Love has its end, and there is no return date

Louis walked over and draped his still-warm coat over her shoulders. “It’s raining. What are you doing here?”

Madison bit back the questions rising to her lips. “Today is our seventh wedding anniversary.”

She emphasized *wedding*.

His tone remained gentle. “I’ve been busy with clients lately. I forgot to get you a gift.”

“What would you like? The latest Chanel bag? A Cartier ruby necklace?”

He lied so effortlessly. How many perfect lies had he told her over the years?

She had kept the pregnancy test a secret, hoping to surprise him. Now, it seemed pointless.

A sudden wave of nausea washed over her.

Stumbling to the bathroom, she retched until her vision blurred.

Louis frowned, his gaze fixed on her face. “Are you pregnant?”

Her face was ghostly pale. “Probably just something I ate. I’m not pregnant.”

Unmistakable relief washed over his features. He reached out to steady her. “Let me take you to the hospital.”

She sidestepped his touch. “I’ll just get something from the pharmacy. No need for the hospital.”

Outside, the rain fell in torrents. She walked straight into the downpour.

She couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears streaming down her face.

Within moments, she was soaked to the bone.

Winter had settled over the city, the air biting cold.

For a long time, Madison stood on the street corner before numbly walking into a pharmacy.

She approached the clerk, her voice flat. “I need the abortion pill.”

The clerk looked her over. “The one for early pregnancy?”

“You know what it does?”

Madison placed a hand over her lower abdomen. A tiny life was growing inside her.

It took her a moment to find her voice. “Give me a box. I want to end it.”

After five years with Louis, she’d never gotten pregnant. She had cherished this unexpected gift—had wanted to pour all her love into this child, to let it grow up safe and loved.

But its father didn’t want it.

He was building a family with his first love. He wanted neither her nor their child.

Not long after swallowing the pills, a dull, heavy ache settled in her belly.

Madison struggled to her feet—then felt a sudden, warm gush between her legs.

A trickle of blood, stark and crimson against her skin.

Each movement brought a sharp, scraping pain, less like cramps and more like a brutal evacuation.

In the end, her dream of love had shattered, leaving nothing but bitter ashes.

Madison dialed Louis’s number. “Louis… I want to go home.”

Hearing the strain in her voice, he rushed back.

He found her collapsed in a pool of blood, the crimson stain stark and terrifying beneath her.

His heart lurched.

Panic surging through him, he scooped her up and raced to the hospital.

The doctor handed him a consent form. “Mr. Louis, there’s residual tissue in your wife’s uterus. She needs a D&C.”

“Please sign here.”

The harsh glare of the operating room lights flooded her vision.

Cold, metallic instruments scraped and tugged inside her—a pain so visceral it felt like being torn apart.

A tear traced its way from the corner of Madison’s eye. She closed her eyes against the agony.

As her womb was emptied, something hollowed out inside her as well.

After the procedure, she sat for a long time on a bench outside the operating room.

Finally, she took out her phone and dialed a number she hadn’t called in years.

“Walter… I want to come home.”