PART 2 — WHAT SOPHIE HAD BEEN HIDING

The nurse disappeared behind the doors.

I remained frozen in the hallway.

“Mrs. Moretti?”

The words echoed in my head.

Sophie wasn’t my wife anymore.

But apparently, somewhere inside this hospital, she was still being treated as one.

I looked at her.

“Why did she call you that?”

Sophie lowered her eyes.

“I didn’t correct her.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t know what else to say.”

I sat beside her.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then I noticed the bracelet around her wrist.

There was a second line beneath her name.

A room number.

And a date.

My eyes moved to it.

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

Her face went pale.

“Ethan…”

“What happens tomorrow?”

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, tears were running down her cheeks.

“The doctors are going to perform surgery.”

My chest тιԍнтened.

“For what?”

She looked at me.

“For the baby.”

Everything inside me went silent.

“The what?”

Her hand moved slowly over her stomach.

“I didn’t know at first.”

I stared at her.

“You’re pregnant?”

She nodded.

My mind struggled to catch up.

Five years of marriage.

Two miscarriages.

Two losses that had nearly destroyed us.

And now—

“Sophie…”

“I found out after the divorce.”

My throat тιԍнтened.

“How far along?”

“Almost five months.”

I couldn’t speak.

Five months.

That meant she had been pregnant when she left.

She had walked out of our penthouse carrying our child.

And I had let her go.

“You knew?”

“I found out after I moved.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She looked away.

“Because I was scared.”

“Of me?”

“No.”

She wiped her tears.

“Of what would happen if you knew.”

I leaned forward.

“Sophie, I’m the father.”

“I know.”

“Then you should have called me.”

Her voice broke.

“You were already drowning in your family.”

I flinched.

“You thought I wouldn’t want the baby?”

“I thought you’d want to protect us.”

“I would.”

“And that’s exactly what frightened me.”

I stared at her.

She continued.

“The pregnancy wasn’t normal.”

Her hand trembled against her stomach.

“The doctors found something during an ultrasound.”

My heartbeat became painfully loud.

“What?”

“They said the baby has a serious condition.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“They aren’t sure he’ll survive the surgery.”

The hallway blurred.

I looked at the woman beside me.

My wife.

My ex-wife.

The woman I had abandoned because I thought leaving would give her peace.

She had been carrying our child through every appointment.

Every scan.

Every sleepless night.

Alone.

I reached for her hand.

She hesitated.

Then let me take it.

Her fingers were cold.

“I thought you hated me,” I whispered.

She looked at me.

“I never hated you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Her eyes filled again.

“Because every time I looked at you, I remembered the two babies we lost.”

I lowered my head.

The words cut deeper than any weapon ever could.

“I couldn’t survive watching you lose another one.”

I closed my eyes.

For the first time in years, I had no order to give.

No enemy to threaten.

No problem money could solve.

Just a frightened woman.

An unborn child.

And a second chance I hadn’t earned.

I squeezed her hand.

“Sophie.”

She looked at me.

“I’m not leaving.”

Her lips trembled.

“You don’t understand.”

“No.”

I looked toward the operating room doors.

“But I’m finally starting to.”

A surgeon appeared at the end of the hallway.

He looked at Sophie.

Then at me.

“Mr. Moretti?”

I stood.

“Yes.”

The surgeon’s expression was grave.

“We need to speak privately.”

I glanced at Sophie.

She immediately reached for my hand.

“Don’t go.”

I turned back to her.

“I won’t.”

The surgeon hesitated.

Then he said quietly,

“Then both of you need to understand something before we take her to surgery.”

His eyes moved to Sophie’s stomach.

“There may be a reason the pregnancy has become so dangerous.”

My blood ran cold.

“What reason?”

The surgeon looked at Sophie.

She closed her eyes.

And I realized there was still one secret she hadn’t told me.

A secret that could change everything.