Chapter 2 · Divorced, Pregnant, And Done With Him

Chapter 2

The doctor let out a sigh, stayed silent, and quietly offered me a tissue.

As I walked out of the hospital, the sunlight was harsh and dazzling.

I gently placed my hand on my belly and said sorry to my baby. I lied to you earlier. I would never abandon you.

But your father didn't deserve to know about you. He was not worth it.

The elevator dinged as it reached the ground floor.

I dragged my suitcase out of the luxury apartment I'd called home for three years.

The taxi I'd ordered half an hour ago was already waiting outside.

The driver helped me load my suitcase into the trunk.

"Where to, miss?" he asked.

I gave him the address.

It was an old apartment complex in Proburn, a small place my grandma left me. I hadn't been back there in years, but I still kept the key.

As the car pulled away, the glass skyscraper that stood for wealth and status shrank in the rearview mirror.

It looked like a fancy tomb. It buried a decade of my love, and the me who humbled herself to the dust.

My phone started buzzing like crazy.

Lester's calls kept coming in, one after another.

I turned it off, and the world felt peaceful again.

As the car rolled into the old part of town, the streets narrowed, the buildings shrank, and the whole place was buzzing with the warmth of everyday life.

Breakfast stalls hadn't packed up yet, vendors were hawking their goods, and old men were bickering over chess games.

It felt so alive, so real.

I rolled down the window, letting the breeze, rich with food aromas and street chatter, fill the car.

My eyes stung a little. But I didn't shed a single tear.

All my tears had dried up over the past ten years.

Now, I wanted to keep living for myself and for the little one growing inside me, the surprise that gave me the strength to start over.

The old apartment was even more rundown than I'd imagined.

The motion sensor lights in the stairwell were out, so I made my way up to the fifth floor in pitch darkness. It took three or four tries before the key finally turned in the lock.

A musty, old smell of dust filled the air.

But sunlight poured in through the south-facing windows, catching the dust motes swirling in the air. All the furniture was draped in white sheets, their vintage shapes oddly comforting.

There was no Lester here, no Isla. Just me and my baby.

I started cleaning.

I rolled up my sleeves, got some water, and started scrubbing. The dust was everywhere, and even with a mask, I kept coughing.

A dull ache settled in my lower belly, so I stopped right away and sat down on the old sofa draped in a sheet to catch my breath.

I gently rested my hand on my belly.

"Be good, baby. Mommy will take it slow. This will be our home from now on," I whispered.

This place might be small and old, but it was ours.

After a short break, I got back to tidying up, taking it easy, careful not to overdo it.

While cleaning up the bedroom, I found a metal box buried deep at the bottom of the closet.

Inside was a pile of old keepsakes. There were school certificates, snapshots with friends, and a locked diary.

I'd lost the key ages ago.

After some effort, I forced the lock open, and the diary popped right open.

The pages were yellowed, filled with a girl's innocent scrawl.

"September 1, 2008. Sunny. The school opening ceremony. He spoke as the student rep. That white shirt, sunlight spilling across his shoulders. His name is Lester Browning. It sounds so nice."

"October 15, 2008. Cloudy. I heard he's dating Isla Fulton from the class next door. The golden boy and the perfect girl. Yeah, he's so outstanding. Only girls like Isla are worthy of him. What am I compared to them?"

"June 20, 2009. Rainy. They argued. Isla went overseas for treatment. Lester was all alone on the playground, getting soaked in the rain. I quietly left an umbrella for him under the basketball hoop. He never noticed me."

"March 8, 2012. Cloudy. College. Lester and Isla broke up. Word was, Isla called it quits, chasing a brighter future. He was pretty down for a while. I'd go to the library every day, pick a spot not too close, not too far, and pretend to read. When really, I was watching him."

"Summer 2016. Lester took over the Browning family business, and he was swamped. Isla was dating someone new overseas. I worked at the café Lester always went to, and sometimes he'd show up while I was on shift. He never even noticed me."

"Spring 2018. The Browning family was in trouble and needed to marry for survival. The Todd family, desperate to move up in the world, offered me up. Lester looked at me, his eyes cold and distant. He said, 'We can get married, but my heart belongs to someone else. I can't give you love.' I replied, 'Okay.'"

"Autumn 2018. The wedding. It was grand, extravagant, like a staged performance. Lester went through all the rituals with a practiced smile. That night, he slept in the study. I lay alone on the massive bed in the master bedroom, eyes wide open till morning, feeling the emptiness stretch on forever."

"Winter 2019. Isla returned to town. Lester went to see her. That day was our first wedding anniversary. I cooked up a feast and waited for him late into the night. When he came home, he smelled like her perfume. He said, 'Isla was feeling down, so I kept her company. Don't read too much into it.'"

"Spring 2020. I found out I was pregnant. I told Lester, overjoyed. He sat there in silence for ages, then finally said, 'This isn't the right time. You should abort it.'"

"Spring 2020. The operating room was cold and sterile."

Chapter 2

The doctor let out a sigh, stayed silent, and quietly offered me a tissue.

As I walked out of the hospital, the sunlight was harsh and dazzling.

I gently placed my hand on my belly and said sorry to my baby. I lied to you earlier. I would never abandon you.

But your father didn't deserve to know about you. He was not worth it.

The elevator dinged as it reached the ground floor.

I dragged my suitcase out of the luxury apartment I'd called home for three years.

The taxi I'd ordered half an hour ago was already waiting outside.

The driver helped me load my suitcase into the trunk.

"Where to, miss?" he asked.

I gave him the address.

It was an old apartment complex in Proburn, a small place my grandma left me. I hadn't been back there in years, but I still kept the key.

As the car pulled away, the glass skyscraper that stood for wealth and status shrank in the rearview mirror.

It looked like a fancy tomb. It buried a decade of my love, and the me who humbled herself to the dust.

My phone started buzzing like crazy.

Lester's calls kept coming in, one after another.

I turned it off, and the world felt peaceful again.

As the car rolled into the old part of town, the streets narrowed, the buildings shrank, and the whole place was buzzing with the warmth of everyday life.

Breakfast stalls hadn't packed up yet, vendors were hawking their goods, and old men were bickering over chess games.

It felt so alive, so real.

I rolled down the window, letting the breeze, rich with food aromas and street chatter, fill the car.

My eyes stung a little. But I didn't shed a single tear.

All my tears had dried up over the past ten years.

Now, I wanted to keep living for myself and for the little one growing inside me, the surprise that gave me the strength to start over.

The old apartment was even more rundown than I'd imagined.

The motion sensor lights in the stairwell were out, so I made my way up to the fifth floor in pitch darkness. It took three or four tries before the key finally turned in the lock.

A musty, old smell of dust filled the air.

But sunlight poured in through the south-facing windows, catching the dust motes swirling in the air. All the furniture was draped in white sheets, their vintage shapes oddly comforting.

There was no Lester here, no Isla. Just me and my baby.

I started cleaning.

I rolled up my sleeves, got some water, and started scrubbing. The dust was everywhere, and even with a mask, I kept coughing.

A dull ache settled in my lower belly, so I stopped right away and sat down on the old sofa draped in a sheet to catch my breath.

I gently rested my hand on my belly.

"Be good, baby. Mommy will take it slow. This will be our home from now on," I whispered.

This place might be small and old, but it was ours.

After a short break, I got back to tidying up, taking it easy, careful not to overdo it.

While cleaning up the bedroom, I found a metal box buried deep at the bottom of the closet.

Inside was a pile of old keepsakes. There were school certificates, snapshots with friends, and a locked diary.

I'd lost the key ages ago.

After some effort, I forced the lock open, and the diary popped right open.

The pages were yellowed, filled with a girl's innocent scrawl.

"September 1, 2008. Sunny. The school opening ceremony. He spoke as the student rep. That white shirt, sunlight spilling across his shoulders. His name is Lester Browning. It sounds so nice."

"Spring 2020. I found out I was pregnant. I told Lester, overjoyed. He sat there in silence for ages, then finally said, 'This isn't the right time. You should abort it.'"

"Spring 2020. The operating room was cold and sterile."