She Accepted Divorce, He Panicked

Scarlett's POV

Sebastian puts his phone between us, on speaker.

Quietly, I hug my knees, and curl my toes so they wouldn't touch his phone. He shoots me a meaningful glance as he answers Ava: "I'll call Jack before sending a doctor over. Take some rest if you can, or you won't be able to attend your own birthday party--" Ava burst into crying and I flinch away from the phone.

Sebastian takes his phone and puts it on the side away from me. He sits a bit closer to me and puts his warm hand on my shin, kneading slowly with a gentle force. I wrinkle my nose at him, typing on my phone: [You are just doing this for the baby's sake!]

He almost laughs out loud when I show him my screen, and he has to clear his throat to cover the laugh.

"Sebastian?" Ava's wronged murmur comes through, urging when he doesn't reply in time.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Sebastian blinks at his phone, totally absent-minded. I didn't notice either.

"--" Ava hesitates, her tone unsure with a shred of shock, "Am I on speaker...?"

"Yes, my hands are busy," Sebastian answers with a straight face, but at the same time, he puts my foot on his curled leg and kneads my leg with both his hands.

Where did he even learn to do that?! I want to laugh. Not every pregnant woman has swollen legs. Besides, the baby is barely eight months old. The last two months are the toughest.

"So...would you come over?" Ava asks. I could hear her exaggerated pout through the phone, as if she is being bullied when other people's husband doesn't want to go and visit her at midnight.

Before, Sebastian would go without hesitation. I wish he wouldn't, but I don't want to fight for that anymore. I used to, and it only left scars between us, nothing else.

He taps my chin up.

I frown, hitting his hand, but he dodges with a smirk, and before I can initiate more attacks he says to the phone: "Ava, I'm not a doctor."

I hold my breath, my heart pumping in my chest as I stare at him.

Knowing that he would probably choose me, is a totally different feeling than when he actually does. I tilt my head at him, my eyes wet again. This has always been what I wanted. Happiness could have been so easy for us. Is this what he really wants though? Am I forcing him again? I don't know. I don't want to. Maybe I told him about the baby too hasty. But there is never the perfect timing for such a thing.

"Sebastian...?" Ava murmurs his name, the disbelief in her voice is so hurtful that even I feel bad for her.

I know how she feels.

Every time I had to watch him leave me for her. Every time I had to see the coldness in his eyes because of her. I taste the hurt in her voice right now.

"Please, Sebastian..." Ava snivels,

gulping her words as she try to squeeze more between her gasping weeps, "please, I have got only you now..please...you were there for me so many times, can't you just come this one last time...?"

I dart my eyes to Sebastian, and he is looking at me with a look that says he knows I don't trust him.

I don't. I lower my eyes in guilt.

I'm not saying that he hasn't been good recently, but it's not something I can just turn off.

"Ava, I have my own family now," Sebastian picks up his phone, saying in a heavy, slow voice, "I'm sorry, but I can't be yours at the same time. will use my resources to keep you safe, but that's all I can give you. My resources, not myself."

He chose me, but I'm not exactly the happiest person in the world. Not when he looked so low.

I dare not to look up even after he hung up, feeling like I'm the evil again, keeping two people with pure love in apart.

"Is that not what you wanted?" Finally, in the end, he breaks the silence and taps my chin up to look at him.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"Is that why you are doing it?" I answer with questions, "Because that's what I would want?"

He looks at me with a gentle look, but I can see sorrow in his eyes. His sorrow puts water in my eyes.

"Then I don't want it if it hurts you so much!" I push his hand away with resentment, "I was ready to leave you. I was okay with you being with her, so why--"

"I'm not hurt because of Ava," He

cuts me gently but firmly, wiping my

tears with his rough thumb, "I'm hurt-- I feel sad because what you wanted from me was so easy and so little, yet I failed you. I'm sad because I hurt so much felt I you like you couldn't even tell

about

our child, Scarlett Knight.

"I'm not going to her," He says, pinching my chin to force me to look at him, "because you are my wife. My life is with you... so is my heart."

He said that. But later I realized, he only "said" that, unlike with Ava, who he "promised". When I got my baby's death certification, all I could think was, I should have made him promise.