, some terrible thing, I had kept from him, something he couldn't control. But that twisted satisfaction was quickly, utterly, drowned out by a wave of profound exhaustion. I was tired. So tired of the fighting, the accusations, the endless emotional tug-of-war.
"There's something else, isn't there, Eloise?" he pressed, his voice strained, a frantic desperation entering his tone. "What are you talking about? What choice?"
"I'm talking about our second chance, Dawson," I said, my voice quiet, decisive. "The one you just killed with your cruelty."
