Only Discovered He Truly Loved Me After I Aborted Our Child

Elaisa's POV

My forehead slammed against the front seat, pain rippling through my belly. Tried lifting my head to call out, but all I saw was Russel protecting Ivy, holding her close as they got out of the car. He was calm, making calls to sort everything out.

It wasn’t until I crawled out of the backseat that he even noticed me. His eyes flickered with surprise, like he’d forgotten I was there. “My stomach... it hurts real bad,” I managed to say, my voice barely hanging on.

Just then, Ivy peeked out from Russel’s arms and spat, “Why is it every time you see me and Russ together, you find some way to steal his attention? Do you hate us being close that much?”

Now, there was a time when even the smallest scrape on me had Russel all worked up. He’d patch me up, tell me jokes, and stay with me until I was better. But today, standing there, sweat running cold down my face, he looked at me with disgust. “Elaisa, how much longer are you going to keep up this act?”

“I’m not...” The words barely came out of me. Even in the ambulance, Russel didn’t so much as look my way. My head throbbed, and my arm had a nasty cut from the glass. It needed stitches, and I could feel every single one because they couldn’t give me anything for the pain—not with a baby inside me.

The doctor, seeing me quiet and tough, shook her head. “You’re strong. Lucky for you, the baby’s alright,” she said, trying to soften the blow.

“Could you schedule a D&C procedure for me?” I asked, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me.

“You don’t want to keep it?” The doctor looked at me strangely. “You were cradling your stomach when you came in. I thought…”

In a hazy moment, I had pictured the old Russel sitting by my bedside, tears in his eyes, worried about me. So instinctively, I had tried to protect our baby. But reality hit hard; I knew that both the baby and I were nothing but a disgrace to Russel. We shouldn’t exist in his world.

The doctor told me I’d need a few days before the surgery, needed to recover a bit. So I left the hospital and took a long walk to apply for a visa. By the time I got back to Meyer's house, night had fallen. I figured Russel and Ivy would be out somewhere, watching fireworks and laughing like they always did.

But there he was, sitting on the couch, waiting like he had something on his mind. “You’re home late,” he said, his voice flat.

“The hospital was busy,” I mumbled, my eyes dropping like they always did when I lied. Russel used to see right through me, but this time, he just nodded, like he didn’t care enough to question it.

“I saved you some supper. Eat something, then call Ivy and apologize.”

I didn’t know what I was apologizing for, but if that’s what Russel wanted, I’d do it. Sitting at the table, I stared at the food—all of Ivy’s favorites, spicy and hot. I forced a few bites, but my eyes stung with tears from the heat.

Russel didn’t take kindly to seeing me cry. He got up, his face hardening, a rare flicker of anger in his eyes. “Elaisa, are you putting on another show? Can’t you stop ruining a good day for once?”

With my spoon and fork shaking, I shoveled food into my mouth, tears spilling down my cheeks. Russel watched me for a moment, then rummaged through the medicine cabinet and pulled out a fancy scar-removal cream he had bought for me long ago. Then, he tossed it on the table like it meant nothing.

“The Meyer family doesn’t owe you anything,” he said, his voice cold as winter wind. “Clean yourself up and don’t embarrass me at the wedding.”

I wanted to tell him it wouldn’t matter much longer. I wouldn’t be around to embarrass anyone soon. But before I could open my mouth, he’d already walked away, leaving me sitting there, alone with my thoughts.