Her Heart’s Silent Divorce

Her Heart's Silent Divorce

Gavin

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The two pink lines on the pregnancy test felt like a dream. I sat on the bathtub' s edge, clutching the little plastic stick, my heart pounding with a strange, unsteady rhythm. Pregnant. After years of being told it might never happen, here it was. A wave of warm, fragile hope bloomed in my chest. A baby. Mine and Liam' s. But then my phone buzzed with a family group chat message: "Big news everyone. Sarah' s coming home." Sarah. My stepsister. Ethan' s biological sister. The one who had abandoned our family-and Liam-years ago without a word. The fragile warmth in my chest turned to ice. I crept downstairs, stopping just out of sight. Liam and Ethan were eager, buzzing with excitement, planning a welcome-home party for her. Then Ethan asked, "What about Chloe?" Liam sighed, a long, tired sound. "She' ll be fine. She' s always been... sensitive." Ethan' s voice, dismissive, felt like a physical blow. "Yeah, but Sarah is her stepsister. Chloe has always been a bit jealous of her, you know? She' s going to make it awkward." "We' ll just have to manage her," Liam replied, firm. "Sarah is the priority right now. She' s family, Ethan. The real family. Chloe will just have to understand." The real family. Their words echoed in the silent space where my heart used to be. I was nothing but a problem to be managed, an obstacle to their happiness. In that single, devastating moment, a decision formed in my mind, cold and clear as glass. I could not bring a child into this. I would not subject another human being to a life of being second-best, of being an afterthought. I buried the pregnancy test deep in the trash. Later, Liam smiled, oblivious. "It' ll be like old times. The family will finally be whole again." He didn' t see me. He never had. I was just a stand-in, a placeholder for the real thing. And now, the real thing was back. My decision solidified into a cold, hard resolve: I wasn' t just getting rid of the baby. I was getting rid of all of it. Him. Ethan. This house. This life that was never truly mine.

Introduction

The two pink lines on the pregnancy test felt like a dream.

I sat on the bathtub' s edge, clutching the little plastic stick, my heart pounding with a strange, unsteady rhythm.

Pregnant. After years of being told it might never happen, here it was.

A wave of warm, fragile hope bloomed in my chest. A baby. Mine and Liam' s.

But then my phone buzzed with a family group chat message: "Big news everyone. Sarah' s coming home."

Sarah. My stepsister. Ethan' s biological sister. The one who had abandoned our family-and Liam-years ago without a word.

The fragile warmth in my chest turned to ice.

I crept downstairs, stopping just out of sight. Liam and Ethan were eager, buzzing with excitement, planning a welcome-home party for her.

Then Ethan asked, "What about Chloe?"

Liam sighed, a long, tired sound. "She' ll be fine. She' s always been... sensitive."

Ethan' s voice, dismissive, felt like a physical blow. "Yeah, but Sarah is her stepsister. Chloe has always been a bit jealous of her, you know? She' s going to make it awkward."

"We' ll just have to manage her," Liam replied, firm. "Sarah is the priority right now. She' s family, Ethan. The real family. Chloe will just have to understand."

The real family. Their words echoed in the silent space where my heart used to be.

I was nothing but a problem to be managed, an obstacle to their happiness.

In that single, devastating moment, a decision formed in my mind, cold and clear as glass.

I could not bring a child into this. I would not subject another human being to a life of being second-best, of being an afterthought.

I buried the pregnancy test deep in the trash.

Later, Liam smiled, oblivious. "It' ll be like old times. The family will finally be whole again."

He didn' t see me. He never had.

I was just a stand-in, a placeholder for the real thing.

And now, the real thing was back.

My decision solidified into a cold, hard resolve: I wasn' t just getting rid of the baby. I was getting rid of all of it. Him. Ethan. This house. This life that was never truly mine.

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My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

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