Chapter 4
When I woke up, Jack’s parents were sitting by my bedside, their faces tight with worry.
“Emily, sweetheart,” Mrs. Sullivan murmured, her voice thick with concern. “Why didn’t you tell us you were pregnant?”
Pregnant?
I blinked at her, my mind sluggish, my throat dry.
“What?” My voice barely came out. “That’s… impossible.”
My periods had always been irregular, sometimes early, sometimes late. After a few false alarms in the first couple of years, I’d stopped paying attention.
Especially after Zoe came back.
Jack and I barely even touched each other anymore.
Mrs. Sullivan let out a shaky breath and turned away, pressing a tissue to her eyes.
The doctor sighed.
“Mrs. Sullivan, you were about a month along,” he said gently, “but due to prolonged exposure to the cold and the fall, you miscarried. Fortunately, there’s no serious damage. With proper care, you’ll still be able to conceive in the future.”
I stared at him, my hand moving beneath the blanket to rest on my stomach.
A baby.
I had wanted this for so long.
And now, just when I was finally ready to leave, just when I had nothing left to hold onto…
It came.
Only to be taken away before I even knew it existed.
My breath hitched, and my vision blurred as tears spilled down my cheeks.
The door burst open.
Jack stormed in, his face twisted with anger.
“Emily, you can’t even carry a damn baby properly! What the hell is wrong with you?”
The moment I heard his voice, the grief inside me burned into something else.
Rage.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I ripped the IV out of my arm and jumped out of bed.
Then I slapped him.
Hard.
The crack of my palm against his cheek echoed through the room.
Under his parents’ stunned gazes, I hit him again. And again.
Jack stumbled back, his face going pale, his eyes wide in shock.
“You left me out in a storm for her,” I spat, my chest heaving. “You tossed me aside like I was nothing, and now you have the audacity to blame me?”
“If you hadn’t spent our entire marriage running back and forth between women, maybe I wouldn’t have neglected my own health!”
I laughed, but it came out hollow.
“If only, ”
I stopped.
The words caught in my throat.
If only I hadn’t waited. If only I hadn’t let him trample all over me, thinking if I just loved him a little more, maybe he’d finally love me back.
How did I let it get this bad?
Mrs. Sullivan snapped out of her daze and rushed forward, grabbing my arm.
“Emily, please,” she pleaded. “You need to rest.”
Then she turned to Jack, her face pale with fury.
“Tell me she’s lying,” she demanded, her voice shaking. “Tell me you didn’t leave your pregnant wife stranded in the rain.”
Jack opened his mouth, hesitated, then blurted out, “I, I left her an umbrella!”
Slap.
This time, his mother’s hand cracked across his face.
Jack staggered back, eyes darting between us in disbelief.
Mrs. Sullivan clenched her fists, her whole body trembling.
“She’s your wife,” she seethed. “Pregnant or not, you do not leave your wife alone in the middle of the night. I didn’t raise you to be this kind of man.”
Jack’s father said nothing, but his cold, disappointed stare was louder than words.
I let out a breathless laugh.
This was it.
I climbed back onto the hospital bed, wiped my face, and looked Jack dead in the eye.
“Jack,” I said, my voice steady, despite the pain clawing at my chest.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
