Chapter 63 Chapter 21.3
Macie stared straight into my eyes, unblinking, as if she could intimidate me into surrender. But I didn’t look away. What was she trying to say? Was she really going to force Desmond to choose her again?
“Desmond only chose you because you’re carrying his child,” she said, voice trembling with anger and desperation. “A family has always been his dream. I know our relationship can still be fixed. I can feel that he still loves me. And I know he’s only trapped by his parents’ expectations. Leave him, Heaven. Let the two of us be happy again. I’m begging you just this once. If you’re the one who ends things, even his family can’t stop it.”
My hands curled into fists. Did she really not care that Desmond and I were about to have a baby?
I met her glare with the same intensity. How could she still not understand? Desmond had already chosen me. Why couldn’t she accept that?
I shook my head, and her expression twisted with anger. I could see the hatred burning in her eyes.
“Desmond told me he already talked to you,” I said coldly. “You know I’m the one he chose. He chose you countless times before but you kept hurting him again and again. Why should I be the one to give way? Why not you? Can’t you see how happy he is with me? I know he loves me. I’m sorry, Macie, but I’m not giving you what you want. I’ll give my child a complete family. And you know that’s what Desmond wants, too. All of this is your fault. If you hadn’t left him… if you hadn’t rejected him over and over… you would’ve been the woman he married.”
Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding in fury. Even if she begged, even if she fell on her knees, I wouldn’t give him up.
Desmond chose me and I would choose him, too. I wasn’t afraid of her.
“I told you I’d come back for him!” she screamed. “I told you to take care of him for a while, I never told you to claim him!”
A hollow laugh escaped me. I remembered those exact words from before. She had left Desmond believing that he would choose her again once she returned. She had been so confident.
“Desmond isn’t a toy you can leave with someone else,” I said sharply. “He’s a person, Macie. Not a dog who’ll happily run to you when you finally show up again. No matter what you do, I won’t give you what you want. Call me desperate if you want but even if Desmond files for divorce, I won’t sign. You’ll be the mistress for the rest of your life.”
I knew I went too far, but she needed to face the truth, she was not the one he chose.
Her hand snapped up, ready to slap me, but I stepped back instinctively, too far. My foot slipped. My eyes widened when I felt nothing behind me but empty air.
Stairs.
I reached out for her hand, panic clawing up my throat, but she stepped back.
I shut my eyes and curled my arms around my stomach, desperate to shield my baby.
My body slammed down the steps. Pain shot through me as I rolled, helpless and terrified.
“Macie—ahh—please, help me…” I gasped, feeling something warm run down my legs. She stared at me, wide-eyed, frozen.
“Please, call for help… save my baby… I’m begging you—ahh!” Another sharp cramp tore through my abdomen.
She hesitated only a second and then she turned and ran.
I didn’t know if she was getting help or if she had simply abandoned me. I tried to stand, but pain seared through my hip, it had hit the edge of a step on the way down.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. My baby. My baby.
With shaking hands, I grabbed my phone and called the only person who could reach me fastest.
“Where are you? Your OB said your check-up—”
“Help me,” I sobbed. “Please, Zach. I’m at the third-floor exit. My baby—please…”
He hung up immediately.
Blood pooled beneath me, warm against the cold floor. I shook my head in despair. No. I couldn’t lose my baby. Not like this.
The door burst open, and Zachary rushed inside.
“Fuck—Heaven! What happened?” he asked, voice cracking with fear.
I couldn’t answer. I was too afraid, too focused on the tiny life I might lose.
He scooped me up, struggling up the stairs, but somehow he didn’t drop me. Once outside, he yelled for doctors and nurses.
I sobbed uncontrollably. My baby. My baby. What if something happened to him?
My vision blurred as they rushed me through the hallways. The lights above me smeared into white streaks. Voices echoed as if underwater.
“Sir, you can’t go further than this!”
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in a hospital. I was standing in an endless garden filled with blooming flowers. No buildings. No roads. Only vibrant petals swaying in a breeze that didn’t seem real.
Was I dreaming?
I looked down. I was wearing a white dress.
Was I… dead?
No. No, I couldn’t be.
“Hello?” I called out, hoping someone—anyone—was there. I walked forward, searching for a path, a door, something.
“Mommy!”
I turned sharply. A young boy was running toward me, his form still hazy at a distance. My heart lifted for reasons I didn’t understand.
“Mom!” he called again, smiling as he reached me.
I smiled back. I didn’t know him, but something about him felt impossibly familiar.
“Hi… who are you? What’s your name? And where are we?” I asked softly. His smile made my chest feel warm.
“I’m Daryl, Mom,” he said.
I frowned gently. Daryl. The same name as the baby I was carrying.
I knelt so our eyes were level.
“Daryl? That’s a nice name. My baby has the same one,” I told him.
His smile grew brighter.
“I’m your son, Mom. I’m Daryl.”