Chapter 3

Chloe's POV

The apartment was still filled with the ghosts of our upcoming wedding.

Matching slippers sat by the door. A medical checklist for our pre-marital checkup was pinned to the fridge. On the dining table lay the shopping list I had written last night. I had planned for us to go ring shopping right after City Hall. Now, every bullet point looked like a joke.

Austin came back at dusk. He rang the doorbell instead of using his keys.

In his hand was a hot container of clam chowder from my favorite bistro. He looked tired, a familiar, practiced exhaustion on his face. "Eat something first. I'm sorry about noon, Chloe. But Vivian really couldn't handle it alone. It was her first time in front of a crowd. She was shaking."

I didn't reach for the soup. "I'll have your things packed and sent to your office."

Austin frowned. "You're the one who called for a breakup."

"Yes. That's why I'm handling the logistics."

He looked taken aback by my calm tone.

Whenever we argued in the past, I always left room for reconciliation. Austin would say a few sweet words, and I would let it go. I couldn't bear to lose six years of history. I couldn't let go of the boy who used to look at me like I was his entire world.

But that boy was long gone.

Austin set the soup down on the console table. "Take a couple of days to cool off, Chloe. Don't burn your bridges over a temporary mood."

I looked up, meeting his eyes. "You agreed so quickly on the phone. Isn't this what you wanted all along?"

A flash of guilt and panic crossed Austin's face.

The moment the door shut behind him, I ran to the bathroom and threw up.

I thought it was just my stomach acting up from the stress. But the next morning, the smell of the cold soup made me gag all over again.

By the time Maya rushed over, I was sitting on the floor, pulling photos out of our scrapbooks.

I was sliding Austin's pictures out one by one. My movements were slow, like I was conducting a quiet funeral for a dead relationship.

Maya snatched the album away. "Stop doing this. Why do you look so pale?"

I shook my head. "Just didn't sleep well."

Maya stared at me for a few seconds. "Chloe... when was your last period?"

My hand froze in mid-air.

The last time Austin and I were intimate was two weeks ago. He had been a little drunk. He held me tight, whispering that he wanted a baby. He said he wanted a little girl who would be as smart as me. I believed him that night. I even thought that if I got pregnant after City Hall, it would be a beautiful new beginning.

But now, Austin didn't want me anymore.

Maya pulled me up from the floor. "We're going to the clinic. Now."

When the lab results came back, the doctor's voice was gentle. "The pregnancy is very early. You need to keep your stress low and get plenty of rest. Does the father know?"

I looked at the slip of paper. My throat felt like it was blocked by concrete.

"He doesn't need to know."

I already loved this tiny life inside me. But it had arrived too late, and at such a painful cost. It felt like a final anchor Austin had left in my body, trying to drag back a woman who had already decided to run.

Outside the clinic, Maya asked, "What's the plan, Chloe?"

I folded the ultrasound and tucked it into my bag. "Just get through today."

I couldn't make life-altering decisions while I was at my weakest.

I had to pull myself out of the mess Austin and Vivian had created first.

Maya stayed with me the whole way back.

We didn't talk about the baby, and we didn't talk about Austin. We just stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the prenatal vitamins the doctor prescribed, and ordered some light chicken broth from the diner downstairs.

I sat at the table, taking one slow sip at a time. My stomach was still in knots, but I forced myself to keep it down.

Maya's eyes grew red as she watched me. "You don't have to put on a brave face for me, you know."

"If I don't hold myself together, who will?" I murmured.

The room went dead silent.

Austin used to shield me from the storms. Or at least, I thought he did. When I was drowning in overtime, he would wait downstairs with coffee. When I was grieving my mother, he would cancel his meetings to hold me. But if a man's reliability only lasts as long as his feelings, it isn't reliability. It's just charity on a good day.

I touched my lower abdomen. For the first time, I seriously wondered: If I keep this baby, can I raise them alone in a world where we don't have to beg for Austin's attention?

I didn't have the answer yet. But I knew I needed an escape route.

That night, I couldn't sleep in our bed.

His pillow still smelled faintly of his sandalwood cologne. I took a light blanket and slept on the living room couch. In the middle of the night, the nausea woke me up again.

Maya sat on the floor next to me, fighting sleep, her eyes half-closed as she muttered curses at Austin. "He better not show his face here, or I'll smash him with a frying pan."

I let out a weak laugh, and only then did the tears finally spill over.

It hurt. It hurt so bad. But I finally understood that even if it hurt, I could never run back to Austin's arms. That embrace was now reserved for Vivian's tears and drama. It was no longer a safe place for me.