When Snow Falls, I Let You Go

Zoe wiped her tears with the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together. She was just about to stand and leave when Dylan suddenly turned and looked straight at her.

The moment their eyes met, the warmth on his face vanished. It was replaced with unmistakable disgust.

“Zoe, are you serious? Are you ever going to quit? You followed us all the way here?!”

Zoe quickly tried to explain. “I’m here for the procedure.”

Dylan paused, caught off guard for a second—but before he could say anything, Jenny’s eyes welled up with tears.

Her gaze dropped to Zoe’s stomach and lingered there for just a moment. Then she let out a soft, choked sob and turned to run.

“Jenny!”

Dylan caught her by the wrist, pulling her back. “What’s wrong? Jenny, talk to me!”

Tears streamed down her face. “Dylan… I think we should break up. She’s pregnant with your child!”

Zoe’s voice trembled. “I’m terminating it.”

Jenny glared at her through tears. “That baby is innocent. You’re a monster.”

Zoe was stunned.

If she hadn’t accidentally seen Jenny abusing a cat—and later caught her getting involved with multiple married men—she might have actually believed Jenny was pure and kind.

That moment of discovery was what had pushed Zoe to stay and marry Dylan in her past life.

But Dylan had never believed her. Not then. Not now.

Before Zoe could say anything, Dylan snapped at her with scathing rage.

“You planned this, didn’t you?!

“If you were going to end the pregnancy, you could’ve done it quietly. But no—you had to show up in front of us and put on this pathetic act. Let me make one thing clear: I don’t care. I’m not falling for your manipulative games.”

His voice was loud, echoing through the hallway. Heads began to turn.

And right on cue, Jenny started sobbing uncontrollably, looking as fragile and innocent as a porcelain doll.

The crowd didn’t hesitate to judge.

“What a shameless girl,” someone muttered.

“She looks decent enough. Who knew she was the type to chase after someone else’s boyfriend?”

“Some people really have no shame these days.”

Zoe finally understood what it meant to be condemned without a chance to defend yourself.

Her explanation burned in her throat, but refused to come out.

After a long silence, she lowered her eyes.

“Think whatever you want. You never believe me anyway.”

For a split second, Dylan looked surprised.

But it faded quickly. His expression hardened, his voice sharper than ever.

“You’re disgusting.”

He turned back to Jenny, gently wiping the tears from her face. Without even glancing at Zoe again, he wrapped an arm around Jenny’s shoulders and walked away.

Not long after, a nurse approached.

“Miss Stone, we’re ready for you.”

The chaos ended just like that.

Zoe gave a quiet nod. She placed a hand gently over her stomach, then turned and walked in the opposite direction from where Dylan had gone.

The procedure wasn’t as painful as she had imagined. After resting at the hospital for a few hours, she went home and began packing.

She had decided to move out during her final days here. Dylan clearly didn’t want her around.

Time passed slowly. She stared at the small suitcase on the floor, dazed.

She had lived in the Xander home for six years. Mr. and Mrs. Xander had always treated her well, like their own daughter. They had bought her so many things over the years.

She wouldn’t be taking any of it with her.

Which meant—there wasn’t much that truly belonged to her.

She set the suitcase aside and looked toward the photo frame by the bed.

It was an old group photo—one where she and Dylan looked much younger, their smiles unguarded.

After a moment of hesitation, Zoe took the photo out of the frame and carefully cut herself out of it.

“Zoe!”

The door suddenly slammed open. Dylan burst in, his face dark with fury.

When he saw the suitcase at her feet, he froze. Then his anger only deepened.

“Where do you think you’re going? You think you can run away after pulling something this low?”

Before she could respond, he threw a stack of photographs at her face with a sharp smack.