Privately, employees had already begun calling him “little boss.” Claire never denied it—she even introduced him warmly to the whole company.
She had even gone so far as to secretly terminate our barely-formed pregnancy, just to focus on caring for Ryan.
“We can have another baby later. Right now, Ryan’s health comes first.”
That little life we had waited over five years for—she ended it as if it were nothing.
The last flicker of emotion I held for her vanished with her fading silhouette.
I waited at home for Claire Miller for two days, but instead, what came was her social media post.
The caption read: “I hope you’ll always be healthy and full of sunshine.”
The background was a honeymoon island resort.
Claire stood in the center of the photo, smiling brightly as Ryan Carter, the man who had supposedly disappeared, held her by the waist.
I couldn’t help but comment:
“Ms. Miller, please come back and sign the divorce papers, so you don’t delay your honeymoon with your new husband.”
Three seconds later, Claire’s furious voice exploded over the phone:
“Ethan Brooks, do you know that when I found Ryan at the Carter family’s old house, he almost jumped off the roof?”