The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

I stared at Steven in disbelief.

He quickly handed me the test results. He was clearly looking forward to the arrival of this new life. "You suddenly fainted last night. I was so scared. The doctor ran some tests and found out you're pregnant.

"But with all the stress you've been under lately, your emotions have been unstable, and the baby is at risk. You'll need to stay in the hospital for a while to stabilize the pregnancy."

I took the paper from him. The moment I saw the image of the tiny, unformed life, I couldn't look away. The sight of it brought a small sense of comfort to my shattered heart. Gently, I placed a hand over my abdomen, my mind swirling with thoughts.

Growing up in a single-parent household after my father passed away, I didn't want my child to go through the same.

"Steven," I said, breaking the silence.

He looked at me, confused. "Yes?"

I lifted my gaze and felt a new resolve. "I'm willing to move past everything that's happened. For the sake of this child, let's try to be the way we were before. Can we do that?" Steven met my eyes, then nodded. "Yes."

He then took out a small velvet box. "Honey." His expression was slightly nervous as he opened it to reveal a pair of lily-shaped earrings.

I was surprised. He rarely gave me gifts since we got married. "What's this?"

"It's a present for you," he replied, his voice a bit tense.

"Thank you." I accepted it.

Despite everything that had happened over the past few days, the little life growing inside me gave me a glimmer of happiness.

Just then, Steven's phone rang, and he said he had to leave for work. After a quick kiss, he left the room.

I gently touched my stomach, feeling a sense of tenderness.

At this moment, my phone pinged with a notification. I opened it absentmindedly. It was a message from Zachary-an image of Jessica's Instagram post.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

I tapped on it and saw the caption read, "Thank you, Mr. Pelham, for the diamond ring this morning. By the way, the jewelry store has terrible taste. They threw in these ugly lily-shaped earrings as a freebie. They looked so cheap, so I told Mr. Pelham to toss them." The photo was a selfie of Jessica. What caught the eye most was her hand resting against her cheek, with a massive diamond ring on her ring finger.

The expensive gemstone had a flawless cut, and even in the picture, the diamond sparkled brilliantly.

Upon seeing that, I gripped my phone tightly. The spot where Steven had kissed me felt like it was burning. I suddenly felt sick.

While I was unconscious, my husband wasn't worried about me. Instead, he was buying an expensive ring for Jessica.

And when I woke up, he tried to placate me with the cheap freebies she had discarded.

Did he think so little of me?

Did he really believe that I was so easy to appease and that I would be grateful for her leftovers and forgive him?

A wave of despair crashed over me, threatening to drown me.

Why? Why did he keep hurting me like this and then use empty words to pull me back every time?

Biting my lip, I felt the room spin around me.

Just then, my phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I answered, "Hello?"

"I miss you, Mommy. Can you come see me?" Zachary's voice sounded sad.

He had already hurt himself yesterday. Worried that his emotions might spiral and he'd do something foolish again, I immediately got up and said, "I'll come right now. Where are you?" "You just need to step outside, turn left, and keep walking," Zachary said flatly.

I followed his instructions, and soon, I spotted him standing on the stairs. The sunlight from the window highlighted his pale face, making him look so fragile.

Blood ties were such a strange thing. Even though he had done so many things to hurt me before, seeing him look so vulnerable still made me instinctively feel sorry for him.

I crouched down in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Zachary stared at me. "Ms. Jessie told me that you're pregnant. Even if Daddy doesn't love you, he'll stay with you for the baby. Is that true?"

My heart sank. Why was Jessica telling him these things?

Before I could find the right words to explain, Zachary continued, "She also said that you might be mad at me because of what I did. And when you have another baby, you'll shift your attention to them and won't love me anymore." Had he really thought about all this after finding out I was pregnant? My heart suddenly melted.

He was still just a child, and when faced with problems, he didn't know how to ask an adult for help.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and said sincerely, "No, Zachary. You're my son. No matter what, I will always love you, even if I have other children."

Suddenly, Zachary grinned. "Ms. Jessie also said if the baby was gone, Daddy would only love me, and he'd listen to me and divorce you so he could marry her."

His words sent a chill down my spine.

What kind of things had Jessica been telling him?

I wanted to bring Zachary back to my ward and have a proper talk. He shouldn't be dragged into adult issues like this.

But before I could take a step, I felt my body slipping backward.

A loud crash echoed as I hit the floor, and I heard Zachary's small voice. "I'm sorry, Mommy. Mommy Jessie poured oil on the stairs. She told me to bring you here." Warm blood seeped out from beneath me.

The intense pain coursed through my body, making it nearly unbearable, while my heart felt as if it was being torn apart. My mind spun in a haze.

Despite everything outrageous Zachary had done recently, I understood he was just a child, and I never held it against him.

But even at his young age, he should still have some compassion. Yet, he seemed so indifferent to the fact that I-his mother-was being schemed against by someone else.

I struggled to open my eyes to see Zachary. Through the haze, I saw a blurry figure running down the corridor.

"Help! Someone help me!" I tried to scream, but the pain silenced me.

Sweat poured down my face, mingling with the blood pooling beneath me. Tears streamed down my cheeks as well.

Zachary...

Zachary Pelham!

...

"Honey..." Steven's eyes were bloodshot. Despite being the strong, capable man he always was, his voice trembled as he said, "The baby didn't make it."

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Zachary was pale, his face frozen in shock. Tears streamed down his cheeks like rain. "Please forgive me."

How could I forgive him?

In the moment he had led me to the stairs, and in the instant he coldly ran away, I had completely lost all hope in him.

Zachary continued to apologize, but I remained silent.

He seemed taken aback by my prolonged silence. As he apologized, his frustration grew. "If you won't forgive me, then forget it! I don't want you to be my mom anyway!"

I looked up at him and asked in a hoarse voice, "Haven't you always wanted your Ms. Jessie to be your mom?"

He didn't understand why I was saying this, but he still nodded.

"Alright, then." I smiled. "From today on, I will step aside. I won't be your mom anymore. You can choose whoever you like to be your mom."

Joy ignited in Zachary's eyes at my words.

Steven, standing nearby, felt a surge of dread from my statement. "Don't act impulsively, honey."

"Don't worry. I'm completely calm." As I said that, I felt like I was already dead inside. I couldn't feel anything.

I closed my eyes. "Let this farce end here, Steven. I'll make way for you two. Just let me go."