Chapter 29 The Third Negative
The third test day arrived under a heavy sky. Elena had barely spoken during breakfast, her hands trembling slightly as she stirred her coffee. She had pinned all her remaining hope on this cycle, convinced that the doctor’s tests and the mild supplements she had started would finally tip the scales. Marcus sat across from her, forcing down toast he could not taste. Lucy moved quietly around the kitchen, her presence like a live wire no one else could feel.
When Elena disappeared into the bathroom with the test, the house fell into an unbearable silence. Marcus paced the hallway, jaw clenched so tightly it ached. Lucy leaned against the wall nearby, watching him with dark, unreadable eyes. The air between them crackled with everything unsaid.
Minutes later, Elena emerged, face pale, eyes already glistening. She did not need to speak. The single line on the stick said everything.
Elena broke. The sob that escaped her was raw and jagged, the sound of months of carefully built hope collapsing in a single moment. She sank onto the edge of the bed, shoulders shaking violently as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.
Marcus was there instantly, pulling her into his lap, wrapping his strong arms around her small frame. “Shh, I’ve got you,” he whispered, rocking her gently. “We’re going to get through this. It’s not over.”
He stroked her hair, kissed her temple, and murmured every comforting word he could find. Elena clung to him like a lifeline, her tears soaking his shirt as she poured out her fears. “What if something’s wrong with me? What if I can never give you a child?”
The guilt inside Marcus burned like acid. He had spent the previous night breeding her with careful tenderness, then immediately turned around and emptied himself into Lucy with savage need. Now he held his crying wife while the evidence of his betrayal still lingered on his skin. The contradiction tore at him, making his chest feel too tight to breathe.
Elena eventually cried herself into an exhausted sleep. Marcus tucked her in carefully and slipped out of the room, his body vibrating with a storm he could no longer contain. He found Lucy in her bedroom, door already closed.
The moment he stepped inside, the dam broke. He grabbed her roughly, kissing her with bruising force as he backed her toward the bed. There was no tenderness this time, only raw desperation. He stripped her clothes away and thrust into her in one savage stroke, burying himself to the hilt.
Lucy gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders. “Marcus…”
He fucked her with punishing intensity, hips snapping forward hard enough to make the bed slam against the wall. Every thrust carried the weight of Elena’s tears, his own shame, and the terrifying realization that he was becoming someone he no longer recognized. Lucy took it all, her body arching to meet him, urging him deeper.
“Harder,” she breathed. “Fuck me like you hate what you’re doing to her.”
Marcus growled and drove into her even more fiercely, the guilt only fueling the fire. He flipped her onto her stomach, pulled her hips up, and took her from behind with deep, brutal strokes until they both shattered. He came with a choked groan, flooding her with everything he had left, as if he could drown his conscience inside her.
They lay tangled together afterward, sweat cooling on their skin. Marcus stared at the ceiling, breathing ragged. The contrast between comforting his devastated wife and then claiming her daughter so violently left him reeling. He felt hollowed out, split down the middle.
“I can’t keep doing this,” he whispered, though the words sounded weak even to his own ears.
Lucy turned to face him, her expression serious for once. “Then stop. Tell her the truth. Or walk away from me. But you won’t. Because every time she cries, you come running to me to forget.”
Her words hit like a slap. Marcus sat up, running a hand through his hair. The core struggle had become unbearable. He loved Elena. He wanted to be the husband who gave her the family she dreamed of. Yet the darker, more addictive part of him craved Lucy with a hunger that grew stronger with every negative test and every tear his wife shed. The more Elena hurt, the more desperately he needed Lucy to make the pain disappear.
Later that evening, Elena came downstairs looking pale but strangely resolute. She found Marcus on the couch and sat beside him, taking his hand in both of hers.
“I’ve decided,” she said quietly, her voice steady despite the fresh tears in her eyes. “No more waiting and hoping month after month. The doctor mentioned medication to help with ovulation. I want to start it next month. I don’t care if it’s stronger or has side effects. I need to do something more than just pray.”
Marcus looked at her, seeing the determination mixed with exhaustion on her face. He nodded slowly. “If that’s what you want, we’ll do it. I’ll support you every step.”
Elena leaned against him, finding comfort in his words. But as she rested her head on his shoulder, Marcus’s gaze drifted once again toward the hallway where Lucy’s door stood closed.
Elena had made her decision. She would insist on starting medication next month. The treatments were coming, and with them would come even more scheduled intimacy, more pressure, and more opportunities for Marcus to betray her in the shadows.
The third negative had pushed Elena to the edge. Now the real storm was gathering on the horizon.