His Silence Cost My Baby's Life

My husband, Ethan Vance, suffered from severe panic disorder.

Whenever his phone rang, he would experience uncontrollable heart palpitations and tremors.

Because of this, his phone was permanently on silent.

I had been with him for five years, and in every single moment I desperately needed him, he was unreachable.

When I was sick and called him, the phone only ever went straight to voicemail.

On our anniversary, I waited at the restaurant until closing time, but I couldn't get hold of him no matter how hard I tried.

He even missed my father's funeral, claiming he hadn't felt his phone vibrate and forgot the time.

In the beginning, I had screamed, cried, and fought.

But then he would bring out his medical diagnosis, kneeling on the floor in sheer agony, weeping and begging for my forgiveness.

My heart broke for his pain.

So, I forced myself to get used to his constant absence.

Until today. I was five months pregnant, on my way to a routine prenatal checkup, when a car brutally T-boned my taxi.

Covered in blood, I called Ethan 126 times. Every single call went unanswered.

Meanwhile, Chloe Millermy best friend and the driver who had caused the crashstumbled out of her car in a panic. She pulled out her phone and made a single call.

In less than ten minutes, Ethan arrived at the scene.

At that exact moment, the harsh truth shattered my world: Ethan hadn't muted his phone. He had only muted me.

"Baby, don't worry. I'm here. I'll handle everything."

Ethan comforted a sobbing Chloe, gently rubbing her back before finally walking over to the wrecked taxi.

Only then did he notice me, drenched in blood, slumped in the backseat.

When his eyes met my bloodshot, wild stare,

a flash of intense guilt flickered in the depths of his eyes.

He panicked and reached out to check my wounds,

but I flinched, dragging my broken body away from his touch.

His brows furrowed, an impatient scowl instantly replacing his worry.

"Serena, stop throwing a tantrum. This is not the time."

"Chloe doesn't know she was the one who hit you. You must not tell her."

"Otherwise, she will be consumed by guilt."

I had almost lost my life in the crash,

yet his very first thought was to protect Chloe from feeling bad.

I opened my mouth, wanting to scream, to ask him why I was the only one on mute,

but a sharp, tearing pain suddenly ripped through my lower abdomen.

I felt a warm, terrifying gush of fluid flowing out of me.

Instinctively, I grabbed the hem of Ethan's coat.

"It hurts, Ethan... Save me... Our baby... I think our baby is..."

The ambulance, which the taxi driver had called for me, finally arrived, sirens blaring.

Watching the paramedics rush out with a stretcher,

I dragged myself toward them with everything I had.

For my baby, I had to fight, even if it meant crawling through the dirt.

But right as my hand was about to reach the stretcher,

Ethan stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

He pointed at Chloe, who was sitting comfortably in his passenger seat, and spoke to the medics with absolute authority.

"That lady over there has a congenital heart condition. She needs to go to the hospital for an emergency evaluation right now."

Then, he casually pointed back at me.

"As for her, she's always been incredibly healthy. She once walked home in a freezing storm for two hours and didn't even catch a cold."

"She can wait for the next ambulance."

I stared at Ethan, completely paralyzed by shock. My throat felt like it was swallowing hot coals.

Using every ounce of strength left in my lungs, I let out a guttural scream.

"Ethan Vance, are you insane?! Chloe is perfectly fine! I am pregnant with your child!"

The paramedic nearby was sweating with anxiety. She knelt down, quickly assessed my condition, and warned Ethan with an urgent tone.

"Sir, this lady is bleeding heavily from her lower body. She is showing clear signs of an impending miscarriage. Her situation is extremely critical. She must go first!"

Yet, there was not a single hint of pity in Ethan's eyes.

He didn't even look down at me. His voice was freezing cold and unyielding.

"I know my wife. She has a strong constitution. She can hold on."

"I am her legal guardian and husband. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."

Having no choice, the paramedics had to follow his orders. They pushed the stretcher toward Chloe.

They carefully secured her inside.

The ambulance siren wailed again, cold and piercing.

Ethan followed her in. Right before stepping into the vehicle,

he finally threw a pitiful glance back at me.

"Serena, just wait here. We'll meet at the hospital later."

I froze on the wet asphalt, my body turning cold as ice. Every breath I took felt like inhaling glass.

By the time the second ambulance arrived, the pain had pushed me to the brink of consciousness.

Inside the emergency room, a nurse ran around frantically, holding a consent form.

"The patient is hemorrhaging! We can't save the fetus. We need to perform an emergency D&C procedure immediately, or she will go into hemorrhagic shock! Where is her family?!"

But at that moment, Ethan was in the VIP wing, keeping Chloe company during her full-body scan.

The hospital intercom blared over and over.

"Will the family of patient Serena Vance please come to the emergency room immediately to sign the surgical consent form!"

The announcement echoed clearly throughout the entire diagnostic building.

Ethan froze. He instinctively stood up, an ominous feeling creeping into his heart.

He took a step, wanting to head down to the ER to check on me.

But before he could take another step, a warm, delicate hand tightly grabbed his wrist.

Chloe leaned weakly against the back of the chair, her voice trembling with tears.

"Ethan, my chest feels so tight. Please don't leave me."

She looked up at him with tearful, puppy-dog eyes, though a malicious glint flashed in the dark.

"Besides, 'Serena' is a very common name. It's probably someone else."

"Serena only went for a routine prenatal checkup today. Why would she need emergency surgery? The hospital must have made a mistake."

A few simple, groundless words were all it took to put Ethan's mind at ease.

He gripped her hand back, squeezing it reassuringly.

"You're right. It's probably just a coincidence. Don't be scared, I'll stay with you."

Down in the emergency room, the intercom kept calling my name,

but my husband never showed up.

The nurse was drenched in sweat. Seeing my bleeding grow worse by the second,

she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She leaned over and looked at my deathly pale face.

"Ma'am, we can't reach your husband. It's too dangerous to wait. By law, in an emergency, the patient can sign for themselves. Can you hold a pen?"

Waves of agony tore through my abdomen. I forced my eyes open,

and with the absolute last drop of my strength, I scribbled my name on the paper.

The surgical lights were blindingly white, casting a cold, clinical glow over my freezing body.

My baby is leaving me.

My heart shattered into a million pieces.

At that moment, I knew. This man, this marriageI was done.

I didn't know how much time had passed before I finally woke up.

When I opened my eyes, the room was empty.

My phone buzzed. There were two texts from Ethan sitting quietly on my Snapchat.

"You only have a few scratches. Just get them bandaged and go home."

"Chloe still has a few tests to run. She's unfamiliar with this hospital, so I'm going to stay and help her out. I'll be home late."

This was the first time Ethan had ever sent me such a long message,

yet every single word was about another woman.

But right before I lost consciousness, I had clearly heard the doctor tell Chloe that all her vitals were perfectly normal and she could go home.

It was Ethan who insisted on paying out-of-pocket for a luxury private suite just so she could be hospitalized.

Just then, a nurse walked in with a billing statement.

"Mrs. Vance, given your condition, you need to stay in the hospital for at least a week."

"Could you please settle the initial deposit?"

I pulled out my phone to pay,

only to remember that I had spent all my savings on the down payment for the new car Chloe was driving.

Currently, my bank account balance was exactly $35.

When we got the car, Ethan had claimed his money was locked in long-term investments. He asked me to pay first, promising he'd pay me back double later.

He had also promised to be my personal chauffeur so I'd never have to take a taxi in the rain again.

Yet, since the day we bought that car, I hadn't ridden in it even once.

Whenever I asked to drive it, he would make up various excuses.

He said my driving skills were terrible and that I would scratch it.

But Chloe had only gotten her driver's license yesterday.

And today, he had handed over my car to let her "practice."

My chest heaved violently as I fought down the raging fire in my chest.

I dialed Ethan's number.

Just like every other time over the past five years, it went straight to voicemail.

The nurse stood there, holding the bill, looking at me with awkward pity.

Left with no choice, I called Chloe.

The call was answered almost instantly. Before I could even speak,

I heard a faint rustling sound over the line,

and in the next second, a familiar, icy male voice spoke.

Ethan had snatched the phone away.

I could clearly hear his footsteps as he walked away, deliberately distancing himself from Chloe.

Then, his lowered, angry hiss came through the speaker.

"Serena, I didn't think you could be this malicious."

"Using such a pathetic, low-life trick to harass Chloe just to make her feel guilty?"

"I suggest you put away your petty jealousy.

Your constant, unreasonable tantrums are only making me detest you more."

Listening to his blind, unjust accusations, a wave of nausea washed over me.

"Ethan, I am in Room 702, Building 3. Come here and pay my hospital bill. You have ten minutes."

I paused, my voice cold and sharp as glass.

"If you aren't here in ten minutes, I won't hesitate to tell Chloe everything."

I could hear his heavy, furious breathing on the other end.

"Serena, do you always have to be this incredibly demanding?"

After a few seconds of tense silence, he spat out,

"Don't you dare bother Chloe. I'm coming."

Less than ten minutes later, the door to my hospital room was violently slammed open.

Ethan stood there, his face clouded with residual rage, the air around him suffocatingly cold.

He walked straight to the nurse, scanned the QR code, and paid the bill without a second thought.

Looking down at the receipt, his brows knitted together in annoyance.

"What kind of tests did you even run? It's just a few scratches. Why does it cost this much?"

I lay on the bed, quietly staring at the man I had loved for five years,

watching the very last drop of my affection dry up.

I slowly looked up, my eyes dead.

"The baby is gone. I just had an emergency D&C."

Ethan froze. A flicker of shock crossed his face.

But it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

He didn't believe me at all. He assumed I was using the baby to gain sympathy.

"Serena, can you please stop lying about things like this?

You really will do anything just to get my attention, won't you?"

"It was probably just a tiny bit of spotting, and you insisted on getting hospitalized."

"Chloe's heart was acting up, and her condition was critical. I couldn't just abandon her."

"After all, she's been your best friend for twelve years."

Seeing how his entire mind and soul were wrapped around another woman,

I suddenly felt incredibly exhausted.

"Ethan, let's get a divorce."

"Since you think Chloe is so perfect,

I'm stepping aside to let you two be together."

Ethan's hand froze on the door handle.

He turned around, staring at me with utter disbelief.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, I want a divorce."

I pronounced every single word clearly, cold and resolute.

Ethan stared at me for a long time,

as if trying to figure out if I was bluffing.

Suddenly, he let out a mocking laugh.

"Serena, do you seriously think this is funny?"

"Who would even want a secondhand woman like you if you leave me?"

"Is this all because I put you on silent? Are you seriously throwing a fit over this?"

"Stop blaming me for everything. Look at yourself first."

"Every time I reply to one of your texts, you just keep spamming me. You want to share every single mundane detail of your day."

"Your 'love' has become a suffocating burden. It's annoying. Do you have any idea how annoying you are?"

It felt as though a thousand needles were piercing my heart, making it impossible to breathe.

So... that was how he had viewed me all along.

Seeing my silence, he assumed I had backed down.

He delivered a cold, final warning.

"Lest you forget, your grandmother is only clinging to life because of the elite medical specialists I hired."

"I suggest you don't push my patience."

My chest tightened violently, and the blood in my veins ran cold.

Grandma Helen was my only living relative in this world.

She was severely ill and bedridden,

relying entirely on the top-tier medical team Ethan's connections had secured.

Over the years, even though I had saved up and paid every single penny of her medical bills myself,

never taking a dime from Ethan,

I couldn't deny the fact that I could never have secured this elite medical network on my own.

I couldn't risk her life. I didn't dare to.

Seeing me go pale and speechless,

triumph practically overflowed in Ethan's eyes.

He reached out, casually tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Take back what you said about the divorce. Discharge yourself tomorrow morning."

"Go home and clean up the master bedroom."

"Chloe's emotional state has been very unstable. She'll be staying with us for a while, and I expect you to take good care of her."

I lay on the bed, my eyes vacant and hopeless,

and gave a numb nod.

The next day, dragging my weak, aching body, I discharged myself and slowly crawled back to the house I had called home for five years.

Enduring the physical agony, I quietly packed up all my belongings from the master bedroom

and moved them, piece by piece, into the small, dark guest room.

Around dusk, Ethan sent me a Snapchat.

"Make some of Chloe's favorite dishes. We're on our way back."

For Grandma's sake, I did as I was told.

Soon, Chloe walked in, delicately leaning on Ethan's arm.

Looking at the table full of food, she put on her sweetest, most innocent act.

"Thank you so much, Serena."

"And I'm so sorry... I only just found out today that the person I hit yesterday was you."

"It's all Ethan's fault. He insisted I practice driving. He even said it was lucky that it was you, otherwise we would have had to pay a fortune in damages."

An uneasy look flashed in Ethan's eyes.

"I was afraid you'd run your mouth, so I told Chloe beforehand."

"Besides, you only got a scratch. If it were anyone else, Chloe would be devastated right now."

Hearing the warning in his voice, I merely gave a silent nod.

The two of them sat side-by-side at the dining table,

while I stood on the other side, looking like a complete stranger in my own home.

Right as I turned to leave,

Chloe suddenly clutched her chest and began coughing violently.

Ethan rushed to her side, panic written all over his face.

"What's wrong, Chloe? You were fine just a second ago!"

Chloe looked up, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Serena... you know I am severely allergic to ginger. Why did you put ginger in the food?"

The moment she finished speaking

SLAP!

A hard, ringing slap landed brutally on my face. The force was so immense that my lip split, and blood trickled down my chin.

Ethan's eyes were filled with nothing but pure rage for Chloe.

"Serena, how can you be this evil? Chloe is already so weak, and you tried to poison her on purpose?!"

"Apologize to Chloe right now, and then we are going to the hospital!"

I gripped the edge of the dining table to keep myself upright.

"I didn't put any ginger in the food!"

"If you don't believe me, go look in the kitchen yourself. There isn't even a piece of ginger skin in there!"

But in Ethan's eyes, my defense was nothing but shameless lying.

He didn't even want to look at me.

He whipped out his phone and dialed the private hospice center's number.

"As of this moment, terminate all medical care and treatments for Serena's grandmother."

My eyes widened in absolute horror. The sheer shock drained all the strength from my legs,

and I collapsed heavily to the floor.

I crawled to Ethan's feet, desperately grabbing his trousers.

"Ethan, I was wrong! I'm sorry! Please, I beg you, don't stop Grandma's treatment..."

"Chloe, I'm sorry! It was all my fault! I'll kneel and beg, I'm so sorry!"

Ethan kicked me away without mercy.

"Now you know how to apologize? Too late."

Without another glance, he scooped Chloe up in his arms and walked out, slamming the door.

I ran like a madwoman to my grandmother's hospice care. But when I arrived, the doctor looked at me, shaking his head with sorrow.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Vance. Because the private life-support equipment was abruptly cut off and the specialized medications were stopped, your grandmother suffered sudden cardiac arrest during the emergency transfer. She passed away ten minutes ago."

I stood frozen in the corridor. I didn't scream, I didn't cry. It was as if all the energy had been permanently drained from my body.

I gently took Grandma's cold, withered hand.

There was no warmth left in her palm. She would never gently stroke my head again,

and she would never softly call me her sweet girl anymore.

In just two days, I had lost my baby, and now, my grandmother.

Over the next few days, I lived like a walking corpse, quietly arranging my grandmother's funeral.

Before I left, I placed the signed divorce papers on the kitchen island.

I took one last look at the house I had lived in for five years, turned around, and walked away without a single shred of regret.

On the other side of town, while Ethan was paying for Chloe's hospital discharge fees, a medical report slipped out of his coat pocket.

He remembered he had casually shoved it in there when he paid my bill the other day.

For some inexplicable reason, his heart began to race.

As he unfolded the paper and read the words, he froze.