"Who were you talking to, Eliana?" His eyes studied me. "You sounded... upset."
I slid my phone into my bag. "Not anyone you know.”
His mouth twitched like he wanted to smile, but his eyes stayed sharp.
"Don't play games. You embarrassed yourself in there, and now you're sneaking calls in the hallway? You're not yourself. It doesn’t look good."
My arms crossed on instinct. “Doesn’t look good? Darren, didn’t you hear what your mother just said about our child?”
Janine gasped like a seasoned actress, pressing a hand to her chest. “Losing your baby has stripped you of sense, dear. Attacking me like a savage—shameful. You should be embarrassed. Couldn’t even carry Darren’s child to full term. Not like Sally.”
Her words cut through me like glass.
I narrowed my eyes. “And you should be embarrassed you raised your son with a brain like that.”
Her mask cracked. “You little—”
"Enough." Darren's voice snapped like a whip. The calm was gone, his eyes lit with anger now.
"I won't stand here while you insult my mother. I'll excuse this once because of your surgery. But try me again, Eliana, and you'll regret it. Go. Rest in your room."
I stared at him, searching for the man I once thought would burn the world before letting anyone hurt me.
He was gone.
Jaw locked, I turned and walked away. Darren didn't follow. He didn't check on me. Not a flower. Not a card. Not even a hollow “Are you okay?”
Later, I learned he left with Sally and the baby.
Two days passed before his driver came to fetch me from the hospital. Darren hadn't bothered to come himself.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into.
The nursery.
The one Darren and I had painted together, soft yellow glowing on the walls as we laughed over baby names. The room we had filled with cribs and blankets, mocked me now.
It wasn't ours anymore.
It was hers.
The air smelled of powder and lavender. Sally floated in with a smug smile, her newborn in her arms.
"Oh, Eliana, you're back?" she cooed. "Please, don't wake baby Alex. He's finally asleep."
My breath caught. "What... what did you call him?"
She smirked. "Alex. Didn't Darren tell you? We chose it together."
The edges of my vision darkened. Alex. The name Darren and I whispered into the walls a hundred times, promising it to our son.
She crossed the room and placed the baby into my arms easily.