Tears stung my eyes. “I’m fine, Mom. Why did the hospital contact me? What’s going on?”
She let out a weak, shaky laugh. “I just… wanted to hear you. I don’t think I can wait until your wedding anymore.”
My chest cracked.
“Mom, please don’t say that. Don’t talk like you’re—”
“Listen,” she interrupted softly, each word slower than the last. “You’ve always been strong, Aria. Stronger than I ever was.”
“Mom…”
“I’m proud of you,” she whispered. “And I love you. Always.”
A sob broke out of me. “I love you too. Please don’t hang up—just stay with me—”
“I’m sorry, baby.”
The line cut.
“No—Mom! No, no, please—Mom!” I screamed into the dead silence.
I ran.
Out of the room. Down the hallway. Past nurses calling after me. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
My legs barely worked, my vision blurred, but I forced myself outside, got into a cab, and begged the driver to go faster.
The ride felt like it stretched forever, each second crushing my chest a little more.
When I finally reached the hospital and rushed into the ICU, everything went quiet.
A nurse looked up.
One glance at her face told me everything before she even spoke.
“Aria…” she said gently, stepping closer. “I’m so sorry. Your mother… didn’t survive.”
My mother’s funeral felt unreal, like I was just drifting through it without actually being there. I stood beside her coffin like a hollow version of myself, staring at the woman who had been my whole world—now silent, cold, unreachable.
Her last call kept replaying in my head. The way she tried to sound calm. The way she said goodbye as if she still had time.
Inside, I felt completely empty.
Julian never came. No calls. No messages. Nothing.
So I didn’t tell him either. He didn’t know my mother was gone. He didn’t know I had collapsed. He didn’t know I was pregnant. He didn’t know I had already chosen to end it.
And maybe that was the truth—I wasn’t important enough for him to care, unless he chose to. I was just too blind to see it before.
When I got back home, the apartment felt heavier than ever, like even the air had given up. I hugged my mother’s worn sweater tightly against my chest and slid down to the floor, crying until my throat felt raw and useless.
I didn’t know how long I stayed there.
Maybe hours. Maybe the whole night.
Then the door opened.
Julian walked in like nothing had happened in the world.