My Saving Grace

Chapter 50

Antonio and I managed to make it to the end of July without clashing heads, simply because we never saw each other. On weekends, he either locked himself in the office or went out with God knew who. He'd also been sleeping in the guest bedroom ever since the night of our anniversary, which was for the best given the current state of our relationship, or lack thereof.

At this point, we were more like hostile roommates than husband and wife, and believe me, it fucking hurt.

The optimistic part of me still clung on to the hope that things would eventually smoothen out. Because deep down in his whiskey-filled heart, I knew Antonio did love me. So, I continued to be strong. But God, most days it felt impossible.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was driving home from the grocery store. As soon as I reached the garage, my phone rang, and a quick glance at it revealed a name I hadn't seen in way too long. I turned off the engine before picking up.

"Chase, hey. What's up?", I answered.

"Hey, yourself. And I just got home from the airport. Was dropping Gwen off."

"I see. Wow, I haven't heard from you in, like, over four months."

"It's been that long, huh?"

"Yeah...I've missed your voice."

I heard his soft chuckle.

"Now, before you think I'm a dick, I actually had my reasons for not calling."

"They better be good."

He sighed.

"I wanted to give you and Antonio space to focus on the baby and your marriage. I thought with me out of the picture, it'd make things easier for you."

I stifled a cry, putting a hand over my mouth as I forced my breathing to remain steady.

"Sophia, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"So...how are things going?"

"Not the greatest."

"What do you mean?" His voice was laced with concern.

"I had a miscarriage earlier this month."

"Whoa, what?", he uttered in disbelief.

"I-I lost the baby, Chase," I said, fighting back a sob.

He expelled a sharp breath.

"Shit, Soph...I'm so sorry to hear that."

We were both silent for several moments.

"And all this time, I thought it'd be sunshine and flowers at the Rossi household," he murmured.

"I wish," I muttered to myself.

"How are you now, princess?"

"I'm doing better. I was absolutely devastated in the beginning, but I'm learning to accept it now."

"That's good to hear. And you're still young. Plenty of more opportunities to have kids down the road."

"Yeah."

"How's Antonio?", he asked.

"He's still struggling to cope with it."

"Poor guy. Things are okay between you two, though?"

"They're fine," I lied.

Chase didn't need to hear about how my marriage was currently going down the drain.