76 Missed Calls, And He Still Chose Her Dog Chapter 01

76 Missed Calls, And He Still Chose Her Dog Chapter 01

The day I started hemorrhaging after my miscarriage, my parents drove through a storm to reach St. Gabriel Medical Center.

On the way, they got into a terrible crash.

I lay on an operating table in the ER and signed my mother’s emergency surgery consent form with a hand still covered in blood.

My child didn’t make it.

Neither did my parents.

And my husband, who hadn’t picked up any of the seventy-six calls I made, posted a bright, celebratory update on Instagram.

“Congratulations to Honey. After a long night, she finally became a mama.”

Weak as I was, I liked the post.

Adrian Whitlock sent me an iMessage almost immediately.

Two words.

“Take it down.”

I sent him my hospital location.

“Come to the hospital. I need to tell you something in person.”

“I have something important going on. I can’t. Have your parents go with you to your OB appointment. They’re free anyway.”

“By something important, you mean helping Madison’s dog give birth?”

“Lydia Morgan, what is wrong with you since you got pregnant? Now you’re jealous of a dog?”

I didn’t have the strength to argue anymore.

If he wouldn’t come, my lawyer could talk to him instead.

By the time I finished handling my parents’ funeral arrangements, it was already the next evening.

I dragged my hollowed-out body home.

The moment I opened the door, chaos stared back at me.

The living room I always kept clean and orderly had been torn apart.

Adrian was searching for something with his head down.

He tossed things onto the floor without a second thought, as if he knew someone would always clean up after him.

When he heard the door, he didn’t even look up. His voice was sharp with annoyance.

“Where have you been all day?”

“I had to order delivery for lunch.”

I stood in the doorway and froze for a second.

So he hadn’t come home last night either.

That was how he had been for the past two years.

If the lights went out in Madison Blake’s apartment, he would get up in the middle of the night and fix them for her.

But he could forget to lock our own front door, letting a drunk stranger stumble inside and scare me so badly I couldn’t sleep for a month.

When Madison’s dog went into labor, he could refuse to come with me to my OB appointment.

He had even taken a week off work in advance to stay with her.

As if that wasn’t a veterinarian’s job.

When I stayed silent, Adrian finally looked up.

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

“Why do you look so pale?”

“Is the baby giving you trouble again?”

He reached for my stomach.

I stepped back and avoided his hand.

My voice was so calm it surprised even me.

“I called you seventy-six times yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you answer?”

Adrian’s hand froze in midair.

Then he frowned.

“Lydia, are you interrogating me?”

“Madison and I have known each other since we were kids. Honey isn’t just some pet. She raised that dog from the time she was little.”

“Honey’s labor was unstable, and Madison was about to fall apart.”

“How was I supposed to answer your endless calls at a time like that?”

“It was just one OB appointment.”

“Plenty of pregnant women go by themselves.”

“And if you couldn’t, your parents were there.”

“They don’t have much going on anyway.”

“What difference would it make if I wasn’t there?”

I stared at how righteous he looked, and I wanted to ask him.

What about my parents?

The crash had been brutal.

My father was dead on arrival at the hospital.

My mother had been rushed into the trauma OR, but her condition was complicated.

Adrian’s colleague, Daniel Foster, said Adrian was the only one with the best chance.

If Adrian had operated on her himself, my mother might have had a chance.

He said he had no time to answer the phone.

But the second I liked that Instagram post, he had time to message me and order me to delete it.

He was afraid Madison would feel uncomfortable.

He wasn’t afraid I would break down alone on an operating table.

“Are you really just childhood friends?”

I looked up at him.

“Adrian Whitlock, I saw you kiss her.”

At the same restaurant where he once proposed to me.

Even the table was the same.

That day, I had only been passing by.

But I saw the husband who was supposed to be at my OB appointment sitting across from Madison.

He held her hand.

Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

I was so dazed I didn’t see the motorcycle coming.

The rider braked in time.

But the child in my belly was still gone.

For the first time, panic crossed Adrian’s usually calm face.

“Madison was worried sick about Honey. I just took her out to help her relax.”

“She had a few drinks and got emotional, so she…”

He paused, then softened his tone.

“Enough. Don’t bring this up again.”

“I’ll go with you to your next OB appointment. I promise.”

Again.

A flimsy excuse.

A promise that sounded gentle.

And then, as if everything could just be wiped clean.

But Adrian Whitlock.

You would never have to come with me to another OB appointment again.

“No need.”

“Let’s get divorced.”

Adrian froze for a few seconds.

Then his face darkened, as if I had personally insulted him.

“Lydia, do all you journalists love turning small things into breaking news?”

“I told you. It was an accident.”

“Do you really need to blow it up like this?”

“And besides, you’re not the star reporter you used to be.”

“You do odd jobs in operations at Channel 8 News now.”

“You’re almost thirty and pregnant.”

“Who else is going to take you in besides me?”

“I spend all day running around the hospital. I don’t come home to listen to you unload your emotions.”

He turned and headed for the door.

When he passed the entryway, his eyes suddenly landed on the corner of a document sticking out of my bag.

Death Certificate.

The two words were painfully clear.

Adrian looked back and frowned.

“Who died?”

He was about to reach for it when his phone rang.

Madison’s sobbing came through the speaker.

“Adrian, one of the puppies seems to be choking on milk.”

“There are still customers in the store. I can’t handle this by myself.”

“What if it doesn’t make it?”

“I’m so scared…”

Adrian tensed immediately.

“Don’t cry. I’m on my way.”

Then he left without looking back.

He even forgot to lock the study he never allowed me to enter.