Chapter 1: Real Marriage
Negative. Again. How many was this now?
Frustrated, Anna tossed the used pregnancy test onto the bathroom sink, her fists clenching in growing agitation.
Another test. Another wasted effort. And another stark reminder of her failure. In the Hyde household, if you couldn't produce the desired results, you were nothing more than a disappointment. Useless. Wasted.
She exhaled shakily, picking up the test once more. Her vision blurred with unshed tears as she stared at that single, merciless blue line—the same line that had haunted her for years. It almost felt like it was mocking her, just as Robert's family had ever since the doctor had first uttered those fateful words: she would have difficulty conceiving.
Seven years. She had been married to Robert Hyde for seven long years, and their inability to produce an heir weighed on her shoulders like an anchor, the burden growing heavier with each passing year.
"Anna?"
Robert's husky voice echoed down the second-floor hallway. She flinched, nearly dropping the test in her panic.
Heart pounding, she hastily shoved it deep into the trash bin, burying it beneath a pile of napkins. It wasn't that she was afraid of Robert seeing another negative test—he had long since come to terms with her infertility. But the fact that they were still trying... It left a fragile ember of hope flickering inside her.
Maybe, just maybe, all wasn't lost yet.