Chapter 161

Lucas jolted awake with a gasp. His body tensed as his gaze dropped to Claire’s abdomen, his hand instinctively reaching out.

"Claire, the baby—"

She was barely five weeks along. Her stomach showed no signs yet, still perfectly flat.

There was no way to tell just by looking.

Claire didn’t spare him a glance. She walked past him, cold and detached, as if he were nothing more than a stranger.

Lucas stood frozen for a heartbeat before whirling around, his voice rough. "Claire?"

Silence.

At that moment, Evelyn spotted her.

She immediately abandoned Isabella, who was barely clinging to consciousness, and rushed to Claire’s side.

"What do you want to eat? I’ll get you anything."

Claire hadn’t eaten since last night. The nausea had been relentless, and now—

The surgery had taken hours, and Evelyn knew Claire must be starving by now.

After a brief hesitation, Claire grinned. "If you're paying, let's go all out! Your husband's loaded anyway!"

Since switching to modeling, Claire had been surviving on salads and protein shakes.

But today was special.

A fresh start deserved a proper celebration.

Evelyn linked arms with her. "Perfect. Let's head out now—should beat the dinner rush."

Just as they turned to leave, Lucas suddenly stepped in front of them.

His eyes were bloodshot, his voice raw. "Why are you avoiding me, Claire? What about our baby?"

Claire's reply was ice. "Gone."

Lucas staggered back as if struck. Tears welled in his eyes, spilling over.

"You—how could you?" His voice cracked. "That was our child. How could you just—"

Claire cut him off. "Because I chose to. My body, my choice. What's it to you?"

The words sliced through him like a blade.

The thought struck him like a physical blow—How did we end up here?

"Claire, how could you do this?"

His voice cracked. "How could you just—without even telling me—"

Claire's finger trembled as she pointed at Isabella, still crumpled on the floor, her face twisted in pain. "I was going to tell you. But you left. The moment she called, you walked away."

Lucas froze. "So that's what you wanted to say? That you were going to—" His throat closed around the word.

"Yes." Her stare was glacial, cutting through him like winter wind. "I gave you a chance, Lucas."

A cold sweat prickled down his spine. The realization hit him like a tidal wave—drowning him in regret.

She had given him a chance.

If he had stayed. If he had listened instead of rushing off at Isabella's beck and call—

He could have stopped this.

But he hadn't.

He'd chosen her over Claire.

Now, the consequences wrapped around him like chains—pain, confusion, helplessness, all twisting tighter until he couldn't breathe.

Lucas's vision blurred, his arms hanging uselessly by his sides. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Claire’s gaze again.

The realization crashed over him like a tidal wave.

This is all my fault. Every single bit of it.

The doctor wasn’t responsible. The machines weren’t to blame.

I was.

His endless wavering, his failure to set boundaries with other women—that was what had destroyed everything.

Claire watched him with icy detachment.

Once, she had loved him with every fiber of her being. Now, there was nothing left.

"Are you finished?" Her voice was steady, devoid of emotion. "If you are, step aside."

No matter how thick the operating room doors were, they couldn’t muffle Lucas’s desperate cries.

As Claire lay on the table, she could hear his fists pounding against the door, his voice breaking as he begged.

The surgeon hesitated, glancing at her. "Your husband is outside. Are you certain about this? Marriage is complicated. Have you two tried talking it through properly?"

Claire almost laughed.

Reconsider?

She had given him chance after chance.

Lucas had squandered every single one.

That was the breaking point.

Some people refuse to wake up, no matter how hard you shake them.

When they choose to stay blind, the only thing left to do is walk away.