Chapter 30 #2
A small silence settled between us, tense but outwardly polite. Around us, guests continued laughing, glasses clinking, music humming quietly through hidden speakers.
Sydney tilted her head slightly. “So… after the baby. What’s next? Back to Vegas?”
My shoulders stiffened automatically.
“No. I’m focusing on motherhood.”
She hummed thoughtfully, lips pursing like she was considering something delicate. “That’s… admirable. Motherhood is hard though. Especially without stability.”
“I have stability.”
“With Cal touring?” she asked mildly. “And your… history?”
Heat climbed up my neck. “My history?”
She shrugged elegantly. “You know. Foster care. Dancing. The constant moving. That kind of instability doesn’t just disappear because you marry into money.”
Zariah’s chair scraped loudly behind us as she leaned forward. “Watch it.”
Sydney didn’t even glance at her.
“You rushed into marriage,” she continued, voice calm, conversational, which somehow made it sharper. “Accidental pregnancy. It’s a lot at once. I just worry you don’t fully understand the reality of Cal’s life.”
“I understand enough,” I said quietly, gripping the edge of the table to steady myself as a wave of pressure rolled through my pelvis.
“Do you?” Sydney leaned closer, her voice lowering so it felt private. Intimate. “Because Cal doesn’t need someone playing house. He needs someone who understands trauma. Real trauma.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“I have never dismissed what happened to you guys,” I said carefully.
"So you know about what happened to us then"
"Yes. Eleanor and Kei told me. But that doesn't excuse your behavior Syd. You manipulate them and that isn't right"
Her smile faltered.
“You made him push me away like I’m disposable!” she snapped suddenly, voice cracking as tears filled her eyes with terrifying speed. “After everything we survived in Mexico? Do you know what they did to us? How we had to survive each other just to stay alive?”
Guests nearby turned, conversation faltering.
“I never said....”
“You act like I’m interfering!” she continued, louder now. “Like I’m some clingy ex or groupie hanging around! But I was there when they were starving! Bleeding! I held Cal together when he couldn’t even remember his own name!”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“I am not attacking your trauma, Sydney....”
“You ARE,” she shouted, voice breaking. “Every time you look at me like I’m in your way, you’re saying it didn’t matter! That I didn’t matter!”
Footsteps approached quickly.
Kei reached us first. “What’s going on?”
Sydney wiped her face shakily, stepping back like she was cornered prey. “Nothing. I just… I didn’t realize Hadley thought I was some pathetic reminder she needs to get rid of.”
“I never said that!” My voice cracked.
Holland and Jake stepped closer, expressions tightening as they looked between us.
Cal arrived last, eyes immediately locking onto Sydney’s tears.
“Syd,” he said sharply, grabbing her shoulders. “Hey… breathe.”
She pressed into him instantly, fingers clutching his shirt like she was anchoring herself.
“I didn’t mean to cause a scene,” she whispered brokenly. “I just… I thought she understood what we went through. I thought she respected it.”
Cal’s jaw clenched. Then he looked at me.
“Hadley… just let it go.”
The words hit like glass splintering inside my chest.
“She’s twisting everything....”
“Just drop it,” he said quietly, already guiding Sydney toward the edge of the tent.
My stomach dropped.
“She started this,” I said hoarsely.
“Hadley,” Kei said, tone careful but firm, “you have to understand this is sensitive territory.”
“I didn’t bring it up!”
Holland sighed heavily. “Syd’s fragile, okay? Today probably wasn’t the best day to push emotional stuff.”
“I didn’t PUSH anything!”
Jake crossed his arms. “You don’t always realize how things sound to people who lived through that.”
The betrayal landed slowly.
Layer by layer.
“I was defending myself,” I whispered.
No one answered.
Sydney sniffled against Cal’s shoulder as he led her out toward the front garden. The boys followed, murmuring comfort, protective, unified.
I stood frozen.
Eleanor rushed toward me, face stricken. “Hadley, sweetheart...”
The tears hit before she could reach me.
“I need… I need air,” I choked, turning away before she could touch me.
“Hadley, wait...”
But I was already stumbling toward the house, one hand gripping my stomach as my vision blurred, guests parting awkwardly around me like I was radioactive.
....
I barely made it into the downstairs bathroom before collapsing against the wall, sobs ripping out of my chest so violently it scared me. My breathing turned jagged, shallow, my belly tightening painfully as the baby shifted in response to my panic.
The door slammed open behind me.
Zariah locked it quickly.
“What. The. Fuck.”
“She always wins,” I choked. “Every single time. He always chooses her.”
“He doesn’t...”
“He does, Zariah!” My voice cracked into something raw. “Maybe not romantically. But emotionally? She owns him. She always will.”
Zariah crouched in front of me, grabbing my hands.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I whispered, pressing my palm against my belly as another painful tightening spread across it. “I can’t keep fighting ghosts. I can’t compete with trauma bonds and history and guilt. I’m tired.”
She stared at me carefully.
“What are you saying?”
“After the baby comes… I’m leaving,” I whispered. “I’ll take whatever settlement he offers and I’ll go. I’ll raise this baby somewhere that doesn’t feel like I’m constantly proving I deserve to exist.”
Zariah exhaled slowly, sitting back on her heels.
“I’ve seen him improve,” she admitted reluctantly. “Tiny… emotionally constipated… baby steps. Maybe wait until after birth before making permanent decisions.”
I stared at the tiled floor.
Because deep down…
I wasn’t sure I had that much fight left.
....
By the time the last guest left and laughter faded into hollow silence, I sat alone beneath the tent surrounded by unopened gifts and half-deflated balloons swaying in the evening breeze.
Tiny clothes.
Soft blankets.
A stroller.
A life waiting to begin.
And I had never felt more alone in my entire life.