A Mother's Strength, A Wife's Fall

A Mother's Strength, A Wife's Fall

Gavin

5.0
Comment(s)
View
11
Chapters

The first thing I noticed was the ultrasound picture on my kitchen island, a grainy image signaling a future I never saw coming. My husband, David, looked pale, and beside him, his intern, Lily, barely legal and with a hand protectively over her flat stomach, smiled triumphantly. "I' m pregnant," Lily announced, "It' s David' s." The words shattered 15 years of my life. David, the man I' d sacrificed everything for, couldn' t meet my eyes. He mumbled about it "just happening." Then my fifteen-year-old adopted son, Alex, walked past me and handed Lily a glass of water, telling her, "You should sit down." He looked at me, his young face hard. "Mom, just listen. Dad made a mistake. Lily is scared. We need to be adults about this." The shock was a physical blow. Not just my husband, but my son, my Alex, was against me. Lily, seeing her advantage, spoke with false sincerity. "Sarah, I don' t want to break up your family. We can make this work. I can live here. You can help me with the baby." The audacity left me breathless. She wanted me to raise my husband' s illegitimate child in my home. My perfectly curated world dissolved into chaos. David, Lily, and Alex stood there, a new family, and I was the inconvenient, old piece. A profound cold dread spread through me. This wasn' t a crack; it was a demolition. Seven years ago, I had taken the fall for David' s career-ending mistake, losing my architectural license and, due to the stress, an ectopic pregnancy that left me unable to have children naturally. David had promised, "You are all the family I will ever need." Now, he fawned over Lily. My sacrifices, my body, my love-none of it was enough. Alex admitted he' d been covering for David and Lily for months, helping them meet. "Maybe if you were a better wife, none of this would have happened," Alex declared, his eyes full of contempt. "Maybe if you paid more attention to Dad instead of your work, he wouldn't have needed someone else." That was the final blow. I looked at their united faces. My heart didn' t just break, it turned to dust. "Get out of my house," I said, my voice dead. "All of you. I want nothing to do with you, or with it." David was speechless. I calmly opened the bottom drawer of my desk and pulled out a manila envelope. "I want a divorce," I stated, placing the papers on the coffee table. The words were final. Alex scoffed, "You have nothing without him. Where would you even go?" David tried to placate me, then offered me the house, asking me not to fight for the rest of the assets-for the baby' s sake. Then came the ultimate insult. "I think it would be best if you found somewhere else to stay," he said. "Lily' s pregnancy... all this stress isn' t good for her. Or the baby." He was kicking me out of my own home, the sanctuary I had built, to make room for his mistress. A bone-deep sadness settled over me. It wasn' t my home anymore; it was a house full of strangers. "Fine," I whispered. "I' ll be gone by the end of the week." My choice was made.

Introduction

The first thing I noticed was the ultrasound picture on my kitchen island, a grainy image signaling a future I never saw coming.

My husband, David, looked pale, and beside him, his intern, Lily, barely legal and with a hand protectively over her flat stomach, smiled triumphantly.

"I' m pregnant," Lily announced, "It' s David' s." The words shattered 15 years of my life.

David, the man I' d sacrificed everything for, couldn' t meet my eyes. He mumbled about it "just happening."

Then my fifteen-year-old adopted son, Alex, walked past me and handed Lily a glass of water, telling her, "You should sit down."

He looked at me, his young face hard. "Mom, just listen. Dad made a mistake. Lily is scared. We need to be adults about this."

The shock was a physical blow. Not just my husband, but my son, my Alex, was against me.

Lily, seeing her advantage, spoke with false sincerity. "Sarah, I don' t want to break up your family. We can make this work. I can live here. You can help me with the baby."

The audacity left me breathless. She wanted me to raise my husband' s illegitimate child in my home.

My perfectly curated world dissolved into chaos. David, Lily, and Alex stood there, a new family, and I was the inconvenient, old piece.

A profound cold dread spread through me. This wasn' t a crack; it was a demolition.

Seven years ago, I had taken the fall for David' s career-ending mistake, losing my architectural license and, due to the stress, an ectopic pregnancy that left me unable to have children naturally. David had promised, "You are all the family I will ever need."

Now, he fawned over Lily. My sacrifices, my body, my love-none of it was enough.

Alex admitted he' d been covering for David and Lily for months, helping them meet.

"Maybe if you were a better wife, none of this would have happened," Alex declared, his eyes full of contempt. "Maybe if you paid more attention to Dad instead of your work, he wouldn't have needed someone else."

That was the final blow. I looked at their united faces. My heart didn' t just break, it turned to dust.

"Get out of my house," I said, my voice dead. "All of you. I want nothing to do with you, or with it."

David was speechless. I calmly opened the bottom drawer of my desk and pulled out a manila envelope.

"I want a divorce," I stated, placing the papers on the coffee table. The words were final.

Alex scoffed, "You have nothing without him. Where would you even go?"

David tried to placate me, then offered me the house, asking me not to fight for the rest of the assets-for the baby' s sake. Then came the ultimate insult.

"I think it would be best if you found somewhere else to stay," he said. "Lily' s pregnancy... all this stress isn' t good for her. Or the baby."

He was kicking me out of my own home, the sanctuary I had built, to make room for his mistress.

A bone-deep sadness settled over me. It wasn' t my home anymore; it was a house full of strangers.

"Fine," I whispered. "I' ll be gone by the end of the week." My choice was made.

Continue Reading

Other books by Gavin

More
When Love Turns to Ash

When Love Turns to Ash

Short stories

4.8

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.

You'll also like

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book