e Cummi

on I was here, a ghost watching my own lifeless body. Bradford had always used my competence against me, twisting my strength into an exc

as less pure, less worthy than Flora, his untouched "first love." It was an undercurrent in our marriage, a silent current of disap

our marriage. I clutched the positive test, my hand trembling not with fear, but with a cautious optimism. This baby, I thought,

evening where his guards were down, where he might actually see me, Adrianne, his wife, not

ed into the evening. He insisted they were just friends, that Flora was "fragile" and needed his advice, his support. I bit my tongue, swallowed the bitter taste of susp

ng intimately into Bradford, her hand resting on his arm, her eyes wide and innocent as she whispered

h to think a baby, our baby, would change anything. My hope, once so vibrant, shriveled and died. It was a cold,

contorted in a grief so raw, so potent, it eclipsed any emotion I' d ever seen from Bradford.

phone, and dialed. His conversation was brief, his voice tight with suppressed rage. I knew who he was calling: m

still probably with Flora, baskin

ce cut through the phone line, devoi

es glistening with unshed tears. He was

d, flanked by a few uniformed officers. Bradford arrived, not alone, but with Flora clinging to his arm,

emanded, his voice laced with annoyance, not grief. "Is

dford. Permanently." He gestured towards the co

ed her face in Bradford' s chest. "Oh, Bra

ng nervously around the room, as if trying to shield her from t

ally warm and teasing, were now blazing with a fury that could incinerate

fist connected with Bradford's jaw with a sickening crack, sendin

not attempting to stop the blows. He

. "You let her die! You chose that pathetic excuse for a woman over Adrianne! My sister! Your wife!" He g

, for the first time, widened in genuine shock. Flora, who had just been whimpering, suddenly s

Finally. The truth was out. But the bitter irony was that it had