Would Jacob eventually be alright? Gretchen's heart seemed to thump loudly with that question. Would he be diagnosed with an ailment that would eventually end his life? Would the doctor simply instruct the butler to rest from his hectic schedule? She hoped that would be the case, for she simply couldn't handle anyone's death at this point, especially the death of a man she'd miss.

Hope. She clung to hope for the butler's sake. He didn't deserve to die —he was such a good man. He had made sacrifices and had served his master diligently. Perhaps if he had been a terrible butler... no, she shook her head. Jacob's life or death shouldn't be dependent on how good or bad he was, it should be dependent simply on the fact that he deserved a chance to live like every other human being! He deserved a chance to be happy! He deserved a family! He deserved a home! He deserved something good!

As did she! Oh, but all of these months, she blamed herself for all the wrong that was done to her. She excused everybody else and bore the blame herself—she was the one who turned down a good man's proposal. She was the one who tried to destroy that same man's marriage. She was the one who came to London. She was the one who cared for a child she now considered to be her daughter. She was the one who fell in love.

She had come to accept the wrongs and rights of her past and she was finished feeling guilty! She deserved a chance to be happy! She deserved a family! She deserved a home! She deserved something good!

But what she wasn't deserving of was a man who would choose his past relationship over her. She wasn't deserving of a cheating husband! She didn't deserve a man who would look her in the eyes and lie about being in love with her.

Gretchen knew tears were now falling down her face as she allowed herself to examine the consequences of Juliet's words. Perhaps it wasn't just Juliet's declaration that hurt, perhaps what hurt the most was the fact that she had always known? She knew Ethan still loved Juliet; she knew because she saw it in his eyes. Yet, she allowed herself to believe for a second that he might still have a place in his heart for her.

The next few seconds that passed, Gretchen wasn't exactly sure what happened. She wasn't sure what she did with the child in her arms, all she remembered was walking out of the front door and into the night. She felt nothing but the crippling pain that ripped her heart. She heard nothing but the ringing sound in her ears; a sound whose source she couldn't exactly trace. And while her legs seemed to be carrying her somewhere, for the life of her, she couldn't say where she was going. All she knew was that she desperately needed to get away from the world that was now closing in on her.