I Lost Our Child Chapter 04
The last time we fought over Ava was the day he asked for a divorce.
He had gone to her stage performance.
The media snapped photos of him there.
The headline read:
#Stage Actress Ava and Santoro Group CEO
The reporter interviewing Ava was a colleague from my company’s entertainment desk.
She asked, “Ava, we’ve heard rumors about a childhood sweetheart. Is that true?”
Ava smiled at the camera.
“It’s true that we grew up together.”
Soon, she and Thatcher were trending on the entertainment pages.
The office gossip mill was always turning, especially in media.
That day, I was in the break room getting water when I overheard coworkers talking about Thatcher and Ava.
My hand jerked, and water sloshed over the rim of my glass.
Someone next to me said, “Alessa, you’re spilling.”
I snapped back to reality and turned off the tap.
That night, when I got home, I asked Thatcher, “Why did you go to Ava’s performance?”
He gave a small, dismissive smile.
“I just went to see her show.”
“You’re being too sensitive.”
I said, “Thatcher, are you still in love with her?”
He frowned.
“You’re overthinking this.”
“Then what about what the media is saying?”
He looked at me and let out a cold laugh.
“You work in media. You of all people should know how they spin things.”
The next day, Ava and Thatcher were trending again.
Near the end of the workday, our supervisor called an all-hands meeting.
The conference room was silent.
He tore into us, his tone severe.
“Who wrote this piece?”
A coworker quietly raised her hand. “I did.”
“Mr. Santoro’s legal team contacted the company. Your bonus for this month is gone, and you can forget about a promotion for the next year.”
The article had revealed Thatcher was married and implied he was having an affair, casting Ava as the other woman.
Ava’s career, which depended on her public image, took a hit.
I had to admit, my coworker knew how to dig. It was just that no one at the company knew I was Thatcher’s wife.
Later, some colleagues whispered among themselves, “That was the first time I’ve seen Thatcher Santoro in person. He really is ridiculously handsome.”
“But that look on his face this morning? Terrifying.”
“He went straight to the director’s office and demanded to know who published the story.”
Another coworker laughed. “Sounds like he’s protecting Ava.”
That night, we worked late, scrubbing every story about him and Ava from our platforms.
Someone asked the coworker who wrote the article how she’d found out.
She said she’d stumbled across Ava’s private Instagram account.
That account documented her life from middle school through her career.
A lot of it involved Thatcher.
Scrolling through the posts, I felt like I was seeing a different Thatcher.
Our marriage had always been… flat.
We never even had a honeymoon.
But the four of them traveled together constantly.
Every summer during their four years of college, they’d gone to beaches in different countries to surf and dive.
In the winter, they took ski vacations together.
Their lives were so full.
My family, on the other hand, was ordinary. In college, I could never have afforded trips like that.
The four of them really were that close.
So close I realized there was no room for me.
From Ava’s posts, I learned a lot.
She and Thatcher had gotten together in college and broken up after graduation.
He was the one who had pursued her.
He remembered when she got her period, even bought her tampons.
Honestly, it was hard to connect that Thatcher with the man I knew.
I was the one who had pursued him.
It took six months before we were officially together.
Leo and Aidan both believed the woman Thatcher should have married was Ava, not me.
When I got home that night after working late, Thatcher’s expression was cold.
“Having fun?”
I knew what he meant. He thought I’d leaked the story.
“You think I’m the one who exposed whatever is going on between you and Ava?”
“It wasn’t me.”
He let out another humorless laugh.
“Alessa Blake, are you that determined to believe I’m cheating?”
I stared at him.
“Thatcher, if you maintained proper boundaries, there wouldn’t be rumors like this.”
“I didn’t write that article. It has nothing to do with me.”
“And in my opinion, what you’re doing now is no different from cheating.”
“If you can’t let Ava go, then why did you marry me?”
He gave a soft, dangerous laugh.
“So that’s what you think?”
He stared at me, his eyes dark.
“When you people publish stories like that, do you ever think about her reputation?”
“Do you have any idea how much damage that kind of exaggerated reporting can do to a woman?”
I nodded.
“When she inserted herself into my marriage, did she ever think about me?”
“She didn’t. So why should I think about her?”
“Was the article wrong? She *is* interfering in someone else’s marriage.”
He frowned, his voice rising.
“Alessa!”
My words about Ava clearly hit a nerve.
Thatcher looked down at me, his gaze furious.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
I nodded, blinking back tears.
“Okay. Let’s get a divorce.”
He froze, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
After that, I stopped caring about him and Ava.
The longer this went on, the further we drifted apart.
When I miscarried, he didn’t answer my calls. He was in Los Angeles, watching Ava perform.
From that moment on, I never wanted to tell him anything again.
Later, when I was injured, it never even crossed my mind to turn to him.