part 5
PART 5
Dominic came back to the hospital at noon because Sophia made sure he was summoned.
He arrived wearing a navy suit and the expression of a man prepared to perform concern.
Paige waited in the hallway.
Victoria arrived five minutes later with sunglasses and a scarf, as if bruises belonged to people with less money.
Audrey sat upright in bed.
Pale.
Bandaged.
Empty in a way nobody in that room could understand.
Dr. Reed stood near the window.
Sophia sat beside the bed with a folder closed on her lap.
Dominic looked at Audrey and sighed.
“Audrey, this has gone far enough.”
She looked at him.
“You mean my injuries?”
He ignored that.
“You ran out during an argument.”
“You fell.”
“My mother is devastated.”
Victoria pressed a hand to her chest.
“I have not slept.”
Audrey looked at her.
“Neither has the baby.”
The room went silent.
Dominic frowned.
“What baby?”
Dr. Reed stepped forward.
“Audrey was eight weeks pregnant.”
Paige gasped softly from the doorway.
Victoria went still.
Dominic stared at the doctor.
“That is impossible.”
Audrey’s voice cut through the room.
“Why?”
Dominic’s face changed.
Just a flicker.
But Sophia saw it.
Dr. Reed opened the folder.
“The pregnancy was confirmed through bloodwork after admission.”
“Unfortunately, the trauma caused a miscarriage.”
Dominic’s hand moved to the back of a chair.
Audrey watched his grief arrive late.
Not for her.
Not for the child.
For himself.
Then Sophia played the hotel audio from Paige’s post.
Dominic’s voice filled the room.
“She ran away.”
“I’m done with her drama.”
Audrey did not look away from him.
“You didn’t even come.”
Dominic swallowed.
“I didn’t know.”
Dr. Reed’s voice became harder.
“You knew enough to file for divorce.”
Victoria snapped, “This is cruel.”
Audrey looked at her mother-in-law.
“You pushed me.”
Victoria recoiled.
“I did not.”
Sophia opened the second folder.
“Maria’s statement.”
“911 audio.”
“Preserved hallway camera fragments.”
“And the bruise pattern documented by hospital staff.”
Dominic looked at his mother.
For the first time, suspicion cracked his face.
Victoria whispered, “Dominic, don’t listen.”
Audrey took one breath.
Then delivered the truth that would ruin him most.
“Dr. Reed.”
The doctor looked at Dominic.
“Your fertility tests confirm you can never father another child.”
Dominic’s face drained.
Paige took one step back.
Audrey’s eyes were dry.
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“Enjoy the family you chose.”
Read the full story 👉 Dominic learned in one hospital room that Audrey lost his only child and that his mother may have caused it.
