Their Game Was Watching Me Age

The handwriting was Daniel’s—bold and heavy.

I turned to the first page.

June 12, Rain. The baby is gone. My heart died with her. Natalie is so weak, I can’t cry in front of her. I’m afraid it’ll hurt her more. So I hide outside, pounding the walls over and over.

June 13, Clear skies. Sophia came. She didn’t say a word, just held me. Finally, I could sob freely. To be understood—it feels so good. Her embrace was warm, like a beam of light.

June 15. Sophia gave me a bouquet of white lilies. She said lilies mean ‘strength’ and ‘eternal love.’ She promised she’d always be there for me.

My gaze drifted to the dried flower in the box. My heart felt plunged into ice water.

I turned another page.

July 1. I find myself relying on Sophia more and more. Only with her can I forget the pain for a while. Whenever I see Natalie, I only think of the child we lost. Between us, there is only silence and tears.

Drip.

My tears splattered onto the page, blurring the ink.

Soulmate.

Fate’s arrangement.

So my darkest, most agonizing days had become the soil for their love to bloom.

My tragedy was the most romantic backdrop for their story.

I laughed, bitter tears streaming uncontrollably.

“What are you doing!”

Daniel burst into the room, snatching the journal from my hands.

His face turned ashen when he saw the open box.

“Who told you to touch my things? Natalie Evans, do you have no respect, no boundaries?”

His eyes were bloodshot, like a beast defending its territory.

I stared back at him, my voice steady and cutting.

“Daniel, is everything in here true?”

His gaze darted away, unable to meet mine.

“You had no right to read my journal! That was my privacy—my pain! Who gave you the right—”

“Your pain?” I cut him off, my voice sharp, almost unrecognizable.

“Your pain was holding another woman, falling into ‘eternal love’ with her? What about me? I was on the operating table, losing our child. What was my pain worth?”

“Shut up!”

He raised a hand to shove me.

“You don’t understand anything!”

I didn’t flinch.

We stood there, a room thick with gunpowder.

“You’re right,” I said coldly. “I don’t understand. So tell me now—who do you love?”

That question tore open all his defenses.

He stayed silent for a long time—so long I thought he would never answer.

Finally, he looked up, eyes full of exhaustion and grim resolve.

“Natalie, I’m sorry.”

Not love. Not denial. Just a flat confession.

“I can’t control myself. Sophia… she’s part of me. We can’t be separated.”

Boom—

The last thread in my mind snapped.

There was no pain, only numb emptiness.

So he wouldn’t even lie to me.

I staggered back a step. Suddenly, a stabbing pain seized my abdomen.

Looking down, I saw crimson soaking through my loungewear.

I was bleeding.

“Daniel…” I called out instinctively, my voice trembling. “The baby…”

Daniel saw the blood too. His face drained of all color, pale as death.