My Fiancé Killed Our Baby for His Cousin,Then Lost His Mind When I Disappeared

Five months pregnant, and my fianc Jason James had arranged for the whole family to go take our wedding photos together.

I pushed open the door to the dressing room, and there was my cousin Kayla Summers, wearing the million-dollar custom gown I'd ordered half a year in advance.

Kayla lifted the hem of the skirt and gave a sweet little laugh.

"Cousin, I've got a blind date next month. Let me borrow some of your good luck and try being a bride first."

Jason adjusted her veil, all indulgence.

"Kayla's got the figure for this one, it looks great on her. You can just wear the loose secondary gown."

When it was time for the outdoor shots, Jason said Katherine Fox had low blood sugar and asked me to go across the street to buy some trendy specialty cake.

By the time I got back after standing in line for three hours, he'd sent me a voice message.

"Kayla's afraid of the sun, so I took her to the VIP indoor studio. Just come straight over."

Belly and all, I was stopped by the studio manager in the lobby because I didn't have a VIP reservation, left standing there for a full hour.

By the time they finally verified who I was and I made it to the door, I heard my grandmother laughing so hard she could barely stop. "Kayla and Jason really are the perfect couple."

My mother chimed in with praise. "That gown only looks worth it on Kayla."

My little brother curled his lip. "Jason should just marry her instead. My sister with that big belly would look terrible in photos anyway."

I shoved the VIP room door open, and the whole studio went dead silent.

Kayla was holding up my gown, striking one pose after another in front of the mirror.

When she saw me come in, a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she instinctively shrank back behind Jason.

My mother and grandmother came straight at me, brows knotted.

"What are you doing, bursting in like that? Not a sound out of you."

"Your face looks awful. What if you scared Kayla?"

My mother grabbed my arm.

My grandmother patted the back of Kayla's hand, all tenderness.

"Exactly. Kayla's timid. You're her older cousin, you should know to hold yourself back."

Jason strode over and steadied me by the waist.

He pulled a tissue from his pocket and carefully wiped the thin sweat from my forehead.

"Why are you running around with that big belly? What if you wear yourself out?"

His voice was gentle, the way it always was.

I looked at him and said nothing.

He followed my gaze to the gown on Kayla and lowered his voice to explain.

"Janice Henson, Kayla has a blind date next week, and the guy's a good catch. She wants to borrow this gown to take a few photos for her social media, just to make an impression."

He eased me down onto the sofa.

"You're five months along now. This gown's too heavy, it'll press on your belly and be uncomfortable. I had the manager swap you into a loose secondary gown. It looks just as good."

He knelt on one knee and kneaded my sore, swollen calves with practiced ease.

I turned my head aside and pulled my leg back.

Jason's hand froze in midair.

He let out a soft sigh, a trace of helplessness in his voice.

"Janice, you're about to be a mother. How can you still be this childish? Do you really have to fuss over a dress at a time like this?"

I turned my head and let my eyes settle on the trash can.

Inside sat a cake with a single spoonful scooped out of it.

The one I'd bought carrying my five-month belly, after standing in line for three hours under the blazing sun.

"Why did you throw it out?"

My voice came out a little hoarse.

Jason followed my gaze, then quickly stood and put himself in front of Kayla.

"Kayla said the cake from that shop was too sweet, kind of cloying. Don't be upset. I'll have someone buy you ten of them tomorrow."

Kayla's eyes went red as she tugged at the hem of Jason's shirt.

"Cousin, I'm sorry. It's my fault, I was too spoiled and made you angry. I'll just take it off and give it back to you."

She said she'd take it off, but her hands clamped down on the skirt, not the slightest sign of letting go.

My grandmother immediately pressed her hands down and turned to glare at me.

"Take it off, nothing! Your cousin's temper is bad while she's pregnant. Just ignore her!"

Jason wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave them a pat.

"Janice, give the elders some face. Stop provoking Kayla. Tomorrow I'll take you for an even pricier indoor shoot. I won't shortchange you or the baby, all right?"

I looked at all of them, and my stomach heaved.

I didn't make a scene. I didn't cry.

I just nodded calmly.

"Fine. No photos. I'm going home first."

With that, I pushed Jason's hand away, turned, and walked out of the studio.

That night, Jason came in carrying a basin of hot water.

He knelt at the side of the bed and carefully set both my feet into the water.

"Is the temperature all right?"

He tilted his head up to look at me, endlessly patient.

He started painting the future of the three of us, saying that once the baby was born, we'd go traveling somewhere, we'd pick a certain preschool.

As if everything that had happened at the studio that day simply didn't exist.

I quietly pulled my foot out of his hands.

Jason went still for a moment, then awkwardly grabbed the towel and dried me off.

"Get to sleep early. Tomorrow I'll go with you to the hospital for the ultrasound."

Late that night, listening to the even breathing of the person beside me,

I took out my phone and canceled all of tomorrow's wedding bookings.

Then I opened the browser and looked up hospital information for a labor-induction procedure.

The next morning, I dressed and stepped out of the bedroom.

The smell of ginger tea drifted in from the kitchen.

Jason came out carrying two bowls. When he saw me, his expression turned a little awkward.

"Janice, Kayla's having really bad cramps today, so I made her some ginger tea."

He set the bowls down, walked over, and straightened my collar for me.

"There's a sudden emergency meeting for the executives at the company, and I can't get out of it. Would it be okay if you took a cab to your ultrasound today?"

I looked into his apologetic eyes and gently brushed his hand away.

"Fine."

Jason let out a breath, reminded me to be careful, grabbed the car keys, and hurried out.

I took a cab to the obstetrics ward alone.

In the hallway, every other pregnant woman had a husband beside her, hovering with care.

I was the only one sitting on the bench by myself, staring at the number ticket in my hand.

After the exam, I knocked on the head physician's door.

When the doctor held out the consent form for the labor-induction procedure, I paused for a few seconds, then reached out and took it.

Walking out of the hospital, I took out my phone and sent the agent a message.

"I've decided to sell the wedding home. List it at market price as soon as you can."

It was the place we'd made the down payment on together, half and half.

At noon, I stood at the mall waiting for my Uber.

I turned my head, and through the glass display window, I saw Jason, the one supposedly "in an executive meeting."

He was with Kayla at a luxury counter, helping her try out bags.

Kayla held a pink bag up to the mirror, and Jason smiled as he handed over his card.

I remembered how, early in the pregnancy, my pelvis ached so much I could barely walk, and he'd drive me down and back just to buy groceries, terrified I'd tire myself out.

Now he could tell me to my face, without a shred of guilt, to carry this belly and suffer through the checkup alone, all so he could go shopping with someone else.

I didn't storm inside to make a scene. I turned and got into the Uber.

In the car, I opened my banking app, unlinked Jason's shared family debit card, and closed every account we held together.

Not long after I got home, Jason pushed the door open.

Almost at the same moment, my phone buzzed.

A transfer had come in. A hundred thousand dollars.

"Today was just insane. I couldn't come see the baby with you."

Jason changed out of his shoes, walked over, and kissed my forehead tenderly.

"Take this money. Book yourself the best postpartum care package. Consider it my way of making it up to you."

I looked at the transfer on the screen, my voice level.

"Your meeting. Was it held at a luxury counter?"

Jason froze.

Panic flickered in his eyes, but he steadied himself quickly.

"You saw that? Janice, don't misunderstand. Kayla has a blind date next week and needs a nice bag to hold her own. You're pregnant now, it's hard for you to get out anyway."

Fobbing me off with a hundred thousand, while all his time and attention went to Kayla.

I tossed my phone onto the couch.

Jason clearly hadn't expected me to be this cold.

He sat down beside me.

"How did the checkup go today? Any photos?"

"It went fine."

Kayla suddenly came out of the bedroom, holding her phone up to my face.

"Cousin, don't you think this bag is gorgeous? Jason had to pull so many strings to snag it for me."

On the screen was a limited-edition bag, nearly impossible to get with the required purchase history.

Her post caption read: The ones who are loved get to be fearless!

Jason smiled and offered a compliment: "That bag really suits you."

Then he turned to me, his eyes soft.

"Once the baby's here, I'll take you to the counter in Paris. Pick out as many as you want, to make up for today."

I looked into his eyes and nodded.

"Fine."

That night, I lay in bed.

Soft footsteps came from outside the door.

Jason stood out there for half an hour, seeming to waver over whether to knock, and in the end he left.

I closed my eyes and turned over.

And sank into a deep sleep.

After work I came home and pushed open the door to the spare bedroom.

That was the nursery we had planned out half a year in advance.

The fairy-tale mural I had painted with my own hands was now plastered over with garish pink soundproofing foam.

The floor was a tangle of loose cables and huge livestream fill lights.

Kayla sat in front of the camera, testing the lighting.

The moment she saw me, she jumped up, all innocence.

"Cousin, I've decided to become a beauty influencer. This room gets the best light, so I'll just borrow it for a few months. You don't mind, right?"

Jason walked over and slipped an arm around my waist as if it were nothing.

"Janice, Kayla's just starting out, she needs a good setup. Moving the nursery to the little study on the shaded side is the same thing anyway. The baby will sleep with us for the first few years regardless."

Give the room with the best sunlight to her cousin's livestream.

Leave the shaded study for his own flesh and blood.

I looked at that face of his, so certain he was in the right, and gave him a single word.

"Fine."

I turned and went back to the master bedroom.

That night, Kayla brought her whole livestream team to the house and sold products straight through till morning.

The whole living room was as loud as a street market.

Head splitting, I ignored it as long as I could, then pushed open my door and walked out to the living room.

The team had gathered around Jason in the middle, and he was smoothing down Kayla's mussed hair, completely at ease.

Kayla whined at the camera. "Guys, I've talked so much today my voice has gone hoarse."

Jason turned at once, picked up the still-steaming bowl of honey-lemon tea on the coffee table, and lifted it to her lips.

That was the batch he had made a point of brewing last night, for my cough.

The chat in the livestream exploded.

The top donor posted a comment in bold:

"If you didn't know better, you'd think the streamer and this handsome guy were the real married couple."

Jason's face darkened in an instant.

He turned his head and saw me standing in the corner.

He strode over, brows drawn tight.

"Janice, go over and say hello to the fans, clear things up. Don't let anyone get the wrong idea about Kayla's reputation and hurt her sales."

I looked at him, and it was just absurd.

"Clear up what?"

I walked deliberately in front of the camera, my voice low but unmistakably clear in the quiet living room.

"Clear up that you turned my baby's nursery into her livestream studio?"

With that, I yanked out the power plug.

The living room went black in an instant, and the stream cut to a dead screen.

The team broke into a flustered chorus of complaints.

Jason flew into a rage and shoved me hard.

"Are you out of your mind?"

I stumbled back two steps, caught off guard, and slammed into the wall.

In the chaos, Kayla's assistant crushed a package on the floor.

Inside was the first outfit I had spent three months sewing by hand for the baby.

Now the fabric was covered in black footprints, filthy and ruined.

Kayla glanced at it with distaste and made no move to pick it up.

Jason frowned at me.

"Your hormones are seriously out of whack right now. You're being impossible, like some shrew!"

Irritated, he took out his phone and wired me ten thousand.

"So a few scraps of cloth got dirty, so what. Tomorrow I'll have someone go to the mall and buy a pile of designer baby clothes. Is any of this worth throwing a fit over?"

I steadied myself against the wall and looked at the dirty clothes on the floor.

"No need."

I got to my feet and went to grab my bag from the entryway.

Jason rushed over at once, grabbed my wrist, and snapped at me:

"Are you done making a scene? Can't you be sensible, for the baby's sake?"

I wrenched my hand free.

"Go live with my overgrown baby of a cousin."

I pulled open the door and walked out without looking back.

The wind outside cut to the bone.

I took out my phone, called the hospital, and booked the labor-induction procedure for three days out.

Jason came after me, draped his coat over my shoulders, his tone softening.

"It's cold out. Let me take you home."

I didn't refuse.

Because this was the last time.

Three days later.

The storm warning had come true. Outside, wind and rain lashed the windows, and the tree branches thrashed hard.

In the bedroom, I quietly packed my documents and a few clothes into my backpack.

Then a violent, dragging pain tore through my belly.

Something warm gushed out of me.

I looked down and saw a wide, glaring stain of red spreading across my dress.

Clutching my stomach, cold sweat pouring off me, I dragged myself into the living room.

Jason was standing there with his car keys, pulling on his coat, ready to leave.

"Jason..."

"Take me to the hospital. The baby... I don't think I can save it."

My voice came out weak as I grabbed the hem of his coat.

His brows knit tight. He glanced at the blood on my dress, and his hand closed harder around the keys.

But he didn't move.

"Janice, Kayla got trapped at an audition out in the suburbs. There's a mudslide risk out there any minute. She's out there alone, crying her eyes out. I have to go get her."

I stared at him, not believing it, and the words came out almost a scream.

"This is your own flesh and blood!"

Right then, Kayla's video call came through.

On the screen, she was soaked through and sobbing.

"Jason, the wind is so strong, I'm so scared. Am I going to die out here..."

Jason looked at the screen, his eyes full of panic.

He pried my clinging hand off him by force.

"It's just some spotting. Call 911 and you'll be fine. Kayla could actually die out there."

And with that, ignoring my cry of pain, he rushed out the door.

The door slammed shut.

I dropped to the floor. Through the window, I watched his car vanish down the road.

The pain in my belly was tearing me apart, but it was nothing next to the pain in my chest.

I forced through it and called 911 myself.

The ambulance fought its way through the downpour to reach me.

The paramedics lifted me onto the stretcher, working on me while they asked, "Where's your husband? A situation this dangerous, and no family here?"

I pulled a bleak little smile.

"He's dead."

At the ER, the doctor examined me fast.

His face was grave. "The fetal heartbeat is faint. You waited far too long to get here, and the severe emotional shock triggered heavy bleeding."

"We have to do the induction procedure right now to save your life."

I lay on the cold operating table, staring up at the harsh light overhead.

I didn't cry. I didn't make a scene.

I just calmly took the pen and signed my name on the consent form.

Just before they pushed in the anesthetic, my phone buzzed on the pillow beside me.

A message from Jason.

"Got Kayla. The rain's too heavy and the roads are closed, so we're going to stay at a hotel tonight. Does your stomach still hurt? I'll order you some delivery."

I looked at the screen and felt nothing but how absurd it all was.

I pulled the engagement diamond off my ring finger and dropped it into the metal tray beside me.

"Nurse, could you throw this away for me? Thank you."

Then I opened the message and sent him my last reply.

"Don't bother coming back. Your baby is gone, and so are we. It's completely over."

Sent. Then blocked.

The anesthetic took hold, and I closed my eyes and sank into endless dark.

When the surgery was over, weak as I was, I checked myself out under cover of night.

With the backpack I'd packed long before, I boarded a night train for somewhere far away.

And vanished completely from his world.