Seven Years Of Rain Stopped The Day I Signed The Consent Chapter 01

Seven Years Of Rain Stopped The Day I Signed The Consent Chapter 01

The doctor said there was no fetal heartbeat anymore.

As the surgical lights came on overhead, my phone buzzed beside my pillow. My husband, Adrian Whitmore, had just updated his social media.

The photo had been taken on a storm-battered beach. His suit jacket was draped over Chloe Parker’s shoulders.

Chloe was the woman he always called his so-called little sister.

The caption read, [Storms are scary. Good thing she’s got me.]

It had been posted two minutes ago.

Half an hour earlier, I had fallen down the steps in the pouring rain.

Clutching my cramping lower abdomen, I called him three times. He hung up all three times, leaving me with nothing but an automatic reply.

[In a meeting. I’ll get back to you later.]

In seven years of marriage, this was the third time I had ended up in the hospital alone.

The first time, I had acute gastroenteritis. He was with Chloe while she had a wisdom tooth removed.

The second time, I fractured a bone in an accident. He was helping Chloe fix a leak in her apartment.

In the past, I might have cried and demanded answers. I might have fallen apart and made a scene.

But now, staring at that photo on my screen, not a single tear came.

I only felt tired.

A nurse came over with the paperwork.

“Your anesthesia is ready. Has your emergency contact arrived yet?”

“There’s no need to wait. He isn’t coming.”

Calmly, I picked up the pen and signed the D&C consent form. Then I blocked Adrian’s number.

Outside, the rain was still pouring.

After seven years, the storm inside me finally went quiet.

***

“Evelyn, perfect timing. Adrian’s stomach has been bothering him, so I made him some chicken rice porridge. Please don’t upset him again.”

The moment I opened the door, Chloe was standing in the entryway wearing my slippers.

She was wearing Adrian’s white shirt, the sleeves rolled to her elbows, with an anti-anxiety wristband around her wrist.

She always claimed thunder terrified her. Terrified her enough to post her location and wait for Adrian to show up. Terrified her enough to drag him to the beach in the middle of a hurricane-level storm.

I held on to the doorframe as a dull pain pulled through my lower abdomen.

I had just come out of surgery. The doctor had told me to stay in bed for the next two days and avoid any emotional stress.

Adrian walked out of the kitchen holding a bowl. When he saw me, his brows drew together.

“Where have you been? You disappeared for two days, and I couldn’t even reach you.”

I lowered my head and changed my shoes.

“The hospital.”

He set the bowl on the table.

“What happened this time?”

This time.

The words almost made me laugh.

Chloe immediately jumped in.

“Evelyn, don’t blame Adrian. The signal at the beach was terrible yesterday, and my phone got soaked.”

“You know storms trigger my anxiety. When the thunder was at its worst yesterday, my heart rate shot up to one-sixty. Adrian was scared out of his mind.”

“He was driving, and I kept crying. He couldn’t exactly answer your calls and risk getting distracted, could he?”

Adrian stared at me.

“What were you doing at the hospital?”

After a brief pause, I said, “I had a small procedure.”

Chloe covered her mouth with a gasp.

“Oh my God. Was it because you fell in the storm yesterday?”

Adrian’s expression darkened.

“You called me because you fell? Then why didn’t you just text me and explain? Why did you have to make it look like some desperate bid for attention?”

I looked at the face I had loved for seven years and could not stop myself from saying, “I called you three times. You hung up three times. Would texting have made any difference?”

“My phone was on auto-reply, and I really was dealing with Chloe’s emergency.”

Adrian sounded irritated now.

“If it was that serious, shouldn’t you have called 911 first? Why are you standing here acting like I failed some test?”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored his accusation and walked straight toward the bedroom.

Maybe I was too calm, because it seemed to unsettle him.

Before, I would have argued. I would have asked him what exactly Chloe was to him.

Then he would slam the door, Chloe would cry, and somehow I would become the unreasonable one.

Adrian caught my arm and pushed the bowl toward me.

“Since you’re home, eat something warm first. Chloe spent two hours making this.”

The smell of the soup hit me, and nausea rolled through my stomach.

“I’m not eating.”

I pulled my hand free.

The smile on Chloe’s face froze. Her eyes reddened instantly.

“Do you hate my cooking that much, Evelyn? I know you don’t like me using your kitchen, but Adrian had no appetite…”

Adrian frowned.

“Evelyn Hart, didn’t you used to love chicken rice porridge? Can you stop acting so cold over every little thing?”

“You’re the one who loves it, not me. I’m tired. I need to rest.”

I turned, went into the guest room, and shut the door behind me.

My phone screen lit up.

It was a message from Engineer Lawson, the project lead for the wind farm in northern New Mexico.

[Evelyn, something went wrong with the core renewable energy project. The original chief engineer collapsed.]

[The project has to begin grid-connection testing next week. You’re the only person in the country who knows these core blueprints inside out. I know you’re married and it may be hard for you to leave, but this project represents years of federally backed work.]

[If you’re willing to come back and take charge, you need to land in New Mexico by tomorrow night at the latest. Can you do it?]

I stared at the words for a long time.

Seven years ago, I had been the youngest star engineer at the engineering firm.

Because Adrian once said, “I’ll take care of you,” I gave up my promotion, stayed home, and turned myself into a wife who cooked and cleaned, a woman who fell apart because her husband draped his jacket over someone else.

My fingertips trembled as I slowly typed one word.

[Yes.]

Chloe’s wounded little voice drifted in from outside the door.

“Adrian, the breaker in my apartment still hasn’t been fixed, and they said there might be more thunder tonight. Maybe I should sleep in the study? I promise I won’t disturb Evelyn.”

Then came Adrian’s gentle reassurance.

“Don’t be scared. You can stay here tonight.”

I let out a cold laugh, switched out of the chat, and sent my lawyer a message.

[Don’t revise the agreement anymore. Send me the final version tomorrow morning and get this done as fast as possible.]