I Called Him from Under an AVALANCHE, But He Declined to Bed His Secretary Chapter 03
Sienna followed me into the bedroom.
“You don’t mind, do you, Hazel?”
She sat on the bed like she belonged there and ran her fingers across the sheets on Julian’s side.
I watched her, perfectly still.
“Moving in wasn’t enough? You had to rub it in, too? Don’t bother.”
She gave a little pout and stood. “You’re right. I can wait, anyway…”
She paused.
Her hand drifted to her belly — slow, deliberate — and every muscle in my body locked.
“After all, I’m already pregnant.”
The room went dead quiet.
My gaze dropped to her belly. Something inside my chest caved in.
“How far along are you?”
Sienna blinked — she’d expected tears, maybe a scream. My blank face wasn’t the reaction she wanted.
“Just past my first trimester. The doctor says everything looks stable.”
Three months…
Three months ago, I was in the hospital with a perforated ulcer. The anniversary of my parents’ death came and went. So did our wedding anniversary.
He didn’t come back for any of it.
He was with Sienna.
Behind my back, my fists clenched until my nails dug into my palms and broke skin. It should’ve hurt. I couldn’t feel a thing.
“Congratulations. And don’t worry about the timing — it’ll all be over soon.”
I’d be gone soon enough.
This time, Sienna was the one who froze.
“What do you mean, soon?”
Julian walked in and went straight to Sienna’s side without thinking. He stood across from me, next to her.
Lucky for me, he didn’t care enough to ask what I meant.
He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Come on, let’s eat.”
He guided Sienna out with a hand on her lower back. I was an afterthought.
“Hazel, you coming or not?”
I breathed out something that wasn’t quite a laugh. In my own house, I was the guest.
Julian had cooked everything himself. None of the dishes were for me.
Sienna’s eyes lit up. “These are all my favorites!”
She turned to me with a bright smile.
“Go on, Hazel. Make yourself at home.”
Julian sat beside her, smiling at her like she was the only person in the room. I took the seat across from them.
I watched them together — wrapped up in each other, the rest of the world erased.
Somehow, it didn’t hurt anymore.
My phone buzzed. The Westridge doctor.
He needed me there by the end of the week.
“Got it. Thank you.”
Julian glanced over as I hung up, eyes narrowing. “Who was that? Since when do you know anyone in Westridge?”
I set my phone down. Shook my head.
“It’s nothing.”
His mouth pressed into a line. He looked like he wanted to push, but didn’t.
Julian broke the silence. “I’m staying in the guest room with Sienna tonight.”
He exhaled. “I’ll take the couch. She just — she doesn’t like sleeping alone.”
I didn’t answer.
That made it worse. I could practically hear his jaw clench from across the table.
I woke sometime after midnight, dry-mouthed and disoriented. I opened the bedroom door to get water.
I stopped outside the guest room.
“All you need to worry about is staying healthy and carrying our baby. My first child.”
Sienna’s voice went whiny.
“So when are you marrying me? You’re not going to let our baby be born out of wedlock, are you?”
Julian’s voice dropped, soothing.
“That’s not going to happen. The new marriage certificate — the one we signed when we got back together — was forged. Hazel has no idea.”
A sharp gasp, then a delighted laugh.
“Wait — so legally, you’re single? Right now?”
“Yes.”
I stood on the other side of the door. I needed to walk away, but my legs had turned to concrete.
Everything had been fake…
I closed my eyes. The cold reached all the way through me, and a lump formed in my throat so hard I couldn’t breathe.
He’d planned all of it. Every step of the way.
The second wedding, the promises, the second chance — none of it was real.
I hadn’t even moved when the next blow landed.
