The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 11

He had said the baby couldn't be saved, but the nurse clearly told her the fetus was developing normally.

He had claimed her safety was his top priority, yet he had personally killed their baby for the sake of another woman and another child.

He had even woven his lies to sound like a flawless, irrefutable medical journal article.

Annelise slowly stopped crying, raising her red, swollen eyes to look at him with utter vulnerability. She extended her free hand, the one he wasn't holding, and gently rested it over her flat stomach. Beneath the layers of gauze lay an empty womb and a fresh surgical wound.

"Hackett," she asked softly, her voice trembling with the terror of a survivor and a trace of desperate hope. "Will I... will I ever be able to get pregnant again?"

This was the first trap she had set for him. A trap to test just how airtight his lies really were.

The room fell silent for two agonizing seconds.

Hackett's gaze flickered. He let out a soft sigh, reaching out to gently brush aside the tear-soaked hair clinging to her forehead.

"During the surgery, we had to remove your right fallopian tube. Your left one is still intact, so theoretically, there's still a chance. It's just that the probability... will be lower than normal."

He looked deeply into her eyes, emphasizing every single word with absolute sincerity.

"Don't worry, Anne. We're still young. Let's focus on getting you healthy first. We can take our time with having a baby. There's no rush."

At that exact moment, Annelise's heart turned completely to ice. It felt as though a massive glacier had crushed her, dragging her down into the darkest, sunless depths of the ocean.

*The left one is still intact. There's still a chance.*

What a considerate, hopeful little lie.

He knew full well that during her "appendectomy" four years ago, he had personally tied both of her tubes.

Let alone the left one, she had zero chance of ever conceiving naturally again. This baby had been a gift from above, a miraculous accident born out of his botched tubal ligation.

But he had destroyed that gift with his own hands. And now, he was using a nonexistent "chance" to string her along, keeping her trapped in this cage they called a marriage.

"Okay." Annelise lowered her head, avoiding his gaze. Her voice was as light as a whisper in a dream. "Whatever you say."

Her submissive, pitiful demeanor seemed to satisfy Hackett. He sat with her a little while longer, helped her drink half a glass of water, and reminded her to get plenty of rest until the nurse came in for rounds.

"I have a few things to wrap up in the department. I'll come see you first thing in the morning," Hackett said, standing up and tucking the blanket around her, his tone returning to its usual gentle cadence.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify