Chapter 1

Three days before my due date, my husband James Bishop drove his first love, Sera Voss, up to Alaska to see the northern lights.

I had my hands on my belly and told him I was about to pop.

He checked his watch. "Sera's been waiting six years to see these lights. I'm not letting her down again."

At 2 a.m., my water broke. Blood ran down my leg onto the floor.

I crawled to the door and called him seventeen times.

The last one, someone finally picked up. All I heard was Sera laughing.

I begged him to come home. He said, "You faked contractions last week too just to get me back."

So I got myself an Uber to the hospital. He never showed.

Sera spliced our call into her aurora vlog.

She slapped joke captions over my voice, and the comments were nothing but laughing-crying emojis.

James commented at the top: [She's always like this.]

Two hours later, the baby I'd waited six years for was gone.

The nurse asked if I wanted my husband listed as my emergency contact.

I flipped my phone face down. "No."

Just leave the spouse section blank too.

...

When the nurse handed the form back, James's name had already been crossed out in black ink.

I stared at that line for a second. My phone buzzed. James's assistant, Marcus Kane.

"Mrs. Bishop, the TikTok video's turned into a PR nightmare."

"Everyone's dragging Sera in the comments—saying it's messed up to turn your crying into comedy, and someone dug up the fact that she went to Alaska with your husband."

"Her image is tanking. PR wants you to post 'Glad you guys had fun' from your account and like her post."

"That way we can spin it as 'you two are cool, it was just a joke between friends.'"

I looked down at the table beside my bed.

My baby had been dead less than two hours, and they were busy figuring out how to save Sera's reputation.

"So you want me to say Sera mocking my crying was fine?"

Marcus paused. His voice got quieter.

"Mrs. Bishop, Sera didn't mean anything by it. She just thought your voice sounded... funny."

"She posted my crying. My begging. And now I'm supposed to say it was a joke?"

Dead silence on the other end.

I didn't wait for an answer. I hung up.

Seconds later, James called.

"Rowan, why'd you hang up?"

His voice was soft, same as always.

"Marcus filled you in, right? Just play along with the Sera thing. Don't let it blow up more."

"I called you seventeen times."

"I know."

He paused. "You said you were having contractions last week too. I rushed home, and you just wanted dinner with me."

I gripped my phone tighter. "This time was real."

"I know you're uncomfortable this late in the pregnancy."

He didn't seem to hear what I was really saying.

"The housekeeper already swapped out your pregnancy pillow. The crib got delivered too—the one you'd been eyeing forever."

"I'll be back the day after tomorrow. I'll take you to your checkup."

The room was warm, but his words made me shake.

That crib—I'd picked it out five years ago, when I was pregnant the first time.

I lost that baby. I never brought it up again.

But James remembered.

He remembered I could only sleep on my left side. That I couldn't handle strong perfume.

That we'd need blackout curtains in the nursery.

He even remembered I liked to sterilize bottles and leave them upside down on the second shelf.

He remembered everything. He just didn't show up.

"James."

I watched the nurse wheel the tray out. My voice was barely there.

"When you get back, can you actually take me to my checkup?"

"Of course."

He said it so fast, like there was never any question.

"We've waited so long for this, Rowan. You're about to be a mom. Don't start drama now."

I closed my eyes. On his end, I heard Sera call out.

"James, come on, the aurora's here!"

He answered her, then said to me,

"Just deal with the Sera thing first. We'll talk when I'm back."

"Okay."

I didn't tell him the baby was gone.

Not to punish him. I just didn't know who I was supposed to be when I said it.

His wife?

But he hadn't acted like a husband.

The last thing on my screen was Sera's vlog.

The aurora. The laughing. The wind. And me, screaming for help.

The top comments read:

[Is this chick insane? Someone's wife is in labor and she's filming comedy clips?]

[Sera Voss, come apologize.]

[James Bishop is married, right? And he's out watching auroras with another woman??]

James's comment was buried under the hate.

[She's always like this.]

I stared at it for a long time. Then I reached over and flipped my phone face down on the nightstand.

Strangers were cursing Sera out for me. My husband was begging me to shut up for her.