Discovery and regret

(JARED'S POV)

closer to understanding what I had lost.

Her name, in her handwriting. Keeping a diary? This is too old-shool, just what Arielle would do. How could I never realize she had this habit? My pulse quickened as I skimmed through the next few pages, my eyes searching for anything-anything that would bring me I came upon an entry, and the words on the page seemed to leap out at me.

"I discovered I was pregnant today. I've been having the symptoms, so I went to see a doctor. It's confirmed, I'm going to be a mother! I can't wait to tell Jared... he's going to be so happy."

The excitement in her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I could almost hear her voice in my head, the same way she used to look at me with that hopeful smile. My hands tightened around the diary as my chest constricted painfully. Our child.

I flipped to the next page, my eyes scanning the next entry.

"I was going to break the news to Jared tonight at our anniversary dinner, but he left on a work call and hasn't come back yet."

I paused, my breath catching in my throat. That night... I remembered it. I had left her, abandoned her at that dinner, not for work, but because Sofia had called me from the airport, and I'd rushed to her side. I didn't even think about what Arielle had planned. Didn't think about her at all. My jaw clenched. I always thought...we had time.

entries were raw, filled with Arielle's

I was too wrapped up in Sofia's mess to even notice. Back then, I never

be before she came back. It feels like he's

for control. She was fighting not to lose everything we had built, to not be forgotten. I continued reading, each entry pulling me further into a world of regret I didn't realize was this

just... I can't bring myself to tell him now. Not when he's so distant. It's like I'm a stranger in my own marriage. I don't even know if he cares

if I can trust him anymore.

line, a sharp pang

I remembered that fake kiss. It hadn't meant anything to me at the time, but to Arielle,

in ways I

read through more pages until I

once been. My heart sank at the thought of what she had written and why she'd torn it out.

instinct, I pressed my fingers lightly against the next blank page, noticing faint impressions left behind from the missing

but as I angled the diary toward the light, I could just make out the faint outline of

I slowly

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