A week ago, I went to look for Casper, but he was busy hanging out with Sasha. As I hurried out, Sasha cried so hard that she passed out.

Right then, he overheard people whispering about someone getting hit by a car. But he was too focused on Sasha to turn around and check if it was me.

Casper shook his head, struggling to process it. Would things have been different if he'd just glanced back?

It finally came together in his mind. That explained why I was in the hospital, too, and why I'd seemed so weak. But he still couldn't understand why I hadn't said a word to him about it.

Casper's father, Michael Hale, and Alyssa walked into the room unannounced.

The second Alyssa spotted Sasha standing behind Casper, rage flashed through her. She marched straight up to Sasha and slapped her hard across the face.

The slap from a stranger shattered Sasha's fragile act. Without thinking, she ra

I walked home in a daze. The moment I saw the jar of stars, the memory of the child I'd lost hit me like a wave. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I just broke down sobbing.

I took out the yellowed letter. Flipping it over, I started writing whatever came to mind.

…

Casper was still hesitating when Barbara called Alyssa and told her I was gone.

"What? Lis left?"

The second Casper heard that, his composure snapped. He didn't even glance back at Sasha, who was yelling after him. He just left, frantic to reach me.

Sasha tried to follow, but Michael and Alyssa's men blocked her. Then, a few more slaps landed across her face.

"Who the hell do you think you are, hitting me?" Sasha yelled.

"I'm Casper's mother!" Alyssa shot back, jabbing a finger at her. "If anything happens to Lis, you're dead."

Sasha froze, fear trapping the words in her throat.

Meanwhile, Casper drove through the stre

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?"

Seizing the moment while Casper's attention was elsewhere, Sasha yanked the baby anklet off her necklace and shoved it into her pocket.

Tears streamed down her face as she choked out, "It was Lis. She came for the anklet, but I told her I didn't know where it was. She accused me of losing it and hit me."

Casper felt his temper rise as he took in her story. Sasha was quick to brush it off, insisting she was okay. But then, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Why would I hit her for no good reason?

"It really hurts, Cas," Sasha whimpered.

He murmured soft words of comfort, but the unease kept growing.

Before he could dwell on it, a maid interrupted, "Dr. Lawson is here."

Casper turned to Sasha. "You've never liked hospitals, so I had my personal doctor come here instead. That way, we can avoid going back to the hospital."

Dr. Lawson gave Sasha a quick examination before pulling out a medical record from his bag. He'd just collected it from the hospital.

"I got Ms. Lynch's file earlier. After reviewing everything, I can confirm she'll make a full recovery as long as she avoids emotional stress. You can rest easy, Mr. Hale."

Casper let out a relieved sigh.

Dr. Lawson then produced another medical record. "However, Mrs. Hale will require closer monitoring. I happened to come across her records while I was there, so I brought them with me.

"She needs to be very careful about her health now. If she doesn't, there could be lasting effects that might complicate any future pregnancies."

Casper's forehead creased in confusion. "What do you mean? Is she sick or something?"

"Ms. Moore recently had a miscarriage. She needs proper rest and recovery—"

"A miscarriage?" Casper's voice sliced through the air before Dr. Lawson could finish. "What are you talking about? Who had a miscarriage?"

Dr. Lawson froze, taken aback by his outburst. "Didn't you know about it, Mr. Hale? Ms. Moore lost the baby a week ago."

Casper's whole body locked up. He couldn't process why I'd hide this from him.

Without warning, he grabbed the report from Dr. Lawson's hands. And there it was, my miscarriage records from one week ago staring back at him.

One week ago...

His thoughts tumbled over each other as he tried to recall everything from that time.

A week ago, I went to look for Casper, but he was busy hanging out with Sasha. As I hurried out, Sasha cried so hard that she passed out.

Right then, he overheard people whispering about someone getting hit by a car. But he was too focused on Sasha to turn around and check if it was me.

Casper shook his head, struggling to process it. Would things have been different if he'd just glanced back?

It finally came together in his mind. That explained why I was in the hospital, too, and why I'd seemed so weak. But he still couldn't understand why I hadn't said a word to him about it.

Casper's father, Michael Hale, and Alyssa walked into the room unannounced.

The second Alyssa spotted Sasha standing behind Casper, rage flashed through her. She marched straight up to Sasha and slapped her hard across the face.

The slap from a stranger shattered Sasha's fragile act. Without thinking, she raised her hand to strike back.

But before she could, Michael grabbed her wrist from behind Alyssa. T

Chapter 4