Too Late For Tears

Focuses on the brutality of Gavins indifference during her final moments.

Tell her to die quietly; Im busy.

That is the last thing I hear my husband say.

Linda, my housekeeper, is sobbing into the phone, her hands shaking as she tries to explain that the blood soaking my bedsheets is real. That I am actually gone. But Gavin doesnt buy it. His voice blasts through the speakerphone, impatient and dripping with ice.

"I dont care what stunt shes pulling now," he snaps. "Tell her to contact me only when shes signed the divorce papers."

The line goes dead.

Linda drops the phone, her face crumpling in horror. She looks at my bodyyoung, pale, and cooling in an empty houseand then at the silent device. She cant process it. How can the man I loved for ten years treat my death like a nuisance call?

I didnt expect him to cry. A pathetic part of me hoped for a flicker of hesitation, maybe a pause in his breath. But there is nothing. Just annoyance.

My phone buzzes against my cold hand. It isnt Gavin.

It is Kinsley.

Hazel, are you finally dead? Youre pathetic. You know Gavin doesnt love you. Faking suicide to delay the divorce? Youre cheap.

Her texts flood the screen. Even if you actually died, Gavin wouldnt spare you a glance. Do us all a favor and just go.

So, this is how it ends. No one mourns me. My husband hates me. His mistress is celebrating.

My spirit drifts near the phone. I want to ask him one last question. Do you remember the vow you made at your mothers grave?

Years ago, he gripped my hand in front of her tombstonethe mother who jumped off a building because her husband was a serial cheater. Gavin swore to me, knuckles white, that he would never be like his father. He said if he ever cheated, he deserved a horrible death.

I never thought he would break that promise. And I certainly never thought I would be the one to die a horrible death instead.

Now, sirens wail outside. The police are calling him. He isnt picking up. I know where he is. He is at that same grave, probably holding Kinsleys hand, stepping over the promise he made to me to build a future with her.

I am dead, Gavin. And you are finally free.

Chapter 1

Three days post-mortem. Gavin finally walked through the door.

He froze.

His eyes locked onto my body lying on the bed.

The color drained from his face. White as a sheet. He looked lost.

I didnt get the sudden shift.

Then he started muttering, voice trembling.

"No. No way. She sent flowers to Mom yesterday."

He staggered back, hand gripping the doorframe.

"How can she be dead? Dead people don't send deliveries."

The flowers. Right.

I bought them, but I didn't deliver them.

My body was failing; I couldn't handle that steep hike anymore.

And I knew Gavin wasn't going to take me.

So, I asked Isaac to drop them off.

A final farewell.

I didn't expect him to spiral over that.

My mind drifted back to the first time Gavin took me to that grave.

No cars could reach it. We hiked for over an hour, his hand gripping mine the whole way, while he poured his heart out about how his mother scraped and clawed to raise him.

A steep cliff. A solitary mound of earth.

Gavin told me his fathers family refused to let her be buried in the family plot. His maternal grandmother? She wouldnt accept a "disgraced" woman who committed suicide.

So, he had to find a patch of wilderness to bury the only person who ever loved him.

I tried to comfort him.

"The view is beautiful," I said. "When I die, find me a spot like this."

He reacted like hed been burned.

He practically jumped on me, clamping his hand over my mouth, eyes wide with panic.

"Baby, stop. Don't say that word. It kills me. Youre going to live. Were going to live a long life together."

I smiled against his palm.

"Everyone dies eventually, Gavin."

His eyes went red. He crushed me into a hug, desperate.

"If that day comes you go first. Ill go last. I don't want you to be lonely. I promise, once I handle everything here, Ill come right behind you."

Back then? It was romantic.

Now? It was a sick joke.

When I found out about the affair when I was coughing up blood and he ignored my calls when he said I got my parents and our baby killed that memory played on a loop in my head.

He probably forgot he ever said it.

Now that Im actually dead, theres zero chance hes coming with me.

He has his empire. He has Kinsley. He has a new heir on the way. His life is perfect.

Why would he throw it away for a ghost?

Not that I want him to.

I'm dead. Love, obsessionit all fades when your heart stops beating.

I guess I was the only one who remembered that boy on the mountain with the fierce, honest eyes.

Thats why I couldnt help it. One last bouquet before I died.

To mourn the death of my love.

Gavins eyes landed on the paper on the nightstand.

My diagnosis.

He froze, sinking onto the edge of the bed like his strings had been cut.

Kinsley called. Once. Twice.

He ignored it.

I stared at him, confused. Why the sudden freeze?

Wasn't Kinsley his whole world?

Chapter 2

Kinsley claimed theyd been together for three years.

Thinking back, the signs were neon red flags.

The phone ringing at dinner. The vague excuses. The hurried exits.

Our anniversary. My birthday.

Even the day I lost our baby.

It was winter. Freezing.

I was lying in that hospital bed, my insides feeling like theyd been scooped out with a rusty spoon. I couldnt stop crying.

Gavin sat by the bed.

Then his phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen and shot up like the chair was on fire.

"Work emergency," he muttered, already halfway out the door.

Kinsley later told me she sent that text. She smirked when she said it.

"You know, Hazel? You losing a baby wasn't as important as me catching a slight fever."

So why ignore her now?

Im dead. He should be popping champagne.

The dead weight is finally gone.

The police ruled it natural causes. He doesnt need to perform grief to dodge a murder charge.

I remember the day I got the diagnosis.

I sat alone on a cold plastic chair in the hospital hallway.

My hands shook so hard I could barely hold the phone. I dialed him.

He didnt ask why I was calling. He just barked.

"Hazel, Im swamped. I dont have time for you."

Tears streamed down my face, hot and silent.

I looked up.

And there he was.

The man who was "swamped."

His face was soft with tenderness as he supported Kinsley, her hand resting on her small baby bump.

He saw me.

Zero panic. Zero guilt. Just a blank stare.

Then Kinsley said one sentencejust oneand his indifference turned into rage.

She clutched her stomach, eyes instantly filling with crocodile tears.

"Hazel are you here to kill my second baby, too? I know I shouldn't have come between you and Gavin, but the baby is innocent! You already killed my first one!"

"Please, Hazel, I'm sorry! I just want to be with Gavin. I don't need a title. Just please don't hurt my baby!"

She made a show of trying to kneel.

Gavin caught her, pulling her protectively into his chest.

When he looked at me, the tenderness evaporated. His eyes were ice.

"Hazel. Don't you dare try anything. If anything happens to her or the baby, I will destroy you."

He roared at me, completely missing the smug grin Kinsley shot me from the safety of his arms.

I gripped the diagnosis paper until my knuckles turned white.

My chest hurt. I couldn't breathe. My vision blurred.

It was a bright spring day, but I was freezing to death from the inside out.

I opened my mouth to speak, but a metallic taste flooded my throat.

I swallowed it back.

I refused to spit blood in front of them. I refused to show weakness.

Chapter 3

I didn't need anyone's pity. Especially not theirs.

Gavins glare deepened when I stayed silent.

Kinsley, cradling her belly, let out a sob. A single, perfect tear rolled down her cheek. She played the victim perfectly.

"Hazel, please. Stop harassing us. Just let us be."

Her voice carried. Heads turned.

The whispers started.

"Have some dignity. Chasing a man who doesn't want you? Pathetic."

"Look at her clothes. Probably a mistress trying to wreck a home."

"Young girls these days. No shame."

Kinsley fed off the crowds energy. Her voice grew louder, bolder.

"Hazel, I love Gavin. I love this baby. Can't you just leave us alone? Gavin told you it's over."

"You already got rid of one of my babies. Are you trying to kill this one too? How can you be so evil?"

My lungs seized. I couldn't breathe.

I tried to stand, but my legs were jelly.

I looked at Gavin, pleading with my eyes. *Take her away. Please.*

He just stared. Cold. Unmoving.

Then it happened.

I retched.

A torrent of blood erupted from my mouth, splashing onto the pristine hospital floor.

The crowd gasped.

Gavin froze. But his eyes weren't filled with concern.

They were filled with suspicion.

"Hazel! What the hell are you doing?"

Even now. Even with blood on my chin. He thought it was a trick.

I had no fight left. My soul was tired.

I just wanted to leave.

I turned to go, but Gavin grabbed my arm.

"Hazel, explain yourself!"

Not oncethe entire timedid he look at the paper in my hand.

He didnt notice my clothesclothes that used to fithanging loose on my body.

He didn't see how pale I was or the fresh blood staining my lips.

It was so obvious. Yet he still asked why I was at the hospital.

He always did this. Asking questions he already knew the answers to. Always doubting me.

Just like with Kinsley's first pregnancy.

I told him a thousand times. It was an accident.

He never believed me.

A year ago, Kinsley showed up at my door, heavily pregnant.

She told me they'd been together for three years.

She said Gavin didn't love me anymore. That he only stayed out of guilt.

Because my parents died partly because of him.

Sophomore year. We had a massive fight. A senior confessed his feelings to me, and Gavin saw it.

He accused me of cheating. In a fit of rage, I broke up with him, which only convinced him further that I had someone else.

It was our first real fight. I was a mess.

My mom called. She heard the devastation in my voice.

Worried sick, she and my dad drove through the night to come see me.

They never made it.

A car crash took them both.

Chapter 4

I never thought Gavin would tell Kinsley about that.

It was the deepest wound in my soul.

He promised. He swore he would never tell a soul.

So when Kinsley smirked and ripped that scab open, I snapped.

I grabbed a glass of water and threw it at her.

Just water.

But Kinsley threw herself backward like shed been shot. She hit the floor hard.

Blood pooled beneath her.

She lost the baby.

I cried. I begged Gavin to believe me. It was just water.

I dragged him to check the security footage.

But the camera angle was bad. It only showed me standing up, and then Kinsley falling.

Gavin looked at me.

I will never forget that look.

It was the look of a man who wanted to rip me apart with his bare hands. Like I had destroyed everything good in his world.

His voice was cold as ice.

"Hazel, whats your excuse? That Kinsley threw herself down? That she killed her own baby just to frame you? Just to break us up?"

"Do you really think Im that stupid?"

"I was wrong about you. I never knew you were this evil."

This was the man who used to hold me when I cried. The man who said I had no family left, so he would be my family. The man who took the blame for my mistakes, who never raised his voice, who swore to protect me.

He promised to always forgive me.

But now? He wouldn't even give me the benefit of the doubt.

He called me evil.

Ten years.

And he said he was wrong about me.

Hurt and fury crashed through me. I screamed at him.

"Fine! If I'm so evil, then divorce me! Go find a woman who isn't evil! Go!"

"I don't want you! Get out! Get out!"

He left.

And he never really came back.

Overnight, we went from soulmates to strangers.

He moved into the hospital with Kinsley. He waited on her hand and foot.

Kinsley made sure I saw it all. She sent me photos.

Gavin cooking for her, sleeves rolled up. Gavin massaging her feet, washing her hair. Gavin feeding her fruit. Gavin holding her. Surprising her with gifts.

Everything he used to do for me, he now did for her.

Every night, I tortured myself. I stared at those photos until my eyes burned.

Tears soaked my pillow.

Until one day, the tears turned into blood, staining the pillow red.

Chapter 5

Gavins eyes were glued to the date on the diagnosis.

His hand trembled. Just a little.

I couldn't read his mind.

Was he regretting it? Regretting that he didn't look at the paper back then? That he didn't know I was dying of cancer?

But what did it matter?

He had already cut me out of his life like a tumor.

That day at the hospital, a young doctor saved me from the humiliation.

Dr. Hayes. The one who diagnosed me.

"Ms. Hazel," he said, breathless, like he'd been running. "Your condition is critical. I tried to tell you, but you disappeared."

"You need to be admitted immediately. Call your family. Tell them to prepare for a long stay."

Worry was written all over his face.

For a second, I felt a flicker of warmth.

I nodded. I lied. I told him Id go home, pack a bag, and come back.

But what was there to pack?

The empty villa wasn't a home anymore.

The man in the wedding photo on the wall wasn't my family anymore.

I had nothing to prepare for except death.

From the moment I got the diagnosis, I knew I wouldn't seek treatment.

I wanted to find a quiet town. Buy a small house. Die in peace.

Luckily, I still had money. The settlement from my parents' accident.

Years ago, when Gavin wanted to start his company, I handed over my savings. I remember him holding me, sobbing into my shoulder.

He said meeting me was the best thing that ever happened to him.

I didn't just give him money. I suffered with him. We hustled across cities together. Instant noodles. Stale bread. Thirty-dollar motels.

We couldn't afford to fly, so we took the Greyhound. Fifteen hours on a bus.

I drank cheap liquor at business dinners until I threw up, just to help him land a deal.

He was busy back then, too. But he never used "busy" as an excuse to neglect me.

When I had cramps, he brought me a heating pad.

When I was sick, he dropped everything to be by my side.

When I craved durian, he drove across town to find it, holding his nose.

When I was anemic, he learned to cook nutritious meals.

Then the company took off. He became CEO.

He bought the villa. He promised me the best life.

But then he got too busy to come home. Too busy to care.

He outsourced everything to the housekeeper.

He didn't have time for a single sentence from me.

"Baby, I'm swamped. Next time."

Next time never came.

"Baby, just wait a second."

Wait meant forever.

Then it became:

"Hazel, you need to understand me."

"Hazel, I'm tired. Stop talking."

And finally:

"Hazel, everything you eat, wear, and live inI paid for it. How dare you ask for my time? Don't be greedy."

"Hazel, what do you bring to the table? You're a leech. I've had enough!"

We drifted apart.

Until the day my life ended, and I had no one to entrust it to.

Just strangers.

Chapter 6

Kinsley called again. Demanding Gavin come home.

Gavins jaw clenched. A muscle feathered under his skin.

He was suppressing a scream.

"Kinsley," he said, voice dangerously low. "Tell me. That day at the hospital. When we ran into Hazel. You told me you needed the bathroom. I waited forever. Where were you really? I remember you came back smiling."

I floated closer. Right next to his ear.

Was there something I missed?

Kinsleys voice dripped honey through the speaker.

"Baby, I told you. The line was long. I really just went to the bathroom."

"I met a nice lady in there. She said my bump looked like a boy. Thats why I was happy."

"Baby, come home. I miss you. Our son just kicked."

Gavins brow furrowed.

He muttered a vague excuse and hung up. But his eyes never left the screen.

He didnt believe a word she said.

He dialed another number.

Turns out, Kinsley had snuck off to ask about my condition. She knew I had cancer.

But why was Gavin digging into this now? I was dead. What was the point?

Kinsley noticed I was dying. He didn't.

Too little, too late.

Disgusted, I drifted to the farthest corner of the room.

Then I heard him whisper to himself.

"Baby I deserve to die."

Baby?

I wasn't delusional enough to think he was talking about me.

Not after years of "Jinx," "Evil Bitch," and "Psycho."

Those names were branded onto my soul.

Once, I missed him so much I called him.

He called me a psycho.

He knew how much I hated that word.

The year my parents died, I fell into a deep depression. I cut my wrists in a classroom.

People called me "psycho" behind my back.

It destroyed me.

The first time he called me that was one month into the standoff.

Wed fought before. But never for more than a day. Hed always come back.

But this time, a month passed. Silence.

He ignored my calls. My texts vanished into the void.

I missed him so much it physically hurt.

So I went to his office.

Bailey, the receptionist, was a girl I hired.

She used to greet me with a bright smile. "Hazel!"

This time, she blocked my path. Cold. Professional.

Chapter 7

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hazel. Mr. Gavin isn't in."

I saw his car.

I assumed Gavin ordered her to lie. A dull ache spread through my chest.

Then I looked up and saw Kinsley. Smiling.

She looked radiant. A massive sapphire ring sat heavy on her finger.

She caught me staring at it. Her smile widened.

She shoved her hand in my face.

"Hazel, isn't it gorgeous? Gavin just bought it for me. He says he loves me. He wants to give me the most precious things in the world."

"We've been together every day this month. He says he's never been this happy."

"He also said being with me is real love. With you? Just a youthful impulse. Ten years is a long time to get bored. But you just don't get the hint, do you?"

"Hazel, quit while you're ahead. Ten years is enough. Why drag someone else down with you?"

I didn't believe her. Even with the evidence right in front of my face.

I couldn't cut Gavin out of my heart.

Call it denial. Call it pathetic. I still loved him.

I couldn't let go.

Looking at that sapphire ring, my heart throbbed. My own ring finger burned.

I had a ring, too. A tarnished silver band.

Gavin spent his last dime on it when we got our marriage license.

Two hundred bucks.

A matching set.

I never took it off. Even when he bought me diamonds and emeralds later, I kept the silver one.

Gavins ring? Long gone.

I asked him about it once.

He shrugged.

"It's just a ring. Why do you care so much?"

He forgot. That ring was the proof of our struggle. Of our love.

Maybe to him, I was just like that cheap ring. Tarnished. Old-fashioned. Worthless. Ready for the trash.

But I held on. Even through the humiliation.

I stepped into the elevator. Kinsley followed.

"Hazel, that ring is ugly. It looks like garbage. That's exactly how Gavin sees you. You have no idea how much he mocks you. He says you're like that cheap ringworthless but convinced you represent 'true love.' Why humiliate yourself? Just leave with some dignity."

Most people judge value by price tags.

I was naive enough to think Gavin was different.

I ignored her venom and pressed the button.

When I finally saw Gavin in his office, I ran to him, forcing a smile.

"Honey, the receptionist tried to stop me. That wasn't your order, right?"

He looked at me. Dead eyes.

"I ordered it. Why are you here?"

Chapter 8

Bitterness coated my tongue. I swallowed it down and reached for his hand.

"Honey, I missed you. It's been a month. Can we stop this? You promised you said if we fought, you'd apologize first. You said you wouldn't let me be sad."

"Honey, let's go home."

He shook my hand off like I was contagious.

"Hazel, I cheated on you. Don't you care? Are you sick in the head?"

I stared at him, disbelief freezing my blood.

Sick in the head?

"Honey what did you say?"

He set down his pen. The click echoed in the silent room. He looked at me, enunciating every syllable.

"Hazel. I don't need you anymore. Your body. Your love. Everything about you. I don't need it."

"Hazel, let's get a divorce."

Kinsley stood in the doorway, smirking.

I refused to believe it. I reached for him again.

My chest felt hollowed out. Like someone had reached in and ripped my heart out.

I couldn't breathe. Tears blurred my vision.

"Honey, you promised"

He cut me off.

"Hazel, don't you get it? My feelings for you are gone. Drained."

"Ten years. It's enough."

Both of them said it. Ten years. Enough.

Why wasn't it enough for me? Why did I still love him? Why did I want another ten years? And another?

Was I broken?

He promised forever. Not a decade.

I remembered us planning our old age. Planning our deaths.

I tried to wipe my tears. I didn't want Kinsley to see me cry.

But they wouldn't stop.

My hands were wet with them.

Gavin just sat there. Watching me like I was a clown performing a tragedy.

Pain overwhelmed reason. I snapped.

I grabbed the fountain pen from his desk.

I jammed the sharp nib against my jugular vein.

"Honey, if you leave me, I'll die right here."

Panic flickered in his eyes. He shot up from his chair.

He reached for the pen.

For a split second, I thought he still loved me. That he couldn't bear to see me hurt.

Then Kinsley walked in. She threw her arms around him.

"Gavin, I'm scared! If she keeps doing this threatening suicide what are we going to do?"

The panic in Gavin's eyes vanished. He sat back down.

"Hazel, get out. Now. Or I'm calling the police."

"And Hazel? If you're going to die, don't do it in front of me."

Chapter 9

He didn't care if I lived or died.

My strength evaporated. The pen clattered to the floor.

*Thud.*

It sounded like the end.

Everything I lived for shattered.

I clutched my chest, gasping through the agony.

"Honey do you really not love me anymore? Do you not care about our home?"

Gavin had one arm around Kinsley, his fingers idly playing with a lock of her hair.

He didnt even glance at me. His expression was bored. Like Id asked him about the weather.

"Don't call me that. I'll have the divorce papers sent over tomorrow. Sign them."

His indifference ripped through my last shred of hope.

Ten years. Trashed.

The world spun. I gritted my teeth and stumbled out.

Downstairs, Kinsley caught up to me.

She leaned in close, her voice a venomous whisper.

"Hazel, take the money and run. You'll get a fat settlement. Be grateful. Gavin and I have a lifetime of happiness ahead of us. Don't be the roadblock."

I shoved her. Instinct.

She glanced at the elevator, then threw herself onto the floor.

Perfect timing. Gavin stepped out.

He rushed over, scooping her up like she was made of porcelain.

He looked at me. Pure fury.

"Hazel, leave! I don't want to see your face!"

Seeing him protect her it broke me all over again.

He really had changed.

I raised my hand. I wanted to slap him. For ten years of sacrifice. For ten years of love. For ten years of trust.

But my hand hovered there, trembling, unable to come down.

Id watched that face grow from boy to man. From loving to heartless.

I couldn't do it.

Even after everything.

Our decade together was burned into my memory.

Even if he forgot. Even if he didn't care.

It was the best time of my life.

Being protected. Being cherished. Being loved.

It was too beautiful to destroy.

I dropped my hand. I turned away. My heart was bleeding out, but my eyes were dry.

I went home like a zombie. I rubbed the cheap silver ring on my finger, remembering the fire in his eyes back then.

"Baby, I promise. I'll give you the world. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, diamonds. You'll wear a different one every day."

I had nodded, eyes shining with joy.

Just words. Pretty lies. He said them to me when he loved me. Now he was saying them to her.

But I took them as gospel. I etched them into my soul. I naively believed those words were only for methat they were forever.

My "forever" was his "ten years."

Now his patience had run out. He needed a new muse.

Chapter 10

I pulled the ring off. It felt like peeling off skin.

I threw it in the trash.

My finger felt naked. My heart felt hollow.

A second later, I was digging through the garbage.

I found it. I wiped it clean, gently, carefully. I slid it back onto my finger as if it might crumble at my touch.

I still couldnt throw it away.

Not until the cancer diagnosis. Not until all hope was ash.

I took it off then.

I was afraid that when they cremated me, the ring would weigh down my soul.

I wanted to leave light. No baggage.

Especially not Gavin.

The next morning, Gavin's secretary, Caroline, delivered the papers.

He was generous. A lot of money.

Caroline looked sad. I hired her. I trained her.

"Hazel, just let him go. Take the money. Travel. Find a hot guy. Live your life."

I wanted to. But Gavin was in my DNA.

I couldn't just scrub him out.

I picked up the pen.

Then I smelled it. Kinsley's perfume on the paper.

Nausea rolled through me.

I dropped the pen. I couldn't sign.

Caroline frowned, but I didn't care. I wanted to be selfish. Just once.

Gavin called immediately.

Impatient. Annoyed.

"Which clause is the problem?"

I looked at the dead begonia in the yard.

"Gavin. I want to go home. To my parents' house. Will you come with me?"

I hadn't been back. I was too scared of the memories.

I was an only child. My parents worshipped me.

Gavin called me dramatic. Said I cried too much.

He didn't know how much I held back.

I forced myself to grow up. To keep up with him. But he was my safe harbor. He was the only one I allowed myself to be weak with.

After losing my parents, I was terrified of losing him.

Every time he traveled, every mile he drove, I was terrified. I didn't sleep until he was back.

I never learned to drive. I was scared I'd die on the road too.

What would he do if I died?

Now that I've lost him

I missed my parents. It was a physical ache.

I needed to go back. To where I started. To when I was happy.

Gavin was silent.

He didn't want to go. He thought it was a trick. A ploy for sympathy.

I smiled bitterly.

"Come with me. Once we're back, I'll sign."

He hesitated. Then agreed.

Fate had other plans.

The next morning, I woke up choking on blood. It sprayed across the white pillowcase.

Delirious, I dialed him.

"Honey come back I'm bleeding"

The phone rang. And rang.

He didn't pick up.

Chapter 11

"The number you have dialed is not answering."

The automated voice snapped me back to reality.

Honey? He wasn't mine anymore.

I slumped onto the pillow, staring at the crimson stain spreading fast.

If my parents were watching if I died in my childhood home it would break their hearts all over again.

So when Gavin called back, ready to go, I refused.

He exploded.

"Hazel! I cleared my schedule for you! Youre backing out? You just want me to pity you! You want to guilt-trip me about your parents again! It won't work! Their death is on you! It has nothing to do with me! You used that to trap me for ten years. Not anymore!"

"You're sick. You killed your parents, and you use their corpses as leverage. I see you now, Hazel. I really see you."

"Don't want to sign? Fine. Don't sign. I'm suing for divorce!"

I was draped over the toilet, heaving up blood until I saw stars, while he screamed at me through the phone.

I wanted to tell him. *I'm sick. Dying.*

He didn't give me the chance.

I sent him photos of the blood.

Radio silence.

He really didn't care.

I wiped my mouth.

I just wanted a few days of peace before the checkup.

I was terrified. If I went to the doctor, the illusion of normalcy would shatter.

I was scared of dying.

If it was terminal, I'd find a hole to crawl into.

If not I'd leave. Find somewhere nice to wait for the end.

But peace wasn't on the menu.

Kinsley wanted to meet.

Just like a year ago, she slapped a pregnancy test on the table.

"I'm pregnant."

Why was she here? Gavin was already suing.

"Gavin promised me a grand wedding. I want to wear the dress before I start showing."

"You never had a wedding. You don't get it. Every woman dreams of being a beautiful bride. Hazel just let me have this."

Her smugness was suffocating.

"What if I don't want to? I'm an evil woman, remember?"

She chuckled, looking down at her nails.

"Doesn't matter. I figured you'd say no."

Then why come? Another trap?

"Then why are you here?"

Chapter 12

"I like watching people suffer. Three years ago. The company gala. You wore that ice-blue gown."

"Someone stepped on your train. You almost fell. Gavin caught you. He carried you to your seat like you were made of glass. He fixed your dress. He peeled your shrimp. He waited outside the bathroom for you."

"He wiped your hands with a warm towel. The way he looked at you I was watching. And I decided right then. I was going to take him."

"You don't get it. A man who loves that completely? He's a prize. I got him drunk. I slept with him. When he woke up, he choked me. He said I made him betray you."

"I was so jealous I could have died. I begged him. I said I wouldn't disturb you. I just loved him too much. I worshipped him. I just wanted a piece of him."

"I know how to handle men. They need to be worshipped. Successful men need their egos stroked. So I won. It took three years, but I won. Do you really think I'm going to give up now?"

My love was just her prey.

Ten years of history, stolen by a three-year siege.

She sat there, bragging about her conquest.

And I was defenseless.

"Hazel, good men are rare. You had him first, but you didn't know how to keep a powerful man. You lost. You can't beat me. He's bored of you. A lawsuit takes time. Sign the papers. Take the money."

I stood up so fast the chair screeched.

She flinched, covering her stomach.

I laughed. Cold.

"Not using the baby as a shield this time?"

"If you truly loved him, I'd walk away. But you plotted. You trapped him. You hunted him. I won't divorce him. I'll die first."

Kinsley's mask slipped.

Her voice turned feral.

"We'll see. Don't regret this."

I walked out.

A few days later, the doctor handed me my death sentence.

Pancreatic cancer. Terminal.

Chapter 13