The fluorescent light above her buzzed like an angry insect, flickering every few seconds as if deciding whether to stay alive.
Catalina lay perfectly still on the stiff hospital bed, the thin blanket scratching her skin. The smell of disinfectant was sharp—so sharp it felt like it could cut through her ribs and expose everything she was trying so hard not to feel.
She stared at the ceiling.
A grid of white tiles.
Perfect squares.
Cold. Repetitive.
Meaningless.
Just like her thoughts.
Just like her life suddenly felt.
She tried counting the tiles—one, two, three—but her vision blurred before she reached ten. Her eyes filled, but she refused to let the tears fall. Crying felt like a luxury she couldn’t afford.
She lifted a hand to her stomach.
The doctor’s voice from earlier echoed in her head:
“Stress can be dangerous for both you and the baby. You need rest.”
Rest.
How could she rest when she didn’t even know where she was supposed to go next?
How could she calm down when Alessandro’s message kept replaying in her mind, sharp as broken glass?
We need to talk. Now. Come alone.
She had gone.
Of course she had gone.
And what she found—
Her throat tightened; her fingers curled in the blanket.
Alessandro hadn’t wanted reconciliation.
He hadn’t even wanted explanation.
He had wanted confirmation.
Confirmation of the rumors.
Confirmation of her humiliation at the party.
Confirmation that she was no longer convenient in the perfect image he needed to uphold.
And when she tried to tell him about the baby—
Her eyes shut tightly.
He hadn’t believed a word.
Not even when she showed him the test.
Not even when she asked him to listen.
His voice had been ice.
“Catalina, don’t manipulate me.”
“You’re just trying to trap me.”
“You should leave before this gets uglier.”
Uglier.
As if everything wasn’t already broken.
She swallowed hard, blinking up at the ceiling again.
One of the fluorescent tubes hummed louder, its light washing over her like a false spotlight—bright, merciless, exposing her smallness in this sterile room.
She wondered, briefly:
If she disappeared right now…
would anyone notice?
Her mother was gone.
Her marriage was a lie.
Her husband had chosen another woman in front of everyone.
Her unborn baby was the only living soul who needed her—and even they were depending on a woman who felt like she was falling apart.
A nurse passed by the door, but didn’t stop.
No one had.
No one would.
She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth as the truth hit her like a blow—
She had never been more alone than she was in this moment.
But just as her breath hitched, a shadow appeared in the doorway.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Unfamiliar.
The figure hesitated before stepping inside.
“Catalina Moretti?” a man said, voice low, unreadable.
She froze.
No one should know she was here.
No one should know her name.
Her pulse spiked, fear flooding her veins.
The man looked at her gently, almost regretfully.
“I’m… here on behalf of your father.”
Catalina’s world stopped.
Her father?
The man she had never met?
The man who had never looked for her?
Her lips parted in shock—and dread.
The fluorescent light flickered once more, buzzing like a warning.