My Superpower Was Hearing Lies And My Weakness Was Believing Him Chapter 06

My Superpower Was Hearing Lies And My Weakness Was Believing Him Chapter 06

Nathan searched everywhere. Every place he could think of. She was nowhere.

Exhausted, hollowed out, he went home.

The house looked exactly as she’d left it.

The beige throw blanket she always draped over his legs while he worked sat crumpled on the couch.

Their matching coffee mugs stood on the table. Her slippers were by the door, as if she’d just stepped out and would be back any minute.

He walked forward in a daze and felt something underfoot.

A tiny sock. Crooked stitches, uneven loops, she’d made it herself.

He bent down and picked it up. His eyes burned.

She’d been so excited about this baby. Every stitch was made with love.

His chest ached, as if those same needles were now piercing his heart.

That explained why she’d been so tired lately, curling into him at night like a cat looking for warmth.

Sometimes he’d wake up and watch her sleep, her lashes fluttering, and think: I want this forever.

His grip on the little sock tightened until his knuckles were white.

His wife. His child.

He thought back to his medical report. Low sperm count. Less than five percent chance.

He’d never known how to tell her. She loved kids so much, she’d light up at every baby they passed on the street, turning to him with a soft “So cute!”

He’d smile and nod, while inside he was bleeding.

So when Vanessa announced she was pregnant, he made a terrible, selfish choice. He’d let her keep it.

He planned to tell Emily about his condition later and adopt the baby as their own.

She didn’t need to know the ugly details. She would love that baby anyway. She was too kind, too soft-hearted. Of course she would.

In every single one of his calculations, not once did the thought cross his mind that Emily might leave.

How could she? The girl he’d looked after since childhood, the woman who loved him with everything she had, how could she walk away?

But she did.

And the pain, slow to arrive, now tightened around him like a vice, growing sharper with every breath.

Nathan had always believed that the Emily he spoiled could never survive without him. But the truth was far crueler: he was the one who couldn’t live without her.

Nathan spiraled. He used every contact, every resource. Nothing.

He started drinking, smoking. Within three months, he’d lost twenty pounds. His eyes were hollow, his face gaunt.

He turned off his phone. He stopped seeing anyone, including Vanessa.

She called him obsessively. “Nathan, you still have me. Let’s be a family. I love you more than she ever did.”

“Never,” he said coldly. “Emily’s just angry. She’ll come back. She’s never been able to stay away.”

He ended the call, took another swig of whiskey, and stared ahead with anguished eyes.

“Emily, this is my fault, all of it.” he whispered. “Why can’t I find you? Why can’t I even see you in my dreams?”

Margaret came by a few times, but seeing him like this, she could only stand by helplessly.

All he did every day was drink and scroll through photos of the woman he’d lost.

Every picture, from childhood to high school, to their wedding day, showed her smiling. But after Vanessa came into the picture, those smiles had faded.

“Forgive me,” he whispered to the screen. “Please. Forgive me.”

His phone lit up again. He nearly ignored it, but a single line of text caught his eye.

[Mr. Cole. We’ve located your wife.]