Severing All Our Ties

Under the medical reports was a yellowed piece of paper.

It was the first love letter Zachary had ever written to me.

Gently, I traced the elegant handwriting on the paper. He wasn't the same man I had fallen in love with. Now, he only cared about Sienna.

Suddenly, Zachary burst into the room. He froze for a moment when he saw me crying. "Why are you crying?"

He came over and reached out to wipe my tears, but I ducked away from him.

"Evie, are you okay?" he asked, clearly dumbfounded.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about what it would be like to have a child of my own."

Zachary's gaze fell onto the yellowed paper in my hands. He paused.

Suddenly panicked, I quickly pulled the paper away. "I found this while looking for something else just now."

He gave me a skeptical look. "You're pregnant. You shouldn't be so negative all the time."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," I insisted. "Why did you come back anyway?"

"I came to grab some clothes. I also wanted to ask you—do you want anything engraved on the baby bracelet?" he said.

I was taken aback. I hadn't expected him to care about that.

"How about our initials?" he suggested.

I lowered my head, my gaze falling onto my stomach. A bitter ache welled up in me. "Whatever you like."

It didn't matter anyway.

After packing his clothes, Zachary looked at me again. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Seeing this, a flicker of hope stirred in me. "If I said I wasn't okay, would you stay?"

He smiled awkwardly. "Don't be difficult, Evie. Sienna's waiting. I don't want her to worry."

"I was kidding. Go ahead," I told him.

On the inside, I scoffed at myself.

What did I expect? I shouldn't have expected anything better from him.

After he left, I got up and packed my things as well. I tried not to dwell too much on Zachary, but the tears still fell.

I put my packed suitcase aside. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the jar of paper stars again.

Every single star was a heartfelt wish that Zachary had shattered.

I took out one of the stars and unfolded it. As I did so, I saw the ring on my finger—the one he had crafted for me himself.

"I will make you a ring that is one of a kind," he had vowed.

…

The next morning, I woke up to find a text from Zachary. He told me that the baby bracelet was done, and I needed to pick it up.

Apparently, he and Sienna had moved out of the hospital and into a new place. I only found out today.

I stood in front of the unfamiliar door and pressed the doorbell.

The person who opened the door led me to the yard, where Sienna was swinging from a branch leisurely.

Zachary treated her like a princess. She did not need to concern herself with anything—her life was perfectly carefree and untouched by worries.

I envied her—just a little.

Collecting myself, I asked calmly, "Where's Zachary?"

Sienna turned, a smug expression spreading across her face. "Oh, Evie. You're here for the bracelet, aren't you?"

I nodded.

The smug look intensified as she got off her swing and walked toward me. It was then that I noticed a delicate bracelet around her wrist.

"I liked it, so I asked Zachary to give it to me," she said. "If you want a bracelet, I'll let him know. He'll make another one for you."

I stared at her, my heart feeling like it had turned into a block of ice.

My child had already lost the chance to be born into this world. I just wanted them to have something of their own—just a simple bracelet.

But Zachary just gave it away to Sienna.

All the pain I felt throughout the past few years reemerged. I had never asked Zachary for anything other than the bracelet. I had let him spend all his time with Sienna. I used to love him, so much so that I could forgive him for anything.

But why did he have to go this far? That bracelet belonged to our child!

Shaking with anger, I looked up at Sienna, my eyes bloodshot.

She seemed startled by my reaction. Before she could react, I slapped her hard across the face.

She held her hand to her cheek in shock. "How dare you hit me!"

"That slap was for my child."

I didn't want to see her or Zachary ever again. I turned and left.

Behind me, Sienna wailed.

Zachary rushed over when he heard the commotion. He was immediately concerned when he saw Sienna crying. "Sienna, what happened? Who hit you?"

Sienna slipped the bracelet off her wrist while Zachary was distracted and put it in her pocket. Then, tearfully, she said, "It was Evie. She said she was here for a bracelet, but I didn't know where it was. Then she said I lost it on purpose and slapped me!"

Upon hearing this, Zachary was furious. Sienna hastily tried to console him, saying it was nothing.

On second thoughts, Zachary found the situation strange. Why would I slap Sienna for no reason?

"Zach, my face hurts," Sienna sobbed.

Zachary comforted her in gentle tones even as the doubt in his mind grew.

Just then, one of their household staff approached, interrupting his thoughts. "Dr. Landy is here."

Upon looking at Sienna's questioning look, Zachary said, "You don't like hospitals, right? I brought my private doctor here so you won't have to go to a hospital in the future."

…

After Dr. Landy gave Sienna a quick examination, he took out a stack of documents that he had brought over from the hospital.

"I picked up Ms. Lawson's medical records from the hospital and took a look. As long as she avoids extreme emotional distress, she'll recover fine. You do not have to worry, Mr. Harrow."

Zachary breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, Dr. Landy took out another report and continued, "But your wife needs more attention. I happened to see Ms. Mueller's most recent report at the hospital, so I brought it over as well. She will need a lot of rest and proper care, or she might have trouble conceiving in the future."

Zachary frowned, confused. "What do you mean? What's wrong with her?"

"She just miscarried, so she needs proper care…"

"Miscarried?" Zachary interrupted, looking shocked. "What miscarriage? Who had a miscarriage?"

Dr. Landy was confused by his ignorance. "Did you not know? Ms. Mueller had a miscarriage last week."

Zachary was stunned. Questions filled his mind.

Why hadn't he been told? Why had I said nothing to him?

He snatched the report from Dr. Landy. Sure enough, my miscarriage was recorded right there on the paper.