aid he would take care of everything, that I just needed to rest and focus on the baby. His promises were a silken trap, and I f

va," he said.

s meant

re Beau Ethan Kensington Dines with Mystery Woman." There were pictures, grainy but clear enough. Ethan and Chloe, sitting at a secluded table in a restaurant I'd

dly cherished wife who had just survived a wreck, to have a cozy dinner with his pr

asp. The pain was intense, a deep, twisting knot. It wasn't just emotional pain anymore.

g. Something

ne, but it went straight to voicemail. I was alone. Panic began to set

nswer, or if he did, he'd just tell me to r

ant anyone reporting back to Ethan. I managed to get dressed, my movements slow and painful. I walked out of the mansion like a thief, s

on room. The doctor, a woman with kind, serious eyes, did an ultrasound. S

to have caused a small placental abruption. It's a serious condition. The baby is at ris

was so conflicted about, was in danger. And the stress, th

in bed when Ethan came home late that night. He walked into the bedroom, looking pl

hloe always wore, a cloying floral sc

e of nausea surged up, and I barely made it to the bathroom before I was sic

s face. "Morning sickness," he said, a soft smile playing on h

od sign. It was my body rejecting

. I pretended to be asleep. I couldn't stand to look at him, to h

e was silence. I thought he had fallen asleep. Then, I heard the soft glow

aint smile was on h

texting. I lay there, feigning sleep, my mind racing. What were they sa

thumb hesitated over the screen. After a moment, I heard the soft clic

d my

of contentment. It was the same sound he made wh

r inside me solidified into a cold, hard resolve. I wasn't just going

roof. I needed to see

uldn't get out of. He kissed me goodbye, told me to rest, and

ed another car. I gave the driver an address. It was a luxury condo buildi

s the street. I just sat th

have to w

n got out of the driver's side. Then he wa

ess, and she was laughing at something he said. H

down and k

sionate. A kiss full of a history I was only just beginning to

ether, his arm still wrapped arou

old, hard fact. All the love I thought I had, all the dreams I had built, were nothing but a shared delusion

as at risk, felt like a stranger. It wasn't a symbol of love. It was a product

-