Ruin Me Slowly

Chapter 26

Jane POV

It’s been almost 24 hours.

No Carter.

At this point, I didn’t even have hope anymore. What was I even waiting for? A miracle?

I sat on the couch, curled up in one of Lila’s soft blankets, eating cold Indian takeout and pretending to care about the show playing on the TV. Some romantic drama. The main character was crying because the man she loved left her at the altar.

Felt a little too close to home.

I pushed my food around in the container and tried not to cry again.

Why did I believe him?

Why did I let myself believe that someone like Carter King could love someone like me?

I should’ve known better. I should’ve known this was all too good to be true. A King with an Ellis girl? That’s the perfect scandal. Maybe this was all just payback—for what my father did to his.

And maybe I deserved it.

But not the babies. Not them.

This isn’t just about heartbreak anymore. This is about two innocent lives growing inside me. And I was carrying them alone.

Lila had brought food earlier before leaving for her shift. She told me to eat, told me not to stress, told me Carter would come around.

But she didn’t know what I saw. Those pictures. That look on Emma’s face. The silence that followed. And the ache in my chest that told me Carter was gone long before I ever walked out of that apartment.

I turned the TV off and just sat there in the silence. The only sound was the low hum of the fridge and the soft wind tapping against the windows.

I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes.

I actually liked him.

Carter wasn’t like anyone I had ever met. He made me laugh when I was too tired to smile. He brought me flowers and held my hand at night and whispered soft things that made the baby kicks feel less lonely.

I thought he was different.

But maybe that was the game. Maybe different was just a better disguise.

He was a King, after all.

Just like I was an Ellis.

And maybe we were both cursed. A knock at the door made me jump. I sat up fast, heart pounding in my ears.

Please let it be Carter. Please.

I walked to the door and opened it slowly.

And then I froze.

My heart almost stopped.

“…Mom?”

I blinked, stepping back, my breath caught in my throat.

It was like looking into a mirror.

She had the same eyes. The same curls. A little older now, a little thinner, but still her.

“Mi amor,” she whispered, tears already in her eyes. “Mi bebé.”

I stood there, mouth open, completely paralyzed.

The last time I saw her… I was eleven. She left. Just walked out. And I never saw her again.

“What… what are you doing here?” I finally said, my voice barely a whisper.

She stepped inside slowly, looking around the tiny apartment.

“I saw you on the news,” she said softly. “The headlines. The pictures. The scandal with the Kings.”

Of course she had.

“I saw you were pregnant,” she added, her voice breaking, “and engaged. And alone.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks. “I couldn’t stay away anymore. I came because I want to make things right, Jane. I don’t want you to go through this pregnancy by yourself.”

I stared at her, my chest aching.

“You left me,” I said, voice sharper now. “You left me with him. You didn’t come back. Not for birthdays. Not when I graduated. Not even a phone call.”

“I know,” she said, crying now. “I know, and I am so sorry. I never wanted to leave you, Jane. I never stopped loving you.”

“Then why didn’t you come back?” I whispered. “Why now? Why not then?”

She swallowed hard. “Because your father wouldn’t let me.”

“What?”

She nodded slowly. “He made it impossible. He had full custody. I had no money, no lawyer. I tried to fight it, but he made sure I couldn’t even see you. And I was scared—scared of what he’d do if I came back. But when I saw the pictures… when I saw that you were living on your own, that you were out of his reach… I knew it was time.”

I stood there frozen. I didn’t know what to believe. I didn’t know what to feel.

But when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, I didn’t pull away.

I cried.

Right into her shoulder. Like I was eleven again. Like I had never grown up.

Because no matter how angry I was, a part of me had always wanted my mother back.