Winter Without You

When I woke again, I was already lying in a hospital bed.

The doctor walked over, removed his mask, and said with regret, "Your allergic reaction was severe. During treatment, the baby couldn’t tolerate the medication… We couldn’t save your child."

It felt like my heart plunged into ice. I placed a hand over my stomach as tears streamed down my face.

'I’m sorry, baby. I couldn’t protect you.'

At that moment, my phone rang.

Breathless, Ronan said, "I couldn’t leave the game earlier, so I had security send you to the hospital. How are you? Are you and the baby okay?"

So playing basketball with Brynn mattered more to him than our child.

I said nothing.

Suddenly, Brynn's voice came through the phone. "Good boy, what are you standing there for? Hurry back. It’s your turn.

"Calista just fainted because pregnancy makes her sleepy. You know she can fall asleep anywhere. If you ruin the mood again like last time, I won’t play with you anymore."

He quickly ended the call.

"Calista, since you’re awake, you must be fine. I’ll finish the game first and come to the hospital later."

The call disconnected. Each beep felt like something inside me breaking.

When no one loves you, even dying wouldn’t matter to anyone.

By the time I left the hospital, it was already evening. I called Ronan, wanting to talk about the divorce.

He didn’t answer.

Then suddenly my phone flooded with notifications from a group chat.

I opened it.

Brynn had posted a video. Ronan was at a karaoke bar named Nocturne, singing a love song to her.

Their friends flooded the comments.

"Just get together already!"

"Forget women. Bros are better. Say you’ll be my new sister-in-law!"

"Totally! Brynn’s way better than his wife. At least she doesn’t kill the mood by doing something stupid like throwing cake."

She replied with a smirking emoji: "You idiots, stop talking nonsense. Ronan is only fit to be my obedient son for life, got it?"

My hands trembled as I exited the group.

I went straight to Nocturne. When I reached the entrance of the private room, I saw Ronan inside wearing nothing but his underwear.

Brynn was dressed just as revealing in nothing but a bra and panties, like a makeshift bikini. She looked annoyed.

"My luck sucks tonight. I keep losing. If this keeps up, I’ll be completely naked." She walked over and slapped his backside. "Good thing my obedient son is here to keep me company. Daddy doesn’t have to humiliate herself alone."

One of the men joked, "Hey, why do you two have matching tattoos on your backs? Couple tattoos, huh?"

That was when I saw it—the wing tattoo on Brynn's back matched Ronan's perfectly.

He had once told me he got it when he was young and foolish. So he had already given his heart away long ago. I was the only one left in the dark.

She insisted on another round and lost again.

Someone teased, "So what’s it going to be this time? Top or bottom?"

Ronan suddenly rushed forward and shielded her behind him.

"I’ll take the punishment for her!"