He Knelt for Me Too Late, and I’m Someone Else’s BrideChapter 1
The day I found out I had a brain cancer, I was sitting on the steps outside Saint Gabriel’s Clinic, staring at the positive pregnancy test like it was some kind of cosmic joke.
My phone buzzed. It was Zeus Lambert—my boyfriend of seven years.
He didn’t even say hello.
“Savannah, I’ve been thinking… maybe we should push the wedding to next year, yeah? When things settle down with the club.”
I didn’t even flinch. “Y-yeah. Sure.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. You know I do, right? Just bad timing right now.”
I could tell he didn’t expect me to just roll with it. There was this long pause before he muttered something about business at the club and hung up. No “I love you,” not even a “see you later.”
Seven years. Seven damn years. We’d built everything together—our import front, the real estate flips, even the nightclub in Midtown. Just last year, we finally turned a profit. Got ourselves a nice car, and that loft in Tribeca waiting on renovations. If I hadn’t gotten sick… maybe next year I’d have a little baby in my arms.
My baby. Our baby.
But tonight? Zeus wasn’t coming home.
I made myself a bowl of pasta, tossed in some greens, sat in silence at the kitchen table—thinking about how the hell I was gonna tell him…
We made a promise last year. Ring on my finger before the next spring. That’s what he said. “Before the spring, Savannah. I swear on my name.”
I remembered what the doctor told me… She said I should think about not keeping the baby. Said I needed to focus on treatment. That I was young. “You’ve got a real good shot, Savannah. Don’t be scared.”
After five hours of sitting on the sofa, watching the endless darkness, the doorbell rang. Strange—Zeus never rang. He just walked in. I opened the door and there he was—half-drunk, practically draped over Zoraya.
Yeah. Zoraya. The new girl Zeus hired last year. Fresh out of college. Thought she’d be harmless.
“Hey, Savannah,” she chirped, steadying him. “We were out with that client from Atlantic City. Mr. Lambert had a little too much to drink. His car’s downstairs—I figured I’d help him up.”
She was all flushed cheeks and perfect curves in that tight little floral dress. Smelled like orange blossoms and sugar lies.
Zeus slumped on the couch, out cold. I took his jacket from her. The scent of her perfume clung to it—something citrusy and young. Not mine.