Chapter 343

Henry seemed lost in thought but didn’t answer my question. He just smiled faintly, then went into the bathroom to take a shower. It wasn’t until much later, when I asked him again, that he admitted he was scared—scared that the baby might take after me, because if it did, he’d start doubting, start fearing that this child might actually be Xander’s. And it was during this haze of worry and suspicion that he made the biggest mistake of his life—something I couldn’t forgive him for, even after so many years. As summer rolled in, Henry got even busier. After that one time he went with me to a prenatal check-up, he never accompanied me again—not once. He barely even came home for dinner anymore. With my belly growing larger by the day, the uneasiness in my heart kept growing too. It felt like an inexplicable panic, like gripping something slippery and watching it slip through my fingers, an overwhelming fear that something terrible was bound to happen in the future. The doctor said it was