The Hotel Room: His Broken Vows

Chapter Fifteen - Kate

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kate

Kate gripped the cool porcelain of the toilet bowl, her body convulsing as another wave of nausea hit. The harsh scent of bile lingered, stinging her throat, and her whole body trembled as she struggled to catch her breath between heaves.

Her stomach twisted again, and she barely had time to brace herself before another surge came, leaving her breathless and hollow.

Footsteps echoed down the hall—faint, hesitant at first—then faster, more urgent.

"Kate?"

James.

She squeezed her eyes shut, mortified, her face burning despite the cold sweat beading along her forehead. She didn't want him to see her like this. Not now.

But the door creaked open anyway, and a moment later, he was kneeling beside her, his hand gently sweeping her hair back from her damp face.

"Hey, it's okay. I've got you," he murmured softly, voice calmer than she expected.

She wanted to tell him to leave. To give her space.

But when the nausea hit again, stronger this time, all she could do was collapse over the bowl.

James stayed right there, rubbing slow, soothing circles along her back. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t recoil.

When it finally passed, Kate sagged against the cool porcelain, exhausted and shaky.

James rose without a word, and she heard the quiet sound of water running before he returned with a damp washcloth, kneeling again and pressing it gently against her forehead.

"Better?" he asked quietly.

She nodded weakly, avoiding his eyes. Her throat ached. She felt exposed. Fragile.

This was the last thing she wanted—being vulnerable in front of him. Especially after everything.

But James was still there. His voice softer now.

"Kate, I think I should take you to the doctor. You’ve been sick for days.”

The tenderness in his voice chipped at her carefully constructed walls, but she fought it. She swallowed hard, her fingers tightening against the toilet seat.

She hadn’t planned to tell him like this.

But the truth was outpacing her denial.

"I..." Her voice broke. She closed her eyes, clutching the edge of the sink for support. "I'm pregnant."

Silence.

For one endless heartbeat, nothing but the faint hum of the bathroom fan filled the space.

When she finally looked up, James was staring at her. His face pale. Stunned. Like she’d just knocked the breath out of him.

"You—what?" His voice was hoarse, as though he couldn’t quite process the words.

Kate forced herself to meet his eyes, wrapping her arms protectively around her middle as if shielding herself from his reaction.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated, more steadily this time, though her voice still trembled.

James’s gaze dropped instinctively to her stomach. The shock was plain—raw and unfiltered. But it wasn’t anger. It wasn’t the defensiveness she had braced herself for.

It was something...softer.

He swallowed hard, as if trying to find words that wouldn’t come. "Kate, I—"

She shook her head sharply, cutting him off before he could try to offer comfort she wasn’t ready for.

"I wasn’t going to tell you. Not yet. I—I didn’t know how.”

He blinked, brow furrowing. “Why? Why wouldn’t you—”

"Because I don’t trust you, James.” The words spilled out before she could stop them, her voice trembling with more emotion than she’d wanted to show.

His face crumpled, like the truth had struck deeper than her words alone.

“Kate…”

She shook her head, pressing her hand against her stomach. “I understand now, James. When you said you felt trapped ? Like your life was already written for you? I get it.”

The confession felt like a weight pressing down on her chest. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but it was the truth.

“This ties us together," she whispered. "Whether I want it or not. Whether I trust you or not. We’re bound to each other for another eighteen years.”

James’s lips parted like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. His face had gone pale, his throat working as he swallowed hard.

"I never wanted you to feel trapped, Kate," he whispered, voice raw. "Not like that. I—"

Her voice wavered, but she held his gaze.

"When you cheated, you made me feel like I wasn’t enough. Like our life was something you needed to escape from. And now...I don’t get to walk away either, even when you’ve hurt me this badly. That’s what feels like a trap.”

The silence between them was suffocating.

James’s chest rose and fell unevenly, his hands flexing at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them.

"I don't deserve this," he whispered finally, voice breaking. “I don’t deserve you. I need you to know—Kate, I’m not running this time. I want to be here. For you. For the baby. For everything."

She let out a soft, bitter laugh, shaking her head.

"You don’t get to say that now, James. I’m telling you because you needed to know. Not because I’m asking you to fix anything."

His eyes glassed over, but she kept going, her voice steady even as her heart cracked open.

"I’m going to love this baby. I already do. I will never let them feel unwanted, or like they’re some consequence of my mistakes."

James nodded, his face tight, pained.

“But just because you’ll be a part of their life, doesn’t mean you’ll be a part of mine.”

He looked so broken in that moment—but Kate wasn’t sure if it was enough.

She wasn't sure if anything could be enough anymore.

But when he whispered, “I’m so sorry,” it didn’t feel like a plea.

It felt like the truth.