Chapter 36: Where Were You on Our Wedding Night?
Caroline quickly stood up, covering her mouth as the familiar wave of nausea hit her once again. She rushed to the bathroom, her footsteps panicked and heavy.
David watched her retreat with a furrowed brow, confusion creeping into his sharp features. What was going on with her?
Leaning over the sink, Caroline dry-heaved repeatedly, though nothing came up. The discomfort lingered in her stomach, making her feel drained and weak. The minutes stretched on, each one feeling longer than the last. Finally, the nausea began to fade, but it left her pale and shaky.
She leaned against the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was drained of color, and the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
Morning sickness.
The thought sent a cold shiver down her spine. She couldn’t ignore it any longer.
Just as she tried to steady herself, David’s reflection appeared in the mirror behind her. He stood tall in the doorway, his eyes sharp and calculating. “Dry heaving?”
“N–No,” Caroline stammered, her heart racing in fear. She couldn’t let him figure it out. “I just ate something weird this afternoon. My stomach’s been off since then.”
David’s gaze never wavered, studying her with that unnerving precision.
Caroline quickly added, “And the smell of your cigarette earlier made it worse. That’s all.” She tried to sound casual, but it was clear he wasn’t buying it.
“Is that so?” David’s voice was colder now, his suspicion growing.
Caroline feigned calmness as she turned on the faucet and washed her hands, careful to keep her movements steady. “Are you actually concerned about me? That’s a first.”
David’s gaze bore into her, unblinking. “You know what happens when you lie to me.”
Caroline met his eyes, her face expressionless. “What would I have to lie about?” She took a step toward him, her voice tinged with bitterness. “I have nothing to my name. No family, no one to rely on.”
She could feel the tension between them growing thicker by the second. “It’s late. Aren’t you going to rest?”
David’s lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes narrowing as though he was formulating something in his mind. “Something just crossed my mind.”
Caroline’s heart skipped a beat. Has he figured it out? Does he remember the prenatal checkup report? Or maybe he investigated the hospital? A dozen escape plans flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t act yet.
David’s voice was calm, almost dangerously so. “On our wedding night, you never came to my hospital bed. Where were you?”
Caroline’s breath hitched. She couldn’t tell him the truth. If he knew about that night, about why she hadn’t been with him, it would destroy everything.
She tried to sound casual, offering the lie quickly. “I was at the Ellison residence, of course.”
David’s gaze remained unwavering. Caroline could feel her pulse quicken as she spoke, her stomach twisting with dread. If David ever discovered she wasn’t pure and was carrying another man’s baby… the consequences would be unimaginable.
David’s lips curled into a thin, mocking smile. “On such a significant night, the bride brought in to break bad luck, and you didn’t even bother to visit me? Yet by morning, you suddenly barged in.”
Caroline tried to maintain her composure. That morning, she had walked in on him, standing by his hospital bed, about to put on an oxygen mask. He had just returned from somewhere. She remembered the scene vividly. The thought of it still haunted her.
She pushed the question back to him. “No one arranged for me to see you. After the wedding car dropped me off, I stayed in the master bedroom the whole time. I never left. Why are you suddenly asking about this now?”
Her voice was steady, but inside, she was panicking. If David ever questioned her too much, he would find the cracks in her lies.
Switching tactics, she added, “And by the way, I never asked you why, when I walked in the next morning, you were standing by the hospital bed, about to put on an oxygen mask. You looked like you’d just come back from somewhere. Where were you?”
She could see the flash of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly masked it with a cold expression.
David shot her a cold glance before walking away, his silence more unsettling than any answer.
Caroline exhaled in relief, but her mind was still racing. She had dodged that bullet, but the question still lingered in her mind. If she was at the hotel that night, where had he gone?
Her mind involuntarily drifted back to the man from that night—the one whose silhouette still haunted her memories. The rough breathing, the desperate urgency of the moment.
And now, as she watched David retreat, his figure began to overlap with that memory, blurring together in a way that made her stomach churn once again.
