urring past, but I wasn' t seeing any of it. My mind was a whirlwind of calculations and strategies. David, on

o glued to

low, angled away from me, thinking I wouldn't notice. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He was texting someone he had

"The package is almo

dea. Swallowed the

w on my face. I just sat there, my hands resting on my still-flat stomach, a sil

gas station about an

vid said, pulling up to the pu

n old habit, a sign of his complete and utter arrogance. He never thought I' d

ed in my chest

. Another sign of his supreme confidence in my ignorance. I o

l there.

on a beach somewhere, his arm wrapped around her. There were pictures of a baby boy, a chi

'orphanage' today," Sarah wro

g. Tomorrow, I'll bring Leo home. Tell her the adoption went through fas

Mexico by the end of the week. Let her deal w

ttle l

ld melt steel. They weren't just leaving him; they were discardi

d forwarded the entire thread to my own phone. I sent the photos, the messages, everything. Then, I carefully de

eerful smile on his face, I took mine and thank

e didn't get the child that day; just as Sarah's text had said, it

ve and the effort of his deception. He slept soundly, snori

st. But something stronger was rising to meet it: a cold, calculated fury. He had called me barren while he was having

ot get awa

suits and designer clothes. I ran my hand over the fine fabrics, things he' d insisted on buyin

avy, custom-tailored, the one he had worn on our wedding

nd took out a pair of lar

and, I made the first cut, right up the back. The sound of the fabric ripping was deeply, primally sati

l the power suit was nothing more tha

a piece of the shredded suit on it. A silent

over him as he slept. He looked so peacefu

th in the air. "Mommy is in charge now. He thinks he's leaving us, but we

re would be no more