Chapter 1

I was married to Eric Johnson for ten years, and in all that time, I never once got pregnant.

His mother, Margaret Johnson, reminded me every single day. She would look me dead in the eye and say, "What's the point of keeping a barren wife around?"

Eric never once stood up for me. He just sat there in silence, scrolling through his phone.

I was the one who brought up the divorce, but he signed the papers faster than I did.

Three months after I remarried, the morning sickness hit me hard, so I went to the hospital to get checked out.

The doctor smiled and said, "Congratulations, you're carrying triplets! Your husband must have some strong genes."

In that moment, Margaret's words echoed through my mind.

It turned out I was never the barren one.

*****

My marriage to Eric had reached its tenth year.

Ten years was long enough to wear moss into stone, but my body still showed no sign of carrying a child.

Margaret's eyes cut through me like a blade of ice, every single day.

She would sneer, "Nora, is your womb just a barren wasteland?"

She would remind me, "The Johnsons have had three generations of only sons, and you're about to end the whole bloodline."

She would sigh and say, "Even a hen can lay eggs. What good are you?"

Those words echoed in my ears day after day, like a curse that never lifted.

Whenever she started in on me, Eric would sit on the other end of the couch with his head down, scrolling through his phone.

The glow of the screen lit up his face, but I could never read his expression.

He never once spoke up for me. No defense, no pushback, not even a reassuring look. Just silence.

Silence was a crueler weapon than any argument.

It stranded me on an island, surrounded by cold water called "infertility."

Today, Margaret walked in carrying a bowl of some dark, foul-smelling tonic. The sharp odor filled the living room in seconds.

She set it down and said, "Here, Nora. Drink it while it's warm. I had someone get this remedy from out in the country, and they say it works like a charm."

She leaned in and told me, "Some woman in a small town tried for eight years with nothing, and she got pregnant after just three rounds of this stuff."

She slammed the bowl onto the coffee table, and a few drops splashed onto the clean glass surface.

I stared at the thick, murky liquid, and my stomach turned.

Over the past ten years, I had choked down eighty, maybe a hundred bowls of remedies just like this one.

My body had become a walking medicine cabinet.

But what did any of it get me? Nothing but a face that looked more worn with every passing day, and a cycle that grew more unpredictable by the month.

"I don't want to drink it, Margaret." My voice came out dry and rough.

Margaret's face darkened instantly. Her sharp eyes narrowed, full of contempt.

She snapped at me, "You don't want to drink it? Do you even want to have a baby anymore?

"Let me tell you something, Nora. Don't you dare bite the hand that feeds you.

"The Johnsons didn't take you in so you could sit around like some decoration that can't produce an heir.

"If you can't get pregnant, then pack your bags and get the hell out. Stop wasting everyone's time."

Every vile word hit me like a needle driven straight into my heart.

I lifted my head and looked over at Eric on the couch.

He finally glanced up from his phone, and his eyes settled on me, but there was no sympathy and no anger.

Nothing but cold indifference. He looked at me like I was a stranger who had nothing to do with him.

In that moment, something deep inside me that had been stretched tight for years suddenly snapped.

Ten years. I had spent ten years of my best youth loving this man and holding this family together.

I had endured Margaret's cruelty and the whispers from everyone around me.

I had taken all the blame on my own shoulders, and I told myself that if I tried a little harder, if I held on a little longer, things would get better.

But what did I get in return? Ten years of the same cold silence and neglect.

A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it, so bitter that tears nearly came with it.

I picked up the cup of dark tonic, and my wrist flicked hard.

The black liquid arced through the air and splashed right across Margaret's stunned face.

The living room went dead silent.

Margaret froze in place. She hadn't expected this from me, not after years of keeping my head down and swallowing whatever she threw at me.

The thick liquid dripped down her hair, and she looked absolutely pathetic.

She let out a shrill scream that pierced my ears. "Are you out of your mind?"

Margaret jumped to her feet and pointed her finger right in my face, screaming at the top of her lungs. "You bitch, Nora! You actually splashed me!"

She kept going, her voice shaking with rage. "You've completely lost your mind! The Johnson family must have been cursed the day we let you through our door!"

Eric stood up too, his brows drawn tight, and for the first time, a real emotion flickered across his face.

It was anger.

He snapped at me without hesitation. "Nora, what are you doing? Apologize to Mom. Now."

I looked at him and slowly rose to my feet.

There was a hole in my chest where my heart should have been, and the cold was rushing in.

I spoke calmly. My voice was quiet, but every word carried clearly to both of them.

"Eric, I want a divorce."

The moment those words left my lips, I felt a relief I had never known before.

It was like a weight I had carried for ten years had finally been lifted off my shoulders.

Eric froze.

Margaret's screaming stopped mid-sentence. She probably thought she had misheard me.

Her voice shot up an octave, dripping with contempt. "Divorce? You have the nerve to bring up divorce?

"You can't even give him a child. Who else would ever want you?

"What, you think you're still some twenty-year-old girl?

"Let me tell you something. Without the Johnson family, you wouldn't even be able to put food on the table."

I ignored Margaret's ranting and kept my eyes fixed on Eric.

"I'll walk away with nothing," I said. "I don't want a single thing. Just sign the papers."

Eric's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read, something complicated swirling behind his eyes.

Finally, he spoke, "Fine."

There was no hesitation and no attempt to make me stay.

And deep in his gaze, I caught a flicker of relief.

So that was it. He had been waiting to get rid of me all along. I was nothing but dead weight to him.

The moment Eric agreed, Margaret's face twisted into a smug grin.

"At least you know your place," she sneered. "Get out. Go handle the paperwork tomorrow, and don't hold up my son from finding a woman who can actually give him a child."

I turned and walked back to the bedroom to pack.

There wasn't much to pack, really.

Ten years of my life in this house, and everything I owned fit into a single suitcase.

As I pulled the zipper shut, I glanced back at the room I had called mine for a decade. I felt nothing.

This place was never home. It was a cage.

And now, I was finally walking free.