Chapter 71 Chapter 24.2
I stood before the mirror and stared at the woman reflected back at me.
It had been two weeks since I last allowed myself to look. The grief still clung heavily to my eyes, shadowed by dark circles from nights spent awake, crying for a child I could never hold.
I dabbed makeup onto my face, anything to hide the pallor of my skin and the exhaustion carved under my eyes. Today, I would finally meet Desmond. I hadn’t replied to any of his messages yet, I couldn’t bring myself to give him hope. What if I changed my mind at the last second?
After fixing myself as best as I could, I said goodbye to Marie and slipped into the car I had booked to take me back to Manila. The days passed, but the ache stayed. Time moved forward, but the wound left by the loss of my child felt etched deep into bone.
We both died that day, only his tiny heart was the one that truly stopped.
Three more weeks. We only needed three more weeks before we could finally see him, hold him. And then the very reason my days felt brighter… vanished.
All I could do now was scroll through the ultrasound photos saved on my phone.
I missed him, missed the flutter of his kicks, the warmth of my belly beneath my hands. If only I hadn’t agreed to meet with Macie that day. Maybe everything would’ve been different. Maybe he’d still be here. Maybe I’d still be happy.
My thoughts filled the entire trip, before I knew it, the car was already pulling into Manila. I headed straight for the company, Desmond was the only reason I came back.
Employees bowed as I passed, but my face remained empty, my steps automatic.
When I reached his office, I didn’t bother knocking. I opened the door and froze.
Macie was there.
Her arms wrapped around Desmond from behind. Neither of them spoke.
My jaw tightened.
Even here? Even at work, they met? Did they feel no shame at all? Did the loss of my child mean nothing to them?
I didn’t call his name.
I simply stepped back, closed the door slowly, and clenched my fist as anger tightened my chest.
How could he beg me to return… yet let her cling to him like that?
Was he trying to make a fool of me?
I had gathered every ounce of courage to see him today because I missed him… and this was what I walked into. I shouldn’t have wasted my time.
It hurt to see them in that position, hurt deeply, but I couldn’t cry anymore. I refused to keep shedding tears for people who were the very reason I was breaking.
I thought he wanted to see me.
I thought he loved me.
But it was always Macie. She was always the one standing beside him. If he truly cared about me, he wouldn’t have allowed her near him at all.
And when the memory flashed, how Macie’s recklessness cost me my child, my blood ran cold.
A part of me wanted to make her feel even a fraction of the pain she caused.
But nothing could ever bring my baby back.
She wasn’t worth the last of my strength.
I walked straight to Mommy Shiermy’s office.
There was nothing left to fight for. Desmond had destroyed what we had, and I wasn’t going to beg to stay in a life that only hurt me.
I knocked softly before stepping inside.
“Heaven, dear. I’m so glad you’re here. How have you been?” Mommy Shiermy greeted me warmly as she stood to meet me.
I came here for one reason.
“You told me before… that you’d help me leave Desmond if things didn’t work out between us,” I said quietly. “I’m here for that. Mom, I want a divorce.”
The smile vanished from her lips.
I remembered her promise clearly, and now that our marriage had fallen apart, ending it was the only path left that didn’t suffocate me.
“Are you sure about this, Heaven?” she asked softly.
I nodded.
Staying meant drowning in memories, in hurt, in betrayal. If they were together, I would constantly be reminded of what I lost, of what she took. And I would have no right to feel anything.
“Please help me, Mom,” I whispered.
She sighed, heavy with sorrow.
“Will you be going back home? Are you leaving your job here in the company as well?”
Another nod.
If I stayed here, I would see Desmond every day. And that would destroy me.
“I want to go far away, Mom. If Desmond knows I’m with my parents, he’ll come for me. I just want peace.”
“Are you thinking of leaving the country?” she asked.
I nodded again.
I wanted to run, to escape this place that held too much pain. I didn’t want my family to watch me fall apart.
“I want to stop you,” she said honestly. “But if this is what will help ease your heart, then I’ll support you. We have a business in Germany. Desmond hardly goes there. You can work with us so you won’t struggle to find a job abroad. And I’ll sleep better knowing you’re safe. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Desmond where you go. He’s my son, but I don’t condone what he did to you.”
A faint smile tugged at my lips.
I was lucky, blessed, to have in-laws like them.
I stood to leave and bowed slightly to show respect. Mommy Shiermy had treated me like her own daughter from the beginning. I wanted to thank her for that, but my throat felt tight, and the words didn’t come.
Just as I turned to leave, she stood as well.
“Before you go,” she said, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to show you. I didn’t tell either of you because of everything that happened. Would you come with me to the hospital?”
We stepped out into the hallway, and stopped.
Desmond stood there.
I immediately looked away, but he grabbed my arm.
“Desmond, let her go,” his mother said firmly.
His eyes weren’t angry, they were pleading, hollow with longing but I refused to fall for the softness in them again.
“I just want to talk to her, Mom. I won’t hurt her,” he said desperately.
I inhaled deeply… and agreed.
I told Mommy Shiermy I would meet her in the lobby.
Desmond led me back to his office.
Where was Macie now?
I didn’t care.
He turned to me and held both my hands, head bowed.
“How have you been?” he asked quietly.
“What do you want to say? Just get it over with,” I replied, my voice cold and empty.
“Heaven, please… don’t leave me. I’m begging you,” he said as he sank to his knees before me. “I love you. Please believe me.”
For a moment, I felt myself weaken.
But the memory, the pain, was stronger.
“We need to breathe, Desmond,” I said quietly. “We need to give ourselves space, time to think. I don’t want you begging me right now just because your conscience is eating at you.”
I forced myself to look into his eyes.
“You love me because I was always there. Because I filled the gaps she left in you. You love me, yes… but you love her more. You love me because I stayed when she didn’t. Because I was the one who stood beside you when everything with her was falling apart. You love me because I loved you and because I was here.”
My voice trembled, but I pushed through.
“You love me only because the woman you truly love was far away. You loved me because I carried our child. But now that she’s back… now that she can stay beside you again… I have no place left in your life.”
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the truth settle painfully in my chest.
“You don’t have to stay with me anymore, Desmond. The reason you stayed before… is gone.”
And with that, I turned away from him.
There was no point dragging this conversation out any longer.