A Wife's Undeniable Scars

nes on the pregnancy test felt like a miracle. I couldn't wait to tell my husb

th a woman and a little boy. The boy, who loo

d "accidentally" pushed me down the stairs

as four y

cried over our lost child-it was all a lie. He had a

rying for a baby he already had? He called me "stupidly in love

taged her own kidnapping and blamed me, he had m

floor, he kicked me in the sto

o idea i

pte

ure, unfiltered joy washing over me. After seven years of trying, after the heartbreak of a miscarri

against my ribs. I

smile breaking through the focused intensity he always wore as a t

with ways to tell him. Maybe I' d buy a tiny pair of shoes and put them on his

to me was kneeling, his broad shoulders familiar. He was talking to a little

rning slightly, and my br

as D

Dra

placing a hand on his arm. She smiled u

cold. I kne

five years ago, causing my first miscarriage. The woman Drake had sworn he desp

r years old. He had Drake' s dark hair, his sharp jawline. He wrapped his small arms aro

add

dn' t seen in years. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Kiana' s cheek. It wasn'

e children laughing-faded into a dull roar. My legs felt weak, a

wedding. The anonymous, cruel messages I' d receive

aine. Stay away from

straining orders. He' d changed his number. He' d swo

he sterile smell, the doctor' s sympathetic face. "I' m so sorr

were white, his face buried in my hair as I sobbed. He had promised me, he had swor

s. With her. W

ami

the hope, the love I' d poured into it, sud

l? Was this some

the backdrop of a sunny afternoon. Kiana, Drake, and the

let' s get you

d to know. I started to follow the

in my pocket. A

n a boring board meeting. Can' t wa

p and lean against a building, my knuckles white as I

through every tearful night. He researched every new treatment, sat with me thr

it doesn' t matter. I have you. Th

n Switzerland, a trip that ultimately failed but had felt like the grandest romanti

hing together. That our love was

every single

to breathe. Who was this man? The man who held me while I grieved our lost

ng just a few blocks away. A place I' d never s

The same code he used for everything. My hand sh

mething else... the smell of their life together. A child' s toy t

dead stone in my chest. I heard noises f

ugh the sligh

of Drake' s shirts. He was standing over her, a dark, predatory look in his eyes I had

ith Cody today," Kiana purred, w

ough sort of passion. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pull

f cold desire. It was the f

ier between me and the horror unfolding in front of me. I was

en lying to me for years. Our entire life

rough seven years of agonizing hope and failure, try

roke through my numbness. He pulled

thing," he said

tantly. He had shown me the designs weeks ago, telling me it was a surprise for our upcoming ann

wide with greedy delight. "It' s beau

s voice flat. He fastened it around Kian

me. Pushing her down those stairs... I know it was wrong. But I was just so crazy

, I know I did. I was awful. But it gave us Cody. And I' ve waited so patient

grew colder. "It' s done. We have a son. I' ll gi

out?" Kiana whispered, her

ne? She' ll never know. She trusts me comp

rder than a physical b

him. A fool. An obs

over my mouth to stifle a sob. I couldn' t stay

street. I didn' t know where I was going. I jus

again. Another

m bringing home your favo

ickness through me. I doubled over on the sidewalk, vomit

looked at my reflection in a dark shop windo

tiny, hard spark wa

he one I had clutched like a holy relic just

d it into a ne