Evelyn
“W-what?” My voice trembled, barely a whisper. Somewhere deep inside me-somewhere I refused to acknowledge-there was hope. A desperate, foolish hope that he’d say something different. That he wouldn’t break me with a brutal truth like this.
“Yes, Evelyn.” His voice was steady, his eyes cold, though maybe-just maybe-there was a flicker of guilt in them. But at that moment, guilt didn’t matter. His words did. His actions did. The emotions he chose to display, and the ones he kept buried, were the only things that mattered.
“I am not fucking ready to be a father.” His tone was unyielding, each word a blade slicing through me. “I don’t want to be a father. I don’t have it in me, and I’d rather die than carry a burden like that. Raising a kid, all of it-it’s pointless. Stupid. Meaningless shit. And I thought you felt the same, but I was wrong. And that fucking scares me. I hoped I could convince you, but you’re proving me wrong at every turn. Evelyn, no matter how much you think you’re ready-you’re not. We’d just be bringing another burden between us, ruining everything in the process. It will ruin our fucking lives.”
His words shattered me. Tore me apart and scattered the broken pieces like they were worthless.
And they echoed inside my head.
Burden.
Stupid.
Meaningless shit.
I didn’t even realize I was crying until hot tears streaked down my face, burning my skin. I couldn’t stop them.
His gaze flickered to my tears, and for a moment, something in him softened. “Evelyn, I-”
He took a step forward, but I shot my hand out, stopping him cold. My other hand wiped at my tears as I exhaled shakily.
“Don’t you dare fucking touch me.”
He flinched, barely, but I caught it. “Evelyn, listen,” he pushed, voice lowering, “I’m only saying what’s best for us. I don’t want to ruin what we have, and this decision-it could. It could tear us apart. I can’t take that risk.”
“Why would it tear us apart?!” My voice cracked, raw with emotion. “It’s just a baby, Jacob. For fuck’s sake-it won’t even be able to tell us it’s hungry without crying! That’s how helpless babies are!” A choked laugh escaped me, bitter and broken. “Why do you think like this? And just so you know-if anyone is tearing us apart, it’s you. Not this baby. You.”
Silence. His lips pressed into a firm line, his jaw clenched tight. His expression was unreadable-stoic, frozen. Cold in a way that suggested he felt nothing at all… or maybe he felt everything but refused to let even a drop of it show.
Because that might make him weak. That might make him hesitate. That might make him see this child as something other than a burden.
When he finally spoke, his voice was devoid of warmth. “What you’re looking at right now is a picture-perfect family, Evelyn.” He exhaled sharply. “But what I see is what’s behind that picture. And it’s not perfect. It’s ugly. It’s dark. And you’re refusing to see it.”
I laughed again, humorless and hollow. “Perfect? You think I’m looking at something perfect?” My nails dug into my palms as I took a step closer. “Have you even once, in all these days, sat me down and asked how I felt? How hard this was for me? Do you think it was easy finding out I was pregnant when we had all these plans ahead of us?!”
I swallowed hard, voice shaking with unfiltered rage and pain. “It wasn’t easy, Jacob. It was fucking terrifying. But I made the right choice. Because I love this baby. Because it’s ours. And I am not trading it for anything-not a grand wedding, not your perfect plans, not your fucking fears.”
I forced myself to look into his eyes, even as my own filled with tears again. “This doesn’t mean I didn’t care about our plans. I did. But I have my priorities straight. I care about a life more than a future built on selfishness. My fears, my weaknesses, they don’t matter. But you? You won’t even sit alone and think about this. You’re too busy convincing yourself that getting rid of this ‘thing’ is the only way to keep us together.”
I shook my head slowly. “You don’t even see that by doing this, you’re the one destroying us.”
He said nothing.
Not a single word.
He just stood there, staring at me with those empty, soulless eyes-void of anything real. Void of regret, remorse, or even the decency to pretend he cared.
I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head. “You know what? I’m done. I don’t even expect you to understand anymore.”
I turned away, storming into the bedroom, my hands shaking as I yanked open the closet and grabbed my clothes. I felt him follow me, his presence a heavy weight pressing down on my already suffocating chest. As I pulled on my jeans and shoved my arms into my coat, he finally opened his mouth to speak-but I cut him off before he could.
“You can chase your dreams, Jacob. Line them up perfectly, find someone else to hold your fucking hand while you do it. Because this ‘burden’ I’m forcing on you?” I zipped up my coat with a sharp tug. “I’m taking it with me. You don’t have to worry. You can live your perfect life, free of responsibility, free of me-free of this child you never wanted.”
I bent down to lace up my boots, my fingers stiff with anger. The air was freezing outside, but the cold I felt was coming from somewhere else entirely.
“Evelyn, listen to me-”
I grabbed my bag and shoved past him, my pulse hammering as I made for the door. He followed, restless, his voice trailing behind me.
“Let’s talk about this later.”
“Please, just listen.”
“Fine, I’m sorry, okay?”
I blocked it all out. I had nothing left to hear.
When I reached the door, his voice sharpened, cutting through my rage like a jagged blade.
“Evelyn, walking out of this fucking apartment is not a solution!”
I stopped. The words forced their way into my consciousness, making my hands curl into fists at my sides. I turned slowly, my eyes locking onto his.
“No,” I said, my voice a razor’s edge. “But getting away from you and your sick, selfish mindset is.”
I jabbed a finger into his chest, my fury vibrating through my bones. “So stay the fuck away from me, Jacob. If you have even an ounce of respect left for what we had.”
His brows shot up, disbelief flashing across his face. “Had?” He took a step closer, his voice a shade darker, more dangerous. “Evelyn, what the fuck are you saying? You’re just mad-you’re acting irrational. It’s freezing outside, and for fuck’s sake, where are you even going when you’re pregnant?!”
I let out a hollow laugh, the sound filled with nothing but bitterness. “Oh, so now you suddenly care that I’m carrying a child?” My eyes burned as I glared at him. “Your child? The one you called a burden?”
He exhaled sharply, his tone softening. “Evelyn, let’s just go inside and talk-”
“You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that.”
Without another word, I spun around and strode toward the elevator. My legs moved faster than my thoughts, fueled only by the need to get away from him. Away from the wreckage of us.
Behind me, I heard a sharp “Fuck this.”
I slammed my hand against the elevator button, my heart pounding as the doors slid open.
“Evelyn!”
His voice rang out just as the doors closed, sealing me in, shutting him out.
The last thing I saw before I descended was his face-his clenched fists, his tight jaw-his expression a mix of frustration and something else. Something darker.
And in that moment, I knew.
He realized he fucked up.