I Married My Baby's Killer

New Year's Eve. The night my world ended.

My fiancé Richard left me—just hours after I'd lost our baby in the car accident. He chose instead to fly overseas with his young assistant. She wanted to see the Northern Lights, he said.

When I begged him to stay, his voice was ice. "If you want to live," he told me, "you'll agree to call off the wedding."

In the end, it was Orlando Humphrey—the boy I'd grown up with—who saved me. He was a doctor, and he rushed into the OR, risking his own career to perform the surgery that kept me alive. Our baby didn't make it.

The day I was discharged from the hospital, Orlando got down on one knee and confessed his love. All I could see was the small, still body of my child.

Broken and empty, I said yes. We married quietly not long after.

For three years, we built a life. A happy one, full of tenderness and love. Orlando was kind, patient—everything I thought I needed.

Then I found out I was pregnant again.

My heart soared. I couldn't wait to tell him.

But as I reached his study, I heard voices. Richard was there. And what I overheard shattered everything.

"I never thought you'd go this far for Eleanor Celeste, Orlando. What if Celine finds out? What if she learns you were the one who hit her with the car? That you killed her child—would she still look at you like you hung the moon?"

"Celine is stubborn," Orlando replied, voice low. "If that baby had lived, she would never have left Richard. All I want is for Eleanor to be happy. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to Celine."

My smile died. My hand froze on the doorknob.

"Cold, man. Seriously cold."

"That brat was an accident—I was drunk. But it was still a life. I couldn't do it. So you drove at her to scare her. And when that wasn't enough… I heard the baby cry after he was born. He was too loud. You gave him that injection—just shut him right up. You've got nerves."

"If I wasn't afraid she'd come after me if she knew," Richard laughed, "I wouldn't have taken the blame all these years. You should've seen her—holding that dead baby, coming to break off the engagement. She looked like she wanted to tear my throat out."

"I can only imagine how she'd react if she found out it was you."

I heard the clink of a glass. Orlando draining his drink.

"New Year's Eve is Eleanor's birthday. She told me her wish was to be with you. I just want her happy. Celine will never know. She'll live her whole life loving me and hating you."

Richard's laugh was hollow. "Quite the arrangement. Pray she never finds out. And don't worry—Eleanor's mine. Only I can make her happy."

I stumbled back from the door, my legs weak, my breath trapped somewhere deep and frozen. I barely made it to the car before my body gave way to shaking.