But all he wanted was freedom. The freedom to engage in romance—or just sex—without the suffocating weight of marriage and responsibility.
How had she been so painfully naive? She actually believed she could change his mind, that a man would magically transform just because she loved him enough.
Looking back, Sophie genuinely questioned if Luke had ever felt an ounce of real love for her. Had he ever truly loved anyone?
*"Yes, we are done. I never want to see you again."*
She typed the response, deleted it, and rewrote it a dozen times. Finally, she settled on that single line and hit send.
It was over anyway. What was the point of detailing her resentment, her bitter regrets, or the soul-crushing despair she felt lying on that clinic bed?
What difference would it make?
Luke would never apologize for who he was, and she refused to regress into that pathetic, desperate version of herself.
*"Take your stuff off the desk."*
Sophie's workspace had been in the annex right outside his private office. All incoming documents filtered through her for sorting before requiring his signature.
Her only personal items left were a small potted plant, a coffee mug, and some miscellaneous trinkets in the drawer.
*"Throw it away."*
She replied instantly. None of it mattered anymore.
*"Fine."*
That was his final response. One single word.
Sophie sat motionless before the glowing screen for ten minutes before finally shutting the laptop.
She walked into the kitchen, suddenly determined to cook a proper meal for her mother.
The following day, Sophie compulsively refreshed her email. She knew HR departments didn't move this fast, but the agonizing wait was driving her crazy.
To her absolute shock, a new message from Luke sat at the top of her inbox.
Attached was a clear photo of the positive lab results she had gotten during her first clinic visit.
The subject line was two words: *"Mine?"*
She had taken the morning off for that checkup, and shoved the paperwork into her desk drawer the second she got back to the office.
Luke had always been religious about preventative measures. He didn't want a wife, which meant he definitely didn't want her carrying his child.
She didn't even know when the slip-up had happened.
Had she really landed in that unlucky five-percent failure bracket?


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