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Mike watched helplessly as the ER team rushed me through the doors, clutching the pregnancy report that was soaked with my blood. He was trembling uncontrollably.
That report, now warm and damp with my blood, was the last proof that our child had existed.
Mike started to panic, pacing back and forth, murmuring to himself, “How could this happen? This can’t be real…” He tried to find some explanation, some reassurance, but words failed him.
It was all because he hadn’t believed me.
After skirting death, I was moved to a regular hospital room. There sat Mike, looking wrecked with a scruffy beard and hollow eyes.
As soon as he noticed I was awake, his face brightened. “Lynn, you’re finally awake!”
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He reached for my hand, but I gently pulled away and turned my face aside, avoiding his gaze.
A flash of panic crossed his face, but he quickly masked it with a comforting smile, “Lynn, I know I screwed up. I’ve spoken with the doctors; they say with the right care, we can still have a child. Trust me, I’ll be there every step of the way.”
He downplayed the recent horror as if a soft apology could make me forget all the pain he’d caused as if I could just go back to how things were.
I touched my stomach, my eyes watering at the thought.
I’d survived two days in the freezing wilderness, survived an avalanche, and through all that, our baby had hung on. But in the end, it was destroyed by its own
father.
The precious life I’d been so eager for… gone forever.
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“Mike, let’s get one thing straight—we’re
done. I won’t marry you, and there won’t be any children.”
“Lynn, I can’t accept that. Everything’s set for the wedding. I’ve even invited your friends from the orphanage—they’re all eager to see you happy.”
His voice oozed a sense of false bliss.
But I knew better; it was a manipulation.
My friends from the orphanage, especially the director who’d been like a mother to
me, would be heartbroken if the wedding was called off.
A chill ran down my spine as I seethed with rage. “Mike, have you lost your humanity? You just destroyed our child! And now, you’re trying to coerce me into marriage?”
“I’m not forcing you, I’m offering compensation. I’m sorry about the baby, and I’ll make it right,” Mike replied, his voice laden with supposed guilt.
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He still thought he could make up for it all
with words.
Suddenly, the door burst open, Jessa
appeared in the doorway, lips pursed, brow furrowed, her hesitation drawing Mike’s immediate attention.
Jessa blurted out, “Mike, something’s off here. Lynn was pregnant and didn’t tell you? Then lost the baby under such strange circumstances? Could it be that the child wasn’t yours?”
“And didn’t Lynn disappear for a few days? Maybe she was plotting with some guy, making a scene to guilt–trip you into marrying her.”
Her wild theories tied everything together as if it were a plotted drama. If I hadn’t lived through it, I might even agree.
Now that the kid was gone, she bet that I couldn’t muster any proof that Mike was
the father.
“Lynn! Is what Jessa saying true?” Mike
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demanded, clearly expecting the worst.
I laughed coldly. “If I deny it, would you believe me?”
“If you say no, I’ll believe you,” he replied, his voice less certain now.
I smirked maliciously. “Well, too bad for you, because Jessa’s right. It wasn’t your child after all.”
As expected, Mike refused to believe me. He angrily dialed Brown.
“Brown! Find out where Lynn was when she disappeared. Who was she with? I need to know whose child she was carrying!”
I watched him, overwhelmed by
exhaustion..
I knew the real reason Jessa hadn’t been with Mike back in the day.
In her senior year, Jessa was falsely accused of theft. She wasn’t popular, and
no classmates defended her. The rumors got so bad they reached the school
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administration.
The school decided to expel her.
Mike fought for Jessa’s innocence, sacrificing his time and energy, even repeating a year in the school to dig up evidence after she had been sent abroad.
Yet, he didn’t give up and invested another year after that. Then he did dig up something that helped prove Jessa’s
Innocence.
The one who receives love never gets afraid of being dumped.
Mike loved Jessa, willing to do anything for her, using up his resources. But he never made such efforts for me.
I felt like a clown, fooling myself into thinking Mike could ever love me.
Jessa’s outrage filled the room. “Lynn, Mike was so worried when you disappeared! And you were out betraying him! How could you?”
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Her accusations were steeped in irony. “He
was worried? Give me a break!”
“Worried enough to get cozy with another woman?” I looked straight at Mike. “Weren’t you all lovey–dovey with Jessa while I was gone?”
“Lynn! Stop lying! Nothing happened
between me and Mike! You’re just trying to drag us down to your level!” Jessa was livid, apparently unaware that I’d overheard her and Mike together.
Jessa clung to Mike’s arm, berating me, “Mike! She’s not worthy of you! She never loved you!”
Brown finally got through. Mike’s
expression darkened as he reached for the phone, but Jessa snatched it first, hitting the speaker button. She looked at me defiantly. “Let’s see what Brown has to say about your antics!”
“Mr. Miller, regarding Ms. McCullough’s disappearance…” Brown paused, then
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continued, “You had planned a skiing trip. You didn’t show, but Ms. McCullough went. After a blizzard hit, she was stranded on the mountain for two days. During that time, she made calls to only two ends – some to the rescue team, and the others…”
Jessa was smirking, expecting a scandal.
But Mr. Brown’s next words shattered her
confidence. “And the others, over nine hundred calls… all to you, sir.”
