She said she wanted to keep the baby—he nodded and drove her straight to a hospital.

I need distance from him

I stumbled back, looking for air and distance from the chaos Drew had caused. His look was a mixture of regret and something I couldn't place in his blue eyes. I needed space to comprehend the magnitude of this betrayal, turning away from him and clutching the papers tightly to hold myself amidst the storm of my emotions. In that moment, I didn't know what to do next.

His flimsy defenses

Drew stood there stiffly and tried to defend himself with words, but they immediately lost their weight under my gaze. "Nina, you have to understand..." he began, but his explanations crumbled into feeble attempts at redemption. My silence spoke louder than anything I could have said, while my eyes remained fixed on his and a quiet rage simmered beneath the surface. Drew's flimsy justifications could never make up for what I was feeling at that moment.