“You should have,” Robin said quietly.

Elissa narrowed her eyes. “‘Should have’?”

“I don’t know what happened,” he said, his voice heavy. The pain of those memories was evident on his face. “After you got pregnant… the plan was to terminate.”

Neither of them had been ready to raise a child under those circumstances.

Robin sighed and continued, “Then your mother came to Srixby…”

“My mother?” Elissa’s voice wavered, her fingers tightening around the cup without her realizing it.

Had her mother really come to Srixby back then?

“Yes.” Robin gave a quiet nod, reading the confusion on her face. “You probably don’t remember that either…”

At the time, Elissa’s mother had arrived without warning.

Once she understood what her daughter had gone through, she remained close and made sure Elissa was taken to the hospital.

“The doctor said that…” Even now, recalling those events was difficult for Robin. “They said your case was complicated. If you chose to terminate the pregnancy, there was a strong chance it would affect your ability to conceive in the future. So…”

Elissa’s expression shifted as understanding settled in.

“So we chose to keep the baby.” Robin drew in a shaky breath, his words rushing out faster than he could steady them. “Right around then, I got pulled into this project overseas and had to leave the country. Your mother stayed behind in Srixby to care for you. By the time I came back, you were no longer pregnant.”

Elissa parted her lips to speak, but no sound came.

Robin’s expression was tense, his brow furrowed, as though continuing was almost too much to bear.

New chapters now on .c?m

“Your mother told me something happened when you were seven months along. The baby didn’t make it.”

A sharp pain twisted in Elissa’s chest. Her eyes closed as tears slipped down, wetting her lashes.

“Elissa.” Robin’s voice softened as he looked at her. “That’s all I know…” He was clearly hurting too.

A faint, bitter smile crossed his face. “I thought I could manage it. I didn’t want to lose you… But I couldn’t move past what had happened.”

His eyes were rimmed with red. “In the end, I just kept causing you pain, year after year…”

He paused, swallowing hard. “Elissa… I’m sorry. I really am.”

The ache in Elissa’s chest deepened. She still didn’t have all the answers—but one truth had become undeniable: she had been pregnant once.

Looking at Robin now, Elissa felt her emotions twist into an even tighter knot. She had only just learned the truth. The pain was raw and too much to bear. But what about him—what had he gone through back then? N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on fin?novel.net

So, the change in him hadn’t begun on their wedding night alone. It had festered through all those long months while she was pregnant.

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