"He's still too young to be away from June. I brought them here to stay with us. It'll give you two a chance to bond."
The next second, June turned to me with reddened eyes, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm so sorry, Serena. Please don't blame Patrick. It was all my fault. A year ago, someone drugged me. Those men were going to assault me, and Patrick saved me. I never expected to get pregnant. The doctor said my uterine lining is too thin. If I'd terminated, I might never conceive again. I'm sorry..."
My breath locked in my chest. The cold cut straight to the bone.
A year and a half ago, Patrick and I were planning our future. He held me and said, "Just a little longer. Next year, we'll have our baby."
A year and a half ago, on my birthday, he threw a lavish party. He released sky lanterns and presented me with a one-of-a-kind opal diamond ring, swearing he would love only me for the rest of his life.
A year and a half ago, he coaxed me to sleep every night and made love to me.
And while he was doing all of that, he had already fathered a child with June.
Blood surged up my throat. I choked it back down.
"You're both disgusting."
There was a time when June stole from me, slandered me, and Patrick stood up for me every single time.
He even forced June to apologize to my face.
He pursued me for an entire year. Fresh flowers flown in daily. Breakfast made by his own hands. He memorized every little thing I loved and hated.
When he proposed, he knelt before me and cried like a child. He gave me the grandest wedding.
Eight years. From seventeen to twenty-five, I poured every ounce of love and trust I had into him.
And now, barely weeks after I lost our baby, he was moving June and their child into our home.
I laughed until my whole body trembled. Tears ran unchecked down my face.
"Patrick, can you look our child in the eye and say this is fair?"
His gaze darted away. Guilt swelled dark and heavy behind his eyes.
But June's sobbing pulled him back. He sighed.
"Serena, just be good about this."
I wiped my tears. My voice went quiet. Steady.
"Fine. They can stay."
He froze. He hadn't expected me to agree so quickly.
In his mind, I should have fallen apart. Screamed. Thrown things. Made a scene.
I turned and walked away. I had barely reached the foot of the stairs when Patrick's voice carried after me.
"Have the nursery cleared out. The baby will sleep there."