Chapter 3

Beneath the medical reports was a yellowed letter—the one Casper had handwritten when he confessed his feelings to me. I ran my fingers lightly over his elegant script. The man who wrote this wasn't the same now. These days, all he saw was Sasha. Suddenly, the door flew open, and Casper stepped in. He stopped short when he saw my tear-streaked face. "Why are you crying?" he asked. He moved closer, reaching out to wipe my tears, but I turned my head away. Casper seemed a little lost. "Are you okay, Lis?" I nodded. "I'm fine. I just remembered the day I found out I was going to have my own baby." He spotted the letter in my hand and went still. A jolt of panic hit me, and I stuffed it away quickly. "I grabbed it by mistake earlier when I was looking for something." He gave me a skeptical look. "You shouldn't cry so much, especially now that you're pregnant." "I'm fine. Don't worry." I changed the subject. "Why are you back, anyway?" "I need some clean clothes. Oh, and I meant to ask—what do you want engraved on the baby's anklet?" I blinked, surprised he even cared. "How about 'Forever Blessed'?" Casper suggested. I looked down at my belly, a dull ache settling in my chest. "Up to you." It wasn't so bad. Maybe we'd each find our own kind of blessing now. Casper finished gathering his things and turned to me. "Are you sure you're okay?" The way he looked at me made my stupid heart hope again. "What if I'm not? Would you stay?" He gave an awkward little laugh. "Lis, don't. Sasha's waiting. I don't want her worrying." "Just kidding. Go." The voice in my head taunted me, twisting the knife deeper. Why did I keep expecting anything from him? I needed to stop. I got up and started packing, trying not to think. But the tears came anyway, dragging all those old memories with them. I set my packed bags aside and noticed the jar of stars from the corner of my eye. Each one held a hope I'd carefully folded into existence, but Casper had shattered them all. I picked out a single star, gently unfolding it until it lay flat in my palm. That was when I saw the ring on my finger. He'd made it for me years ago, just like he promised. "I'll make you a ring unlike any other," he'd said. … The next morning, I woke up to a text from Casper. He said the baby anklet was ready and asked me to come pick it up. I hadn't even known he and Sasha had moved from the hospital to a new place until that moment. And now, here I stood in front of an unfamiliar door, ringing the bell. Someone showed me to the yard where Sasha was swaying gently on a swing. She looked like some princess that Casper had wrapped in cotton wool—completely carefree, like nothing could ever disturb her peace. I couldn't help feeling just the smallest twinge of envy. I steadied myself and kept my voice even. "Where's Casper?" Sasha turned to me, her face lighting up with that smug look like she'd won everything. "Oh, Lis, you came for the baby anklet, didn't you?" I just hummed in response. She walked toward me, her grin growing wider, and that was when I noticed the delicate anklet dangling from her necklace. "I liked it, so I had Cas give it to me. You can always ask him to make you another one." That triumphant look on her face hit me like a punch to the gut. My baby would never be born, and all I'd wanted was this anklet made just for them. How could Casper just give it away to her without a second thought? All that old pain came flooding back. I never asked him for anything. I even walked away so he could be with Sasha. I loved him enough to forgive almost anything, but this? This was too much. That was supposed to be our baby's anklet! Rage tore through me, shaking me so hard that I could barely keep myself in check. When I looked at Sasha again, my eyes were bloodshot and blazing. She actually recoiled when she saw my face. My palm cracked against her cheek before she could blink. Her hand flew to her cheek. "How dare you!" "That was for my baby." I couldn't bear to look at her another second. And Casper? I never wanted to lay eyes on him again. As I walked away, the only sound was Sasha's sobs behind me. Casper came running when he heard her crying, his chest tightening at the sight. "Sasha? What happened? Who did this to you?"