The Unseen Wife's Six-Year Sacrifice

his son, a role I took on to repay a debt. I poured my soul into a f

ed at our family portrait and screamed that he wa

only link to my old life. My husband's only re

crifice, that single act of

ce papers, my husband

ng this all aw

e. "That dog was more famil

pte

Hughe

f our family finally shattered, and it started w

ouring my soul into a home that never felt like mine, for a family that never truly saw me. Today was supposed to be a milestone. The famil

than to entertain. Hector was on the sofa, scrolling through his tablet, and Jacob was building a

ht, too eager. I propped the large portrait aga

tly on the back of his chair. Jacob was seated on his father' s lap, a rare,

s father's, landing on the portrait. His small face, usual

he stated, his vo

cked. I forced a smile. "Why not

trait, and jabbed a small finger at

x years of patient breakfasts he refused to eat, of bedtime stories he ignored, of ge

oice trembling slightly.

rising. "You're not my mom! I want He

ce to his deceased wife, Geneva. The woman Jacob adored because she looked like the mot

hing, anything. He finally set down his tablet, his gaze unreadable. He

real heat. It was the voice he used for minor business

rieked, his face turn

washed over me in a tidal wave. Six years of trying, of hoping, of preten

so, so

ords tasting like ash in my mo

ntinued shouts fading behind me. I went to the sunroom, my sanctuary

r legal guardian. The woman who, with the be

ight?" her voice was crisp

to stream down my face. "Gladys," I choked

h a guilt I knew she'd carried for six years. "I know. I'm sorry, my dear. I thought..

"I married him to repay you for taking me in. To give Jacob the home you

ct was up. My oblig

cob stood in the doorway, his small face contorted with rage. He had thrown

th a venom that was terrifying in a six-year-old. "Yo

in. My heart felt hollow. "I'm leaving, Jaco

!" he

r into an unshakeable resolve. I was walking towards the stairs when

He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't even glance at the h

Jacob wailed, running to h

ng him, Almeda. You're always so dramatic. Why can't

ooped Jacob into his arms, comforting him with soft murm

one last look at the portrait on the floor. My face in the photo

l chimed. A moment later, Helene's voice,

favorite coconut cream cake f

, holding a pristine cake box. She looked up and our eyes

osed my bedroom door, the soft click echo