Chapter 2He Killed Our Baby

I packed a small bag, then sat alone until darkness fell. During that time, I called Asher over a dozen times. A part of me still couldn't let it go. I wanted to ask him, face-to-face, how he could love two people at once. How could he lull me to sleep, then still have the energy to sneak off to Felicity?

But the only response was a cold, dismissive text: "Don't be silly. I'll be home tonight to be with you."

Close to midnight, the lock clicked. Asher, seeing my red eyes, stiffened. He rushed to me, pulling me into his arms, feeling my ice-cold hands and feet.

“Didn’t I tell you not to wait up for me anymore?”

“You always make me worry, sweetheart.”

Asher tucked me into bed, holding me tight, trying to warm me with his body heat. Years ago, before he made it big, we lived in a drafty, leaky apartment. Nights were brutally cold. Asher would hold me just like this, piling every warm piece of clothing onto me, his voice choked with promises.

“Aurora, I’ll never let you suffer like this again.”

Now, we had more money than we knew what to do with, our house warm year-round. But why was my heart growing colder by the day?

My throat was raw and dry, and I couldn't stop the tears. I was about to demand when he’d changed, when the strong scent of baby formula on him hit me. My stomach churned, and I pushed Asher away, rushing to the bathroom. In the mirror, my face was ghostly pale, a strange unease settling in my gut.

Asher followed, gently patting my back, pulling out his phone to call our family doctor. “My wife isn’t feeling well. Be here in five minutes.”

My hand instinctively went to my slightly swollen belly. I prayed there wasn’t a baby to complicate my plans. The doctor arrived quickly. After a brief check-up, he handed me a pregnancy test.

“Mrs. Hill, have you been losing your appetite, feeling nauseous lately?”

“It might be early pregnancy…”

Asher’s eyes lit up, shining with a sudden, fierce hope. He practically dragged me into the bathroom. “Aurora, are we going to have a baby?”

My fingers trembled, my heart threatening to burst from my chest.

About three minutes later, two distinct lines appeared on the pregnancy test. Asher’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears, his lips quivering uncontrollably.

“Aurora, we’re having a baby.”

He immediately instructed the family doctor to fill our house with supplements and delved into thick stacks of pregnancy guides. I gave a bitter smile, unable to grasp why this child had arrived at such an utterly wrong time.

Years ago, while helping Asher with deliveries, we’d been in a terrible car accident. I’d instinctively shielded him with my body, suffering severe injuries that landed me in the ER. That’s when we lost our first child. The doctors said my uterine lining was thin, and it would be very difficult to conceive again after the miscarriage.

Later, as Asher’s career took off, I started regulating my body, trying to get pregnant. Five years passed with no luck. And now, just when I’d caught him cheating, just when I was planning to leave, a tiny life was growing inside me.

But what could I do? Let this child grow up without a father? Be ostracized in a single-parent family? I looked at Asher, a last sliver of hope in my voice. If he just confessed, I could convince myself to forgive him one more time.

“Asher, is there anything you want to…”

The insistent ringing of his phone cut me off. Asher glanced at me guiltily, his fingers flying across the screen. He came over, hugged me, his voice muffled.

“Something urgent came up at the office. I need to go make money to support you and the baby.”

I grabbed Asher’s hand, my throat tight. “Can you give me three minutes?”

His phone continued to ring. He gave a helpless smile. “We can talk about it when I get back. Tomorrow, I’ll spend the whole day with you.”

Half an hour after I watched Asher leave, a text message from an unknown number arrived. The photo showed the man who supposedly went to the office, kissing the girl’s lips, while the baby in their arms smiled at the camera.