Love Died One Apology at a Time Chapter 07

Love Died One Apology at a Time Chapter 07

“I was sitting there alone in the doctor’s office.”

“I was scared.”

“Because I’d had those injections.”

“Because we’d fought that day and I’d completely fallen apart.”

“You pushed me. I fell so hard. And then you left.”

“After that, I kept feeling occasional pain. But I thought it was just because I was emotionally exhausted.”

Ethan didn’t dare touch me. He only raised a hand and hovered it beside my face.

Tears pooled in his palm.

“I asked the doctor if the injections would affect the baby. I asked if the bleeding would affect the baby.”

“She told me she couldn’t guarantee anything. She said we had to wait for further tests.”

My voice grew softer.

“On the way home, I kept telling myself everything would be okay. I wasn’t planning to tell you.”

“Because the moment you decided to become someone else’s hero, the moment you started saying yes to anything she asked, I had already decided I didn’t want you anymore.”

“But then you showed up.”

“And I never got to know if my baby was okay before you both destroyed it.”

All my fear. All my hope.

Everything vanished in a single rainy night. Like a bubble bursting.

I had cried myself exhausted.

Only then did I realize Ethan’s hand was shaking violently.

He clenched his jaw so tightly it looked painful.

His eyes were bloodshot. Even breathing seemed difficult.

I sighed. “I really hate you, Ethan.”

I hated his inability to draw boundaries.

I hated his indecision.

I hated that he had given me the most painful rainy day of my life.

And somehow—

I hated seeing him so broken.

I had thought watching him suffer would ease the pain inside me.

It didn’t.

After the anger faded, all that remained was wave after wave of sorrow.

I pushed him away. No real effort.

“Ethan, go. Stop waiting here.”

My friend came to pick me up when I was discharged.

A nurse casually asked, “Your boyfriend isn’t here today?”

I blinked. Realized I’d barely seen him lately.

My friend let out a mocking laugh.

“He’s being investigated.”

“Riley’s claiming Ethan got her pregnant. She demanded to be released so she could get checked.”

“Her parents used her story to start spreading rumors.”

“They released every photo they had of Ethan and Riley together. Said their daughter was barely eighteen. And implied Ethan must’ve done something illegal.”

“It became a huge scandal.”

“The detention center gave Riley a blood test. She’s not pregnant.”

“But the firm suspended Ethan anyway. They want him cooperating with the investigation.”

“He’s dealing with reporters every day now. Probably too afraid to come back here and bother you.”

My friend’s voice was complicated. Angry. Satisfied. Then just tired.

I felt like I was listening to someone else’s story.

We arrived at my apartment.

The moment I closed the car door, I suddenly said.

Honestly, even now, learning that Ethan proposed and then slept with someone else right after still makes me feel disgusted.

“Claire.”

The voice behind me was hoarse.

I turned around.

Ethan was standing there. He’d heard everything.

He looked like an abandoned animal. Lost. Helpless.

He made several trips carrying boxes upstairs.

Only after everything was moved inside did he stop.

“These are supplements. You need to take them every day.”

“This is scar cream.”

His instructions were meticulous.

Sometimes he repeated the same thing two or three times.

As if speaking longer could slow time itself.

Finally. He had nothing left to say.

Silence settled between us.

Then he forced the words out.

“Claire, I never slept with Riley.”

“I never cheated on you.”