He placed them on the bedside table and reached for my hand. “Please, let’s start over. I’ll focus on work. You can take care of Elias for now. He needs you.”
I nodded faintly. “Alright.”
He smiled, pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s my wife.”
But in my heart, I knew he wasn’t. Not really.
Then I saw her. Seraphine. Waiting in the hallway, arms crossed, expression smug and cold.
“So,” she said softly, venom in her voice, “you’re really still here.”
I didn’t answer. I just stared at her, tired, empty.
She smirked. “Once I come back from this trip, you better not be here anymore.” Leaning closer, her perfume sharp, heavy: “If I find you still breathing the same air as me, I’ll make you regret it.”
I met her eyes, calm, hollow smile forced onto my lips. “Yeah. Sure. You won’t have to see me again.”
Seraphine straightened, satisfied with the fear she thought she’d planted. “Good,” she said, brushing imaginary dust from her coat. “Next time, I won’t be so patient.”
That night, I made the call.
Two nights later, the plan unfolded quietly. The hospital issued a false report: Elias Calder, deceased. Kidney failure.
But Elias wasn’t gone. He slept in my arms, small and safe, wrapped in a blanket, unaware of the chaos we’d left behind. My mother had arranged everything—forged documents, private jet, new identity.
Because if they thought they could be happy with me gone, they were wrong. I would take my son with me.
As the plane ascended, city lights fading below, my heart ached—not from betrayal this time, but from the bittersweet relief of freedom.
Outside the window, the sky stretched wide, endless. A new beginning painted in gold and gray.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Adrian stormed into the hospital room where Elias’s bed should have been. His face drained of color, voice trembling.
“Where’s my son?” he demanded.
The nurse’s voice shook. “I’m sorry, Mr. Calder… he… he didn’t make it.”
The nurse looked down, her voice trembling as she held the clipboard close to her chest. “I’m sorry, Mr. Calder,” she whispered. “He… he didn’t make it.”
For a moment, the world stopped moving.
Adrian blinked, disbelief washing over him like cold water. “What did you just say?” His voice came out rough, uneven. “Say it again.”
The nurse swallowed, avoiding his eyes. “There was a complication. His kidneys failed completely. We tried everything, but… Elias passed away early this morning.”