A Love Built on Deception

I sat motionless all night while Sean remained utterly oblivious.

...

The next morning, I received a text from him on my way to the hospital.

[Sean: Darling, I'm heading to work. I have a meeting in the neighboring city, so I may be home late. I'll bring you a gift.]

The irony was suffocating. Just as I finished reading his message, I looked up and saw Sean in the distance, carefully wrapping a scarf around Jenna's neck before walking over to start the car for her.

Jenna noticed me. With a smirk full of disdain, she strutted over, her gaze dropping to my legs like she was looking at some joke.

"So, you can stand again now? Natalia, you keep surprising me—first you're standing, now you're pregnant?"

She tilted her head, her voice dropping to a mocking whisper. "Tell me—if I kill your baby, do you think Sean will blame me?"

Before I could react, Jenna lunged at me like a madwoman. She shoved me with all her strength, sending me crashing to the ground. Then, as if on cue, she collapsed as well, clutching her stomach and wailing in pain.

"Ah! It hurts! Sean, it hurts so much! My baby…"

Sean came running from a distance and frantically took Jenna into his arms, his voice urgent and worried. As for me—pale-faced and bleeding on the ground—he did not spare me a single glance, not even recognizing that the person lying there was me.

I watched their retreating figures and silently wiped my tears.

...

After losing the baby and leaving the operating room, I did not linger. I went straight to the airport.

At the airport, I made one last phone call to my dance instructor, Pierre Fosse. "Mr. Fosse, please help me by covering my whereabouts."

After we hung up, I received taunting messages from Jenna.

[Jenna: Natalia, Sean said your life is nothing compared to mine. Oh, and he also said that he was thinking of me when he was with you. You could never satisfy him.]

[Jenna: He has only ever loved me. Even if you can stand now, as long as I don't want you to, you'll never dance again in this lifetime!]

[Jenna: As for that baby? I was never going to let you have it. And if you don't learn your place, I won't mind making sure Sean breaks your legs again! So, stop dreaming. Sean never loved you.]

She was right—perhaps Sean had never loved me. Nonetheless, I did not care anymore and was letting him go.

Before leaving, I sent him one last message.

[Sean, I hope you'll like your birthday gift tomorrow.]

After that, I blocked all contact with him and boarded the plane without looking back.

...

When Sean received Natalia's message at the hospital while accompanying Jenna for her checkup, he momentarily paused. Since he was too busy, he temporarily ignored it.

The entire day passed without another message from Natalia. Though Sean had initially planned to go home, Jenna's deliberate seduction made him lose himself in her completely, and they spent the entire night tangled together.

The next day at noon, the first thing Sean did upon waking late was check his phone. When he saw that Natalia had not sent him a single message all night, an unsettling feeling crept into his heart. His instincts kicked in, and he immediately tried calling her.

When the call could not get through, a sudden wave of unease hit him, making his fingers tremble as he quickly typed out a message.

[Sean: Darling, I'm sorry. My phone died last night, and I got caught up with work. I couldn't come home. But I'll make it up to you—I'm on my way now.]

Just as he was about to send it, Carlile called him. "Mr. Walsh, you need to come to the office right away. A courier just delivered Mrs. Walsh's miscarriage records!"

Sean nearly dropped his phone, wondering if he had misheard. "What did you say? Who had a miscarriage?"

"It was Mrs. Walsh," Carlile said, stammering, seemingly afraid Sean would get angry.

Then, he quickly said, "Mr. Walsh, I just had someone look into it. Mrs. Walsh was pushed at the hospital entrance yesterday and fell to the ground. That caused the miscarriage!"

Carlile continued, saying, "Uh—and one more thing. Mrs. Walsh seems to be able to walk now. Uh—also, she's missing. We can't reach her!"