Chapter Three

Ashley stood frozen at the entrance of their home, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on her like a crushing force. She had barely stepped inside when Alex’s sharp voice cut through the silence.

"Where have you been?" His tone was laced with accusation. His arms were crossed, his stance rigid. "Sleeping outside, huh? Are you cheating on me now?"

The words hit her like a slap.

Ashley blinked, her vision blurring as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Cheating?

Her lips parted, but no words came out. She had spent the night drowning in grief at Mia’s apartment, curled up in a cold, unfamiliar bed, shattered beyond repair. And the first thing her husband asked her wasn’t about their child.

Not once had he mentioned their son.

Her body trembled, the sheer heartbreak of it all making it hard to breathe.

Alex scoffed at her silence, stepping closer. "What? Nothing to say? You disappear all night and come back looking like this?" He gestured at her... her wrinkled dress, the dark circles under her swollen eyes, the lifelessness in her expression. "You’re a mess, Ashley. Do you know what people would think if they saw you like this?"

A broken sob escaped her lips.

"Do you even care?" she whispered. Her voice was hoarse from crying, from screaming, from grieving.

Alex frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Her hands clenched into fists. "Do you even care, Alex?" she asked again, her voice rising, thick with raw pain. "Do you care where I’ve been? Do you care why I’ve been gone? Do you care that our—"

Her breath hitched, the words catching in her throat.

She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t force it past her lips.

But Alex didn’t even notice. He just rolled his eyes. "You’re being dramatic. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it later. I just got back, and I don’t have the energy for this."

Whatever it is…

Ashley felt something inside her snap.

A hollow, aching laugh bubbled up from her throat, bitter and broken. "You don’t have the energy?" She shook her head, her nails digging into her palms. "Our son just—" Her voice cracked, and she sucked in a shaky breath. "Our baby is gone, Alex. Gone."

For a moment, the room fell into silence.

Alex’s brows furrowed, his lips parting slightly. "What do you mean?"

Her chest heaved. "I mean he’s dead, Alex!" she screamed, tears pouring down her face. "While you were off doing God knows what, I was running through the streets in the middle of the night, trying to save our son! And you—" She pointed at him, her entire body shaking. "You didn’t answer my calls. You didn’t even know. And now—" A strangled sob broke free. "Now, he’s gone."

Alex blinked, his face unreadable. For a second, she thought... hoped that maybe he’d finally feel something. That maybe the reality of their loss would hit him the way it had shattered her.

But then, he sighed.

"Shit," he muttered, running a hand down his face. "This is a mess."

Ashley stared at him, her vision swimming with disbelief. A mess?

"Our baby just died, and that’s all you have to say?" Her voice was eerily quiet now, dangerously calm.

Alex exhaled heavily. "Look, I’m sorry, okay? But screaming at me isn’t going to change anything." He rubbed his temples as if he were the one exhausted, as if he were the one who had been suffering. "I’ll handle the funeral arrangements. Just… don’t cause a scene, alright?"

Ashley felt the floor tilt beneath her.

Don’t cause a scene?

Her chest tightened, rage and agony swirling into something dark, something unbearable.

She had just lost the only piece of happiness she had left in this world.

And her husband, the man she had sacrificed everything for... cared more about keeping up appearances than the fact that their child was gone.

Ashley took a shaky step back, wiping her tear-streaked face, her breath shallow as she stared at Alex in disbelief. His face twisted into something resembling guilt, but his eyes, those cold, indifferent eyes held none of the pain that was drowning her.

"I'm sorry, Ashley," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I was caught up with work. You know how demanding things have been for me lately."

Her nails dug into her palms. Work?

She had spent the entire night sobbing into Mia’s arms, mourning the tiny life she had carried, and he had been too busy with work?

"You… you were caught up with work?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, shaking with raw emotion.

Alex stepped closer, reaching for her, but she flinched away. He let out a slow breath, lowering his hand. "Ashley, you know I don’t mean it like that." His voice softened, coaxing. "You know how much pressure I’m under. I’m doing everything for us, our family. I didn’t ignore your calls on purpose. I just—" He exhaled, shaking his head. "I didn’t think it was that serious."

A bitter laugh bubbled from her throat, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. "You didn’t think it was that serious? Our child is dead, Alex!" Her voice cracked, but she didn’t care. She wanted to scream. To break something. To make him feel even a fraction of the unbearable pain clawing at her insides.

Alex sighed again, stepping back as if she were the one being unreasonable. "I know you're hurting, okay? But what do you want me to do now? We can’t bring him back, Ashley. We just have to move forward."

Move forward?

Her body trembled with the force of her devastation. How could he say that? How could he act like this was something they could simply move on from?

"You should rest," he continued, his tone now laced with forced patience. "You’re exhausted, and I don’t want you making decisions while you're emotional. We can talk about the funeral later, but please, Ashley…" His voice dropped, smooth and familiar, wrapping around her like a noose. "Don't let this break us. We need each other now more than ever."

Her breath hitched.

The way he said it, so calm, so reasonable, made her chest tighten. She had seen this before, this careful manipulation, the way he twisted things so she’d be the one feeling guilty.

If she pushed him away now, she would be the problem.

If she kept crying, she’d be "too emotional."

If she lashed out, she would be the one ruining their marriage.

Ashley sucked in a sharp breath, the weight of his words pressing down on her like a crushing force. This was how it always went. No matter how much he hurt her, he made her question if it was her fault for not understanding him.

"I know you’re upset," Alex murmured, stepping closer again. "And I hate seeing you like this, baby." He reached out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his touch light, almost affectionate. "But we’re in this together, okay? We always have been."

A fresh wave of tears burned her eyes.

Together?

She had never felt more alone.