The One Who Waited

Irina knew exactly what Sophie and her mother, Beth White, meant to Uriah.

Uriah's parents always worked late when he was a kid, so he would often eat dinner at Beth's house.

Beth was a single mom who raised Sophie on her own. Since they were kids, Uriah and Sophie were everyone's idea of the perfect golden couple. Everyone assumed they would go from being childhood sweethearts straight to walking down the aisle together.

During Uriah's senior year of high school, Sophie and Beth moved abroad, and they stayed gone for eight years. Three months ago, Sophie returned with Beth, who had pancreatic cancer, and they came to find Uriah.

From the moment they returned, Uriah started coming home less and less frequently.

Whenever Irina asked, his answer was always the same: he was at the hospital. Since she understood Uriah's relationship with Sophie and Beth, Irina never complained once, firmly believing that their relationship was solid enough that it would not crack just because his childhood friend had come back.

At first, Irina even volunteered to help connect them with specialist doctors. However, her involvement gradually seemed to make both Uriah and Sophie uncomfortable. Things escalated to the point where Sophie would burst into tears the moment Irina showed up.

Eventually, Uriah told Irina to stop coming to the hospital altogether.

Irina had no idea what she had done wrong, especially since she had not fought or made a scene. She had simply waited patiently for it all to be over, for Uriah to finish dealing with everything, so they could return to the way things used to be.

However, this ectopic pregnancy surgery and Uriah's attitude were starting to shake her faith.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Irina texted Uriah and attached a photo of her medical records.

At the same hospital, Uriah frowned at the message on his phone.

Sophie, sitting beside him, leaned over to look too. Before Uriah could say anything, Sophie's eyes immediately reddened, and tears fell one after another as her voice began to choke.

"I'm so sorry, Uriah. I shouldn't have come to you... I know Irina's scared I'll steal you away, so she made up this ridiculous story. Mom and I have ruined what you and Irina had. I'm so sorry."

For just a split second, Uriah had felt a flicker of panic. Then, he thought about how in these past three months, he had barely been home at all because of Beth's illness, and he and Irina had not been intimate in ages. He also knew Irina well enough to know she would never cheat.

This had to be another one of her desperate attempts to get his attention, to make him prove he still loved her.

Uriah tenderly ruffled Sophie's hair, his voice incredibly gentle. "This has nothing to do with you. I've just been spoiling her too much, that's why she'd make up lies like this."

"Thank you, Uriah. Without you, I really don't know what I'd do." Still crying, Sophie threw herself into Uriah's arms.

Uriah gently patted Sophie's back, offering her comfort.

After spending a while consoling Sophie, Uriah finally found time to text Irina back. His message read, [Irina, Ms. White doesn't have much time left. You know how much she took care of me when I was little, so please be mature about this and stop making a scene. Also, you shouldn't say such vicious things about yourself and our future child. Once things settle down, I promise I'll make it up to you.]