After that day at the hospital, I didn’t see Sebastian for a while.
Then one afternoon, while shopping for baby things, I ran into Lily.
She looked awful.
Hollow-cheeked.
Disheveled.
She was clinging to the leg of a short, heavyset man in the middle of the mall, sobbing, “I’m carrying your son. You can’t leave me. You have to marry me.”
The man kicked her in the face.
“Get lost. You think you’re worth marrying? Sebastian dumped you in Mexico. For all I know, the brat in your stomach belongs to God knows who.”
People nearby began whispering.
At the mention of Sebastian’s name, Lily suddenly snapped.
“You men care about children more than anything, don’t you? All I had to do was say I was pregnant with his baby, and he threw away his fiancée like trash!”
She wiped the blood from her mouth and laughed like a madwoman.
“Why should Natalie get to decide my fate? Why does she always get to stand above everyone? I don’t regret it. I dragged all of them down with me. That mighty Mr. Donovan? I played him like a fool.”
The man snorted. “You? Played him?”
Lily cackled harder.
“I’m not lying. He beat his pregnant fiancée and dragged her through blood just to avenge me. I’m the one who had the bloodstained carpet thrown out. He killed his own child with his own hands. And the funniest part? He still didn’t know the truth.”
My whole body went rigid.
I told myself not to get involved.
I had Ethan.
I had my child.
I had a real life now.
Why should I waste another second on rotten people and rotten history?
And then I turned.
Sebastian was standing right behind me.
I had no idea how long he had been there.
But judging from his face, he had heard everything.
Every word.
He looked like he had been struck by lightning.
As I brushed past him, he suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into his arms from behind.
Tight.
Shaking.
Hot tears slid down the back of my neck.
My stomach flipped with visceral disgust. I tried to shove him off, but he held on like a drowning man.
His voice was wrecked.
“Natalie… I didn’t know. I swear to God, I didn’t know you were pregnant with our baby back then. I know I was wrong. Please… let me come back. Let me make it up to you.”
I was stunned.
After hearing something that cruel, how could he still have the nerve to ask for time to reverse itself?
“Let go.”
My voice was flat.
His arms only tightened.
I tore myself free with all my strength, turned around, and slapped him.
The crack of it rang out clearly.
His face snapped to the side.
I rubbed my numb palm and looked at him coldly.
“That slap was for the child who never got to live. As for you, Sebastian… I will never forgive you. And I will never go back.”
His face was full of despair.
Still, he reached for me again.
“I know you won’t forgive me easily. I’ll spend my whole life making amends. Natalie, come back to the States with me. I swear I’ll treat this child as my own.”
A deep, icy voice cut across him.
“Do you think I’m dead?”
An arm slid around my waist and pulled me into a broad, familiar chest.
Ethan.
He didn’t even spare Sebastian a proper glance. He kissed my forehead lightly, one hand protectively on my back.
“Sorry, baby. I know today was hard. The company issue came up this morning, otherwise I would’ve stayed for the appointment.”
He really had tried. He’d texted me nonstop the entire time.
I smiled up at him automatically.
“It’s okay. The baby was very good today.”
Chloe, who had arrived halfway through the spectacle, whistled under her breath. “My job here is done. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”
As she passed Sebastian, she sneered, “Serves you right.”
I was so focused on Ethan that I never saw the expression on Sebastian’s face as we left.
Never saw how completely abandoned he looked.