Chapter Seventy-Two

Lauren's POV

I was officially a worse mother than mine was when she was still with me when my father was sick. How did I let a three-week-old die without even trying?

“Take a deep breath, Lauren,” I heard Damien tell me as he took my hand and demonstrated taking a deep breath for me to follow, which was how I realized that I had been holding my breath since the news was broken to me.

“I can’t,” I gasped, shaking my head. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even protect my child.

“Lauren, I know that this is hard. I know it’s going to be hard for the next days to come, but we are going to get through this together. I want you to know that none of this was your fault—”

“No, no, no,” I denied his words as tears welled my eyes and fell along my cheeks. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t do everything I could. What could the baby have done? It was my responsibility to protect our child, Damien.”

“If you’re going to pin the blame on