Ally dragged her suitcase with one hand while the other rested protectively on her belly. Her chest ached—not just from the cold, but from everything she had lost in the span of a night. Her legs moved, but her soul lagged behind, broken and bruised.
She hadn't slept. Her clothes were wrinkled, her feet barely protected in her house slippers, and the shadows under her eyes looked permanent. The streets were empty, but her mind was a noisy storm.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she whispered to the tiny life growing inside her. "I couldn't bring myself to tell your dad last night. I thought... I thought it would fix everything. That maybe it would save us. But..."
Her voice broke. She pressed her palm harder against her stomach. "It wouldn't have changed anything. He never loved me—not the way I loved him."
Tears blurred her vision. She didn't bother wiping them away.
She had gotten the pregnancy confirmation just minutes before Nick walked in with Kate. Her heart had leaped with hope—thinking the baby might bring them closer, maybe make him smile again.
Instead, she was handed divorce papers and discarded like trash.
Dragged out in the rain, humiliated, stripped of everything.
"I gave up my career. My dreams. My identity... for love," she muttered. "And that love stabbed me in the back."
She stopped walking for a second, the weight of her regret pressing her into the pavement. Her heart raced as anger and sorrow twisted inside her like thorns.
"Now where do I even go?" she whispered to the wind. "Do I go back to my father? After everything? After this... failure?"
She scoffed bitterly. "I'm a disgrace. A woman rejected, humiliated, thrown out in the middle of the night... who would want me now?"
She crossed a quiet street, unaware of the pair of eyes watching from a parked car down the block. But to any bystander, it looked like nothing more than a silent, still vehicle.
She reached the other side and paused under the cover of a tree. Her head throbbed from crying, and her ankle began to ache from walking too long on cold, damp ground.
Suddenly, a loud honk from behind startled her.
She turned sharply—and stumbled.
Her grip on the suitcase loosened. It thudded awkwardly to the ground, flipping onto its side. As she bent to pick it up, her slipper slipped on a wet patch of pavement. She lost her balance and tumbled forward—her body tipping into the road.
Her handbag slid out of her grasp and spilled open. Lipstick, papers, and a worn photo of her and Nick scattered across the asphalt.
She crawled toward the photo first, the one thing she couldn't leave behind. But just then—
A blinding light.
A loud horn.
Tires screeching.
She looked up, and all she saw was the front of a car rushing toward her like fate itself.
There was no time to scream.
The impact was deafening. Her body flung backward, her head hitting the ground with a sickening crack. Her head slammed against the edge of the pavement, and pain exploded across her skull. The side of her face dragged roughly along the wet asphalt, peeling the skin and leaving raw scrapes across the cheek and brow. Blood mingled with rainwater, soaking into her hair as her features began to swell and bruise, her fingers twitching once… then going still.
The car never stopped.
And Ally—once a wife, now broken and alone—lay motionless in the middle of it all.
Everything went black. ***. Two Months Later...
Ally sat in front of a mirror with her eyes still closed beneath the weight of every trauma, grief, and confusion. Soft morning light peeked through the curtains of a room she didn't recognize. This wasn't a hospital — it was a quiet, unfamiliar apartment. Her entire face was still wrapped in white bandages. She could hear the low hum of the air conditioner and Jake's steady breathing behind her, his hands gently resting on her shoulders.
"Jake... why is my face covered in bandages?" she asked, her heart racing like a runaway train.
"Don't worry, Ally. You'll understand once I'm done," he replied, a warm smile softening his features.
Carefully, he began unwrapping the layers around her head. When the last piece fell away, he stepped back slightly. "You can open your eyes now."
Ally blinked once, then gasped.
The woman in the mirror didn't look like Ally Miller anymore. Her face — delicate, striking, unfamiliar — reflected back at her.
"Wow," she murmured. "I look… prettier than before."
She almost smiled, but Jake gently stopped her.
"I'm sorry, Ally, but you can't smile yet," he said, his voice laced with concern. "It could affect the swelling and slow the healing."
He leaned forward and fastened a delicate diamond necklace around her neck — one he'd bought to welcome her back.
Her gaze lingered on the reflection. This was her now. The result of the accident two months ago. The trauma had shattered her face so badly that only full reconstructive surgery could save it. And now, she had to live a new life… with a new face.
Suddenly, her expression fell.
"Jake…" her voice trembled. "Please… tell me my baby is okay. Tell me nothing happened during the accident."
Jake's throat tightened. He'd carried this weight for two months — the pain of knowing he'd have to break her heart again.
"Ally…" he stammered, forcing the words out. "I'm so sorry. You… lost the baby."
"What?" Her voice cracked.
Her knees buckled as she collapsed to the floor. Her world shattered into a million silent screams. First, she lost her marriage. And now — the only thing that gave her strength through that nightmare — was gone too.
"I'm sorry," Jake said, kneeling beside her. "I couldn't believe it either. I couldn't bear it when they told me…"
"I can't take this pain," Ally sobbed. "I was forced into divorce… and now I've lost my baby too."
Jake held her gently. "Please don't cry, Ally. You need to avoid putting pressure on your face. I know it's hard, but try… try to breathe through it."
He helped her back into the chair, guiding her into slow, calming breaths.
After a long silence, he asked softly, "Can you tell me what really happened that night — before the accident?"
Ally nodded faintly, wiped her tears, and took a shaky breath. Then she told him everything. Every detail. Every betrayal. Every moment that led to her being thrown out into the night.
Jake's jaw tightened with fury. He grabbed his coat and moved toward the door.
"I'm going to Nick's house."
"No," Ally said quickly. "Jake, don't. There's no point. Their love for me was never real. He threw me away… just like that."
Jake turned back, his eyes burning. "So what now? What do you want to do?"
"I… I don't know," she said quietly. "I don't even think my father would accept me now. After the disgrace, the rejection… he'll be ashamed to look at me."
Jake stepped closer.
"Ally, your father never disowned you," he said firmly. "He's been waiting for you to come back. He paid for your surgery. The best doctor in New York worked on you because of him. He knows about the accident. And—" he paused, "he wants us to go back to Australia. Our flight is already booked. I forgot to mention it earlier."
Ally stared at him, her new face unreadable — but her eyes glassy with emotion.
And just like that, a new chapter was about to begin.