I had believed them. I had truly thought they had finally accepted our choice.
Then… I saw the picture.
It was a family photo on Leah's social media.
Charles. Another woman. A little boy.
Smiling. Happy. Complete.
The moment I saw it, something inside me shattered. The illusion I had clung to crumbled like sand slipping through my fingers. The truth cut through me like a blade, sharp and merciless.
His frequent trips to another city had never been about visiting aging parents.
They had been about them.
His real family.
The joyful moments Leah had captured so fondly, so effortlessly, felt like knives tearing through me, robbing me of breath, leaving nothing but searing pain in their wake.
I parted my lips, but the escaped sound was hoarse, barely recognizable.
"And what about me? Charles, when you treat me like this… isn't that just as heartless? Just as cruel?"
A flicker of guilt crossed his face, softening the steel in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Natalie. I never wanted you to endure the pain of childbirth. But if you're willing, I can bring them here. We can all live together—"
I let out a bitter laugh, the sound sharp and hollow.