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