Chapter 4

I stared at him in utter shock, stripped of whatever dignity I had left.

Austin met my gaze without flinching. "Alyssa, it's the middle of the night and pouring rain outside. Do you really have to drag this out like a dramatic scene?"

I took a deep, shuddering breath, spun around, and bolted straight out the door into the pouring storm.

The rain fell in violent sheets, threatening to drown the entire city.

I couldn't tell if the wetness on my cheeks was rainwater or tears; all I knew was that I had to run.

"Alyssa!"

Austin came sprinting after me, clamping a hand onto my wrist. "Have you lost your mind? It's freezing out here! Get back inside and stop acting like a lunatic!"

I fought furiously against his grip. "Don't touch me!"

Chloe caught up to us as well, soaked and disheveled. "Alyssa, it's my fault! I'm the one who should go! Go back inside, I'll walk away right now!"

She lunged forward to pull on my arm.

Pushed past my absolute limit of revulsion, I violently lashed out to shake her off. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

The pavement was slick. She lost her footing and tumbled violently to the ground.

Instantly, Austin shoved me aside and rushed to her side. "Chloe!"

He gathered Chloe into his arms, then snapped his head up to glare at me with pure venom. "Alyssa! When are you going to stop this psychotic tantrum?!"

The force of his shove sent me staggering back, and I crashed heavily onto the wet concrete.

Rain lashed against my face, pooling around my jaw.

Suddenly, a sharp, searing cramp ripped through my lower abdomen.

I looked down in a daze. A dark, crimson stain was rapidly spreading between my legs, washed away by the rain only to be replaced by fresh blood.

The world tilted on its axis, spinning uncontrollably, and my head slammed backward.

Right before my consciousness went black, a single, bloodcurdling scream pierced the storm.

"Alyssa!"

In the encroaching darkness, fragments of the past surged up like a tide.

Throughout all our years together, Austin had picked me up and dropped me off from work every single day, without fail.

He always tracked my cycle, quietly slipping heating pads into my purse before I even realized I needed them.

He kept a custom map saved on his phone, marked with every single restaurant, cafe, and dessert stall I had ever mentioned wanting to try.

Once, a clinic misdiagnosed me with end-stage kidney failure. Believing my days were numbered, I hid away and cried my eyes out. Austin secretly went to get tested as a donor match behind my back and signed an organ donor consent form.

When follow-up testing proved it was a clerical error, he broke down and cried in front of me for the very first time.

"Alyssa, you're fine. Let's go home."

I had never once doubted that he loved me.

A faint drop of moisture touched my parched lips.

I slowly blinked my eyes open to find myself lying in a sterile hospital bed.

Austin sat beside me, his eyes bloodshot, using a damp cotton swab to gently wet my cracked lips.

Chloe stood at the foot of the bed, silently weeping.

"What... happened to me?"

A shadow of intense agony crossed Austin's face. He grabbed my cold hand. "Alyssa... we can have another baby."

My body turned rigid. I looked down at my flat stomach.

When I placed a trembling hand over it, there was only a hollow chill.

A raw, broken sob tore from my chest. I curled into a ball, burying my face deep into the thin hospital blanket, weeping uncontrollably.

I had been so close... so close to having a family of my own blood.

Austin clasped my hand tighter, repeating like a mantra, "Alyssa, we will have another baby. Trust me. We'll have our own family."

The grief was suffocating. I felt utterly abandoned, as if I were the only living soul stranded in a desolate wasteland.

In my sheer desperation, I found myself whispering, "Can you two... please just stop seeing each other?"

Silence fell over the room.

After what felt like an eternity, Austin spoke with quiet guilt. "Alyssa... Chloe is pregnant."

Chloe averted her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Austin continued, speaking as if trying to reason with himself. "Once Chloe gives birth, I won't see her anymore. Alyssa, just wait for me for one year. I'll take care of everything, and then we'll get married. We'll have our own children."

Chloe shook her head violently, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Alyssa... this baby was an accident. I never meant to destroy your life! I'll leave right now with the baby. You'll never see me again!"

Austin stood up, walked over, and pulled her tightly into his chest. "Stop talking like that. This is my child too. You don't get to make this decision alone!"

I watched them, wrapped up in each other's misery and embrace.

A sudden, dizzying wave of detachment washed over me.

It felt as though I was the intruder. The third wheel who never belonged in their story.

My lungs starved for oxygen.

Barefoot, I slid out of bed and walked over to the open window, pushing it wide open.

A gust of stormy wind swept inside, whipping the white curtains frantically.

I sucked in huge gulps of cold air, but the hollow void inside my chest only grew wider.

Amid the dizzying rain below, I suddenly saw my parents standing on the pavement, smiling and waving up at me.

"Alyssa, come home to us. We're the only ones who truly love you."

"Mom and Dad have been waiting for you."

Their faces were so gentle. So clear.

I climbed slowly onto the windowsill.

The biting wind and freezing rain beat against my skin.

Behind me, terrified screams ripped through the room.

"Alyssa! No!"

I closed my eyes, and without a shred of hesitation, stepped into the open air.