But I didn’t give up. Every day, I thought about how to win him over. I convinced myself that if I just kept trying, I'd eventually break through his cold exterior. That persistence led me to a moment of weakness, a single accident and then—Keenan.
I thought that getting pregnant would be the key to a future together. And in a way, it was. Gilbert, with all his family pressures, agreed to marry me. But I was naïve. I convinced myself that once we were married, once we had a family, his heart would soften. I’d finally be able to reach him.
I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Gilbert remained cold as ever, a stone wall that refused to budge no matter how hard I tried. His apathy wasn’t just toward me—it extended to Keenan as well. He never saw our son as a blessing, just an inconvenience. He was blind to the pain we both suffered, blind to how his negligence contributed to Keenan’s deterioration.
And now, Keenan was gone. Our little boy—gone.
Lucy, always quick to dramatize, clutched her cheek and wailed in exaggerated agony. "Gilbert, look at my face! It hurts so much! Why is Lily so uneducated? What if this leaves a scar?"