Chapter 3 - The Call He Ignored
For several minutes, Emma remained on the carpet.
Ethan began to cry.
His tiny hands moved beneath the pale-blue blanket, and Emma forced herself onto one elbow.
“I’m here,” she whispered. “Mommy’s here.”
She reached toward the bassinet, but the room tilted.
Her phone rested less than two feet away.
Emma stretched until her fingers touched it.
The first person she called was Ryan.
The call rang five times before going to voicemail.
She called again.
Then again.
On the fourth attempt, someone answered.
Emma almost cried with relief.
“Ryan?”
Music thundered through the speaker. She heard laughter, glasses clinking, and a woman’s voice asking Ryan to return to the hot tub.
Then Ryan spoke.
“You need to stop calling.”
Emma’s blood went cold.
“Who is with you?”
“My friends.”
“There’s a woman asking for you.”
“It’s a group trip.”
“I need an ambulance.”
The music became quieter as Ryan moved away from the others.
“Emma, I’m not coming home.”
“I can’t get up.”
“Then call my mother.”
“I called her. She didn’t answer.”
Catherine attended an afternoon volunteer program every Friday and kept her phone on silent.
“Call a neighbor,” Ryan said.
“Our nearest neighbor is away.”
“Then call emergency services.”
“I’m scared.”
There was a pause.
Emma heard the woman’s voice again, closer this time.
“Ryan, are you coming back?”
Emma recognized her.
Madison Cole.
Ryan’s former girlfriend.
The woman he had insisted was no longer part of his life.
Emma closed her eyes.
“You’re with Madison.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“I’m lying on the floor beside our newborn son, and you’re at a cabin with her.”
“Nothing has happened.”
“You left because of her.”
“I left because I needed space.”
“Ryan, please come home.”
His answer was quiet.
“No.”
The call ended.
Emma stared at the dark screen.
A moment later, a notification appeared. Ryan had posted a celebration video by mistake.
In the reflection of a cabin window, Madison stood behind him with her arms around his waist.
Emma did not have the strength to feel betrayed.
She only felt afraid.
She attempted to call emergency services, but her fingers would no longer move properly. The phone slipped from her hand.
Ethan’s cries became louder.
“I’m sorry,” Emma whispered.
May you like
Her vision darkened.
Then she heard the front door open.
