Elise was already exhausted to the bone. The moment her head touched the pillow, an unyielding sleep claimed her, pulling her under before she could even turn off the bedside lamp.

Yet, it was far from a restful escape. She drifted fitfully in and out of consciousness, her mind trapped in a suffocating haze of fragmented dreams, ghostly voices, and the lingering fatigue of the morning’s confrontation.

When she finally forced her heavy eyelids open, her entire body was damp with sweat, and her nightgown clung uncomfortably to her skin.

Lifting a weak hand, she wiped the moisture from her brow and turned her head toward the clock on the bedside table.

Twelve-thirty in the afternoon.

With a dull ache throbbing behind her eyes, she slowly pushed herself upright against the pillows, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and called the housekeeper.

"Have Dylan and the others left?"

"Yes, Miss Elise," Melissa’s voice came through immediately, sounding audibly relieved to hear her awake. "Mr. Bennett left with the child not long after you went back to your room this morning."

A heavy knot of tension finally loosened in Elise’s chest, allowing her to take her first deep breath of the day.

"Good." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet meeting the cool floor. "Is lunch ready?"

"There’s just one dish left to plate, then everything will be done. Come down whenever you’re ready."

"Alright."

After ending the call, Elise padded into the bathroom to wash away the remnants of her feverish sleep. Once she had freshened up and finished a quiet, solitary lunch, she settled onto the living room sofa with a thick book, seeking solace in the silence.

The pale afternoon sunlight spilled softly across the room, painting the hardwood floors in warm, golden hues. It was quiet. Peaceful. The exact kind of stillness her fractured life required.

Yet, the peace was fleeting. Before she could even finish a Chapter, a familiar drowsiness began creeping over her again, her eyelids growing heavier by the minute.

Just as she was on the absolute verge of falling back asleep, the sharp, melodic ring of the doorbell echoed through the apartment.

The sound instantly chased away her remaining fatigue, her muscles tensing automatically. Straightening her posture, Elise looked warily toward the entryway as Melissa hurried past to answer it.

The moment the heavy door swung open, a genuine smile broke across the housekeeper’s face. "Miss Madeline!"

"Good afternoon, Melissa!" Madeline stepped inside with a bright, cheerful grin that seemed to lift the heavy atmosphere of the apartment. "Is Elise home?"

"She is, right there in the living room."

After changing into the soft slippers Melissa offered, Madeline bypassed the foyer and headed directly toward the sofa. Elise looked up from her lap, closing her book with a faint smile.

"What brings you here today?"

Madeline plopped down heavily beside her, kicking off her slippers and placing a massive, glossy shopping bag right in the center of the coffee table.

"I went shopping with a friend," she began, her eyes instantly lighting up with an irrepressible excitement.

"Then I passed this boutique baby store in the district, and Elise, I saw the cutest baby clothes imaginable." She eagerly ripped open the tissue paper inside the bag. "So, obviously, I bought some."

Pulling out several tiny, impossibly soft outfits, she practically shoved them into Elise’s hands. "Look at them! Aren’t they gorgeous? Do you like them?"

A helpless, genuinely amused smile appeared on Elise’s lips as she looked down at the handful of miniature garments. "Isn’t this a little early, Maddie? I’m barely showing."

"Not at all," Madeline waved a hand dismissively, leaning back against the cushions. "You’ll need them sooner or later, and when you see quality like this, you buy it."

Elise unfolded one of the miniature cotton outfits, and then another. As she inspected the tiny sleeves, a small, curious crease appeared between her brows. "Why are they all pink?"

"Because I think you’re having a daughter," Madeline answered with absolute, unshakeable confidence.

Elise stared at her, utterly speechless.

"Hey, don’t look at me like that. My instincts are incredibly accurate," Madeline insisted, sitting up straighter to defend her psychic record.

"When my aunt was pregnant years ago, I had this vivid feeling she was having a boy. I was right. When my cousin got pregnant last year, I was entirely convinced it was a girl. I was right again!"

She reached over, gently patting Elise’s still-flat stomach with a soft expression. "And this time, I have the exact same feeling. Mark my words: it’s a girl."

Elise lowered her own hand, resting it protectively over her abdomen. A rare, fierce softness entered her beautiful features, erasing the coldness that had defined her all morning.

"Boy or girl doesn’t matter to me," she murmured, her voice dropping to a quiet whisper. "As long as the baby is healthy and safe."

"Well, that goes without saying," Madeline agreed softly, her boisterous energy mellowing. Then, she paused, a thoughtful, slightly hesitant look crossing her face. "When exactly are you planning on leaving the country?"

"If everything goes smoothly and I get the signed divorce certificate on the seventeenth," Elise replied evenly, "then probably the eighteenth or nineteenth."

Madeline’s eyes widened in shock. "That soon?" Concern instantly replaced every shred of her previous excitement, her brow furrowing deeply. "Couldn’t you wait just a little longer? At least until the baby reaches three months? Flying across the world would be much safer for the pregnancy then."

Elise hesitated, her fingers absently tracing the delicate lace edge of one of the pink baby outfits. "Maybe," she considered quietly, staring blankly at the fabric. "I’ll see how my physical condition is by then. But regardless of the exact day, I will be leaving before the end of the month."

Madeline’s eyes darted away toward the window, then back to Elise, her posture suddenly rigid. The shift in her demeanor was so glaringly suspicious that Elise noticed it immediately. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

After an awkward moment of silence, Madeline cleared her throat, her voice losing its natural confidence. "What if..." She hesitated, biting her lip. "What if Mr. Bennett refuses to go through with the divorce on the seventeenth?"

Elise’s movements froze. Slowly, deliberately, she placed the baby clothes back into the shopping bag, smoothing down the paper. Then, she lifted her gaze, her eyes pinning her friend.

The silence between them stretched, thick and suffocating.

"You came here as Dylan’s messenger, didn’t you?"

The question landed with frightening, surgical precision. Madeline immediately stiffened, her face flushing as every trace of her remaining confidence evaporated into thin air. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and looked down at her hands.

That guilty silence was answer enough.

Elise’s expression hardened into granite, the warmth from moments before vanishing completely. "Maddie. You know exactly what kind of person I am. You know I don’t play these games."

A long, defeated sigh escaped Madeline’s lips. "I know," she murmured, finally slumping back against the sofa cushions, all the fight draining out of her. "I know I can’t change your mind once it’s made up."

For a long moment, neither woman spoke, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner suddenly sounding incredibly loud.

Then, Madeline rubbed her forehead, her voice softening into something raw and vulnerable.

"It’s just... Elise, I still think some things deserve to be talked through. Even if you truly decide to end it." She turned her head, looking at Elise with a complicated, profound sadness coloring her eyes. "You and Dylan didn’t arrive at this point easily."

The room fell entirely quiet, the weight of the past rushing into the space between them.

"Ten years," Madeline whispered, her words heavy with the shared history she had witnessed from the sidelines.

"You spent ten long years loving that man. Ten years of absolute devotion. Ten years of sacrificing your own youth and effort before you finally became his wife."

Madeline’s throat tightened, her eyes growing misty as she shook her head. "Then you spent five years as husband and wife. You survived corporate storms together. You built a life from nothing. You walked through some of the darkest, most terrifying moments imaginable side-by-side, holding onto each other."

A single tear threatened to spill over Madeline’s lashes. "If all of that history just ends because of a misunderstanding... because of pride and unsaid words... it feels unbearably, devastatingly unfair."

The brilliant afternoon sunlight continued to stream through the large windows, illuminating the apartment. Outside, the world remained bright, bustling, and peaceful.

Inside, however, the air felt suffocatingly heavy.