Page 47 of Lie to Me

A baby.

Gone.

I could have had a little baby girl or boy. A piece of me and Marco.

Marco.

Oh god, this will kill him.

No. No, it won’t. Because he never really cared. It was all a lie.

And now I’m alone.

Even more alone, it seems. Because my baby’s gone.

What did I do for this to happen?

Could I have done something different to prevent this outcome?

How the hell has it been four months, and yet I didn’t have the slightest idea?

If I had known sooner, is there something I could have done to stop this from happening?

The one person who’s capable of getting me through this doesn’t give a fuck about me. He won’t give a fuck about the loss of our baby.

Our baby.

This is all my fault. I’m to blame for this.

I’m the reason a baby Romano is lost, and I’ll never be forgiven for that.

I’ll never forgive myself.

I must have said that last part out loud because the nurse grabs my hand and sits behind me. I try to focus on her, but my thoughts are spiraling. I can distinctly hear my aunt crying next to me, but it’s too hard to focus on one thing.

“Listen to me, Sloane. This was not your fault. You didn’t do anything to cause this and there’s nothing you could have done to stop it. Sometimes these things happen, and—excuse my language—it’s fucking horrible. I know that feeling, sweetie.I know.And I promise you, you will make it through this. But first, we need to do a procedure, okay?”

I stare into her kind eyes and slowly feel myself coming back to the present, my spiral slowly diminishing.

I may get through it, but who will I become when I do?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sloane

Present

Tears stream down his face as I finish telling him what happened that night, as I finish recalling the worst fucking night of my life, as I finish telling him how I’m the reason he doesn’t have a ten-year-old son or daughter.

I wait for the rage to come, for the anger to burn him alive, taking me along with it.

Only it doesn’t come.

Instead, he curses under his breath, stands, and pulls me into his arms.

“Fuck, little warrior. I’m so fucking sorry,” he whispers, his voice cracking as he does.

He’s sorry?

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