chapter 5

Edward's mother was in the middle of another worried plea when the front door swung open.

Edward walked in—and Daisy was with him.

She wore his jacket, the sleeves too long for her, clinging to his arm like a frightened child who'd finally found someone safe. The entire room fell silent. Every pair of eyes turned toward the two of them, frozen in disbelief.

Edward's mother's voice trembled, "Edward, what's going on? Did you… did you do something to let Maria down?"

His father's face turned crimson with rage. "Who is this woman?"

Edward didn't answer immediately. His gaze moved across the living room, taking in the half-packed boxes and bare walls, until it landed on me. "You're moving out?"

"Yeah," I said evenly, "I'm going back to my parents' place."

He exhaled like someone who'd been holding his breath for hours. "Alright. I'll come get you before the wedding next time." He said it casually—like we were still just picking up where we left off. Then he pulled Daisy forward slightly. "This is Daisy. She's a patient I've been treating. The hospital asked me to look after her temporarily—to keep her stable."

He spoke so naturally that it made every doubt in the room sound foolish.

Daisy smiled sweetly and stepped closer to Edward's mother. "Hi, Mrs. Jackson. Dr. Jackson's been so kind to me. He even brought me home for dinner tonight. Since everyone's here, why don't I cook for you? Let me show you what I can do."

Edward's mother hesitated, torn between politeness and fury. She looked at me. "Maria, maybe… we should all sit down and talk this through?"

I was about to refuse when Daisy turned to me with a small, sharp smile hiding behind her sweetness. "Maria, you should stay too. The more, the merrier—right?"

The next sound was a sharp crack.

My mother had slapped her.

The slap echoed through the living room like thunder. Daisy's head snapped to the side, her hand flying to her cheek.

"Mom!" I gasped.

But my mother's eyes were blazing. "You're my daughter," she said, her voice shaking. "You think I don't know how much this hurts you?"

Her words came faster, louder, until they trembled through the air. "You've been with him since you were nineteen. You're twenty-five now—six years! For him, you turned down a scholarship out of state, learned to cook his favorite meals, even memorized the exact model of his favorite surgical scalpel. If your heart weren't breaking, would you really be packing your things?"

Tears stung my eyes, but I couldn't look away.

"I don't care if your wedding is fancy or simple," she went on, her voice cracking. "But today he brought another woman home and expected you to stand there and take it. As your mother, I can't. If you won't fight for yourself, then I will."

Daisy stood frozen, clutching her cheek, tears trembling in her lashes but never falling.

Edward immediately stepped in front of her, his expression dark. "Maria! You're not a child anymore—stop running to your parents every time—"

I didn't let him finish. I strode forward and slapped him across the face.

The sound was sharp, clean, final.

"Edward," I said through gritted teeth, my voice low and steady, "you're the one who deserves it most."

I pulled a folded paper from my bag and threw it at him. It landed against his chest and fluttered to the floor. He bent to pick it up, frowning.

It was a prenatal examination report.

"You know what I regret most?" I asked softly.

When he read the words on the page, his eyes widened in shock. "Maria… you're pregnant?"

I watched the dawning joy spread across his face—raw, bright, almost childlike. He rushed forward, his voice cracking into a laugh. "I'm going to be a dad?" He reached for me, elated, as if all the hurt could be wiped away by that single truth.

For a moment, I almost pitied him. He forgot Daisy was standing right there. Forgot how he'd left me at the altar. Forgot how cold he'd been to me for weeks. It was like the word baby had erased everything.

But the sleepless nights, the heartbreak, the humiliation—none of it vanished.

I shoved him backward, my hands trembling. "Don't get too happy," I snapped. "That baby? Just yesterday, when you begged me at the hospital to help you protect Daisy, I scheduled an abortion."

The paper slipped from his fingers and drifted to the floor, landing with a soft, hollow sound that somehow felt louder than my own heartbeat.

He stared at me, face ashen. "What did you say? Abortion? Maria, are you insane? That's our baby!"

Right on cue, Daisy whimpered, pressing her face against his chest like the victim she wanted to be. "Edward… it's all my fault. If I weren't sick, none of this would've happened to you two…"

The room was silent except for the sound of her trembling voice—and the shallow, uneven rhythm of my own breathing.

For the first time, I didn't feel heartbreak anymore. Just exhaustion.