“And you think that gives you the right to destroy her?” Lucy shoots back. “Do you have any idea what that girl has been through?”
My jaw tightens. “I know enough.”
“No, you don’t,” she says, stepping closer, her voice dropping but losing none of its bite. “Because if you did, you’d know shedoesn’t survive things like that easily. She barely survived losing her mum. Then Josh. Anika. And now you.”
Something shifts in my chest, it’s sharp and unwelcome.Guilt.
“She came home a mess,” Lucy continues. “Crying. Not sleeping. Not eating. And still . . . still trying to defend you.”
I look away. “But despite all that,” she says, her voice steadier now, laced with anger, “I didn’t come here to scream at you.”
I glance back at her. “Then why are you here?”
She holds my gaze. “Because you need to fix what you’ve done.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “That’s not how this works. I did what was best for us both and I stand by that.”
Her composure cracks. “Perfect. I’ll let her know that when I visit her tomorrow,” she snaps, her voice shaking with anger now. “If she’ll even hear me. She’s so far gone, Ray, I don’t even know if she can.”
A cold knot forms in my stomach. “What are you talking about?” I ask carefully.
“They’ve sectioned her,” Lucy says, the words coming out cold. “Wynter’s in hospital. They’re saying she’s a danger to herself and they won’t listen to me. They won’t let me take her home. I feel completely fucking useless.”
Catherine gasps softly behind me. “Oh my god.”
Lucy drags a hand through her hair. “She refused antidepressants because of the baby, and now, she’s so deep in it I don’t know if they can pull her back.”
“Baby?” I repeat, the word catching in my throat. “She told me she wasn’t pregnant.”
Lucy lets out a bitter laugh. “Well, she wouldn’t lie, would she?” she snaps, her words dripping with sarcasm. She doesn’t even look at me as she turns to Catherine. “Maybe seeing you would help,” she says, softer now. “She spoke about you. Said you were kind to her.”
Catherine nods immediately. “Of course. If it’ll help.”
“Hold on,” I snap, stepping forward. “You’re telling me she’s pregnant with my child . . . and she’s in hospital?”
Lucy finally looks at me. “They say it’s for her own good,” she says coldly. “She stopped eating. Wouldn’t get out of bed. They’ve had to put her on a drip, even a feeding tube at one point. She’s in a bad way.”
The room feels like it’s closing in. “And this is because I ended things?” I ask, the words quieter now.
Lucy scoffs. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she snaps. “Did you ever once stop and ask how she was coping after Anika died?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
I didn’t.
Not once.
“You took on an inexperienced girl who had already lost her mum and her boyfriend within months of each other,” Lucy continues, her voice rising. “You put her in a situation she wasn’t equipped for, and when it all went wrong, you threw her out and left her to deal with it alone.”
Each word lands harder than the last.
“As her employer, the least you could’ve done was make sure she had support. Counselling. Something,” she adds. “But instead, you washed your hands of her.”
“I’ll pay for private care,” I say quickly, the words spilling out. “Whatever she needs.”
Lucy’s head snaps towards me, her expression turning furious. “We don’t want anything from you,” she cuts in. “I would rather scrub floors with a toothbrush than come to you for money.” The silence that follows is brutal. “She’s exactly where she needs to be,” Lucy says, calmer now but no less cutting. “We’ve made sure of that.”
She steps back, looking me over like I’m something she can’t quite stomach. “I just needed to see the man who let this happen.” She heads for the door.