AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Rose
I’ve never held a baby before.
Actually, I guess that’s not entirely true. I probably held my sister when she was born, with the help of my parents, but that was a lifetime ago. Now, I’m holding a swaddled little human, with the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen.
The same beautiful eyes as her father.
I once loved them. They brought me peace after my parents died and looked upon me with empathy as I told him my fears of being my sister’s only living relative. I swore I could look into his eyes and see a future.
Now, all I see is pain.
The baby—she hasn’t been named yet, and I’m not going to come up with one—begins to cry. A nurse rushes to my side, taking her from me. I don’t put up a fight. She needs to be with someone nurturing, and that’s not me. It’s the woman in the hospital bed next to us.
Or it would be, if she were conscious.
“Ms. Briar, your sister…” The nurse calls after me, but I’m already heading out the front door.
“Will be fine. I’ll see to it,” I call over my shoulder, digging through my purse to locate my phone. It’s all the way at the bottom. Typical.
There’s no taxi service or fancy rideshares in Grym Hollow. No, instead, we have Sister Tammy, our resident nun by day and driving service by night. Don’t ask me if that’s allowed or proper in her religion; I don’t fucking know. All I know is that I need a ride, and Sister Tammy is the fastest old lady in town.
I quickly type out a short text.
Need ride stat. At Hollow Hospital.
Hospital is a stretch. Really, it’s the size of a single-family home and houses the only doctor in town. He’s a curmudgeon, but he’s damn good at what he does.
Except, not even Dr. Stein can help my sister. No one can. No one but me.
“Rose, where the hell are you going?” a familiar voice shouts behind me.
I hold back the groan threatening to leave my lips as I turn to face him. The man I once loved.
Stefan isn’t looking great these days. He’s still as handsome as ever, with his perfectly sculpted jawline and symmetrical square-shaped face. But now there are dark circles under his eyes that were never there before. I also don’t know when he last washed his hair. It’s lying flat and lifeless against his head, begging for someone to run shampoo-covered fingers through it.
I would have once. Until he betrayed me.
To be fair, he didn’t act alone. But my anger for him is easier to manage than the mixed feelings of betrayal, anger, and helplessness I feel toward my sister.
“Amelia is dying, and you’re just standing out here on your phone?”
“And you’re standing out here talking to me.” Since we are apparently just stating observations now.
I see anger flash in his eyes, but it’s misplaced. He should feel angry, just not at me.
“So what? You’re just going to let her die alone? Leave me alone with a baby to raise by myself? A child needs their mother!”
If he wanted me to be the mother of his child, he wouldn’t have slept with my sister, but here we are.
He’s so close to me now, and I do everything I can to not punch him right in that perfectly straight nose of his. A broken nose would probably only make him more attractive, and I definitely don’t want to help him in any way.
With the patience of a saint, I say, “If you would let me go, I can help.”
“Help by running away? Yeah, fuck that. You always run when things get too hard. You ran away when your parents died; you ran away when our relationship got tough?—”
“When you cheated on me with my sister, you mean?” I ask, deadpan.
