Chapter two

I got a new phone.

I needed it. Not to reconnect. Not to start over. I just needed to say goodbye. To give the people I've known all my life one final call. One last thread of closure.

Tess didn't agree.

She thought it was too soon. Said a clean break was better. No contact, no temptation to spiral backward. But I'm an adult. And maybe, just maybe, hearing Marcus try to explain himself, with distance between us, would give me the closure I never got.

Tess also thinks I should tell him I'm pregnant.

That's a conversation I'm not ready to have.

I listen to the voicemails one by one. His voice, aching through the speaker.

"Hey... I know you don't want to hear from me, but can we please meet so I can explain everything? Please, Gina. I can't do this over the phone."

The words don't change. That was the first one. It's the same in all twenty. That one was the last.

So I do the one thing I said I wouldn't.

I call him back.

He picks up on the first ring.

"Gina. You have no idea how happy I am that you called. I just need a few minutes. Just a few. Then I promise I'll never bother you again."

He sounds breathless. Desperate.

"Marcus, I need to tell you something," I begin, but he doesn't let me finish.

"Where should we meet? That little coffee shop you love? The one with the weird green coffee you're obsessed with?"

I let him talk. That's what he does. He talks, makes plans, takes control. It's almost comforting, the familiarity of it. Almost.

This was always his version of love. Making decisions on my behalf and calling it care.

It was like that from the beginning.

He chose the apartment. He picked the restaurants. The vacations. He even nudged me into med school, because that's what he was doing. His father, his brothers—they were all doctors. So, I followed.

I was bored, exhausted, and constantly trying to convince myself it was my dream too.

After graduation, he told me not to bother working. Said, "I'll take care of you. That's the plan."

And I let him.

I let myself disappear.

I became a stay-at-home girlfriend with nothing but his credit card in my purse and his expectations weighing on my shoulders.

I had no one else. He knew that.

My mother died of cancer. My father didn't survive her death. He took his own life.

I found him.

I was the one who found him.

I thought I was becoming a doctor to honour my mother. That maybe I could save someone else's mom. But the truth is... I didn't know who I was. I still don't.

So I let Marcus decide for me.

His voice pulls me out of the spiral.

"Gina? Are you still there?"

"I won't be able to meet," I say, barely above a whisper. "I took a job in a new city. They needed me to start right away. And honestly, I think it's best if I never see you again. So whatever you needed to say, say it now."

There's a pause.

"You? A job?" He laughs, sharp and disbelieving. "I thought you didn't want to work."

I smile, but it's bitter. It tastes like grief.

"Well, the man who said he'd take care of me just married my best friend. So I can't rely on him anymore."

"I'll always take care of you, Gina. Just say the amount. I'll send it."

That snaps something in me.

"No. Don't waste your family's precious money on me, Marcus. Save it for your wife. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"Gina—"

"Marcus," I cut him off. "I'm not going to call you again. Say what you need to say. Then let me go. I need to move on. I need to start my life. I need to close this chapter."

There's silence. Then, softly, he says, "Right. Okay. I'm sorry. For everything."

He breathes in like it hurts.

"Jessica and I... it just happened. We fell in love and didn't know how to tell you or Tess. It was hard for me too. Living that double life. Seeing you, then going home to her. Then Jessica told me she was pregnant. You know how my family is. We can't have scandal. They planned the wedding in twenty-four hours. That's what you walked in on. We didn't have time to tell anyone. I didn't want it to happen like that. I swear."

And just like that, I can't breathe.

There's something sharp in my chest, something that stabs through my ribs like a knife.

I drop the phone.

My hand flies to my heart, like I can press the pain away. But it doesn't help.

Jessica knew.

She knew I wasn't feeling well. She knew I'd bought pregnancy tests.

I told her everything.

I told her I was scared. That Marcus's family would never accept a baby out of wedlock. That I wasn't ready for marriage, not yet.

She held me while I cried.

She rubbed my back.

She told me everything would be okay.

And the whole time, she was carrying his child.

She comforted me with the same hands that were building a life with him.

I said I wasn't ready. But the truth is, if Marcus had looked at me and said, "Let's get married," I would've planned the entire thing before he even bought the ring.

That's the life I saw for us.

But Jessica saw it first.

She took it.

And Marcus was stupid enough to follow.

And now I'm the one left picking up the pieces.