Eighty-Eight Betrayals, One Escape

ime, leaving me at the courthouse to

plan: they wanted me to get sterilized s

e to apologize. He even locked me in the basement, knowing

s a monster, and I

ed my bags, accepted a dream job across

are

pte

y P

e my fiancé left me s

oden bench, my fingers tracing the cold, intricate metal of the engagement ring Arthur had placed there six months a

d been waiting

owery?" a clerk called out,

I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. I

ture of pity and annoyance before

the screen. Relief, weak and pathetic, washed over me fo

you? They' ve call

etic murmur that used to make my heart melt. Now it

p. And that something w

ed, my voice dangerously quiet.

she has a headache and she' s feeling di

ntment for a marriage license-our third

our vacation because Claudia felt lonely. Eighty-eight times. I' d kept a tally on a hidden app on my phone. Eighty-eight

by, are yo

wall. "She has her own car, Arthur. She has a

with that familiar, frustrated guilt. "She needs

dia had supposedly pushed him out of the way of a speeding car, breaking her own leg in the proces

l make it up to you, I pro

or my response. T

al tone. The muffled sounds of the courthouse faded into a dull

y finger easily, leaving a pale, indented mark on my skin. I looked at the brilliant ston

econd thought, I opened my hand and let the ring drop. It made a small, unsatisfying

was looking at me, his brow furrowed. "You

r him. What wa

not worth it, kid. Any guy who stands you up at the marriag

see. Everyone saw it but me. My friends, my family, even a stranger at

tech empire, who' d burst into the campus library like a storm, charming and brilliant and utterly captivated by me. He pursued me relentlessly, with helicopter rides over the city and private

tionship, Claudia had retu

xam. A weekend trip postponed because Claudia had the flu. But the intrusions grew more frequen

"She' s just fragile, Jody

was when she wasn' t around. But today, standing in this soulless courthouse, I fina

we shared was a blur. I parked my car and walked through the front door, the silence of the house press

heard their voices coming from the master bed

Arthur?" It was Claudia, her voice

firm, confident. "Jody loves me.

od ran

"She undergoes the tubal ligation, we get married, and she raises my baby as her own

on. They wanted me to give up my ability to have children, to rais

hild I would

sked. "You' re sure... yo

ight that he grows up with his father. And Jody will be the perfect mo

t feel my hands, my feet. A roar started

d the d

m wrapped around Claudia' s shoulders. They tu

started, taking

oice a raw whisper. "Whose

on her lips. She placed a protective hand on her sti

d on its axis.

face was pale, his eyes pleading. "Jody, let me explain. It' s not

my chest. "You want me to undergo surgery, to become sterile, so I c

. "This way, we can all be together. Arthur won' t have to choose.

a bone-deep, chilling cold. The love I had felt for him, the patienc

gn of the man I fell in love with. I found none. "Is thi

or me, his hand trembling. "Jody, plea

n fire. The words "I love you" from his lips

d been sleeping in for months, and locked the door. I sank to the floor, my body shaking uncontrolla

e one who believed in love and fairy t

my phone rang. It was a number I hadn' t seen in a wh

arm and familiar. "I hope I'

It' s fine." My

t opened up. The project is groundbreaking, a new polymer synthesis that could change everything. It' s your work, Jo

firm on the other side of the country. A dr

ife. An

washed over me,

ar and steady for the first t

rful news! When

sterile room that had been

to my closet, and pulled out a suitcas

inally, ble

-