Chapter 1
I was in a car accident that caused a miscarriage, and as I was rushed to the hospital, I spotted my lawyer husband tenderly accompanying my best friend while she waited to give birth.
At 5 a.m., she posted a photo of three hands intimately intertwined.
[From now on, the three of us will face every storm together.]
He replied instantly: [First time as a dad—I'm thrilled. I want to give her all my love and every last bit of my property.]
His friends piled on with cheers and congratulations.
Biting back the searing pain, I dropped a casual comment: [Wishing your family all the happiness in the world.]
She deleted the post in a flash.
My husband—who'd been MIA for three full days—called me right away.
"Are you crazy? Susana's a single mom giving birth; she's already got it rough. Her C-section scar isn't even healed, and now you've upset her to tears. Can't you act like an adult for once?"
In our three years of marriage, he's ditched me countless times to help with her divorce, often staying out all night.
Before, I'd have lost it—sobbing and demanding to know if I even mattered to him.
But this time, I just smiled.
When the tables turn, let's see you act like an adult.
When Ervin Norris got home, I was doubled over, clutching my lower abdomen in searing pain after the abortion.
Drenched in cold sweat from the agony, I pulled the blanket over my head and buried myself in darkness.
He didn't even kick off his shoes before unloading on me.
"Lucinda, what the hell were you babbling about last night?
"We finally got Susana's husband thrown in prison. She's covered in bruises, still lugging around that big belly—as her best friend, don't you feel bad for her at all?
"Stepping in as godfather for her daughter is just a temporary fix. Quit fixating on it and making things awkward for Susana. What's the point?"
I didn't say a word, so he just kept going.
"She's got no one to turn to right now. I've hooked her up with a low-key job at the company. Go on, shoot her a text and smooth things over—tell her you were reading too much into it.
"Otherwise, I might not show up for our marriage registration next time."
We'd been "married" for three years now—wedding and all—but as a lawyer, he'd already bailed on getting our official license ninety-nine times.
The first time, it was because my best friend roped him into handling her divorce, leaving me waiting at the city hall all day.
The second time, she came down with a fever while her husband was out of town, so he dashed off and stranded me on a mountainside fifty miles away.
The third time, her husband cheated, and she was sobbing her heart out.
The fifth time... The seventh time...
In three years of marriage, Ervin has ditched me ninety-nine times.
This would make it a hundred.
I let out a cold laugh and stared calmly out the window.
That was when Ervin seemed to remember something, his eyes flicking to my belly.
"The doctor said you're pregnant—that's fantastic! If it's a boy, we could even set up a childhood betrothal with Susana's little girl!"
He crouched down, leaning in toward my stomach.
Then he fished a guardian red bracelet out of his pocket. "Susana made this for the baby—she stayed up all night weaving it by hand."
Next, he grabbed the spicy food off the table. "Your favorite—dig in while it's hot."
It was half a serving, with just a few scraps of beef and some leftover bacon.
I didn't take it, just glanced down at my phone instead.
Susana had added me to a group chat with a handful of Ervin's childhood buddies. She was the only woman in there.
[Susana's Redemption Alliance]
I'd barely joined when Susana fired off a string of voice messages.
"Lucinda, we've been best friends since we were kids. I got pregnant, then cheated on and beaten—Ervin's my lawyer and my lifeline.
"We're totally innocent; don't get the wrong idea, okay?"
Her voice cracked with sobs and hurt.
"It's just him being a godfather—what's the big deal? You're blowing this way out of proportion."
"Does she have any idea what kind of hell Susana's been through? Some best friend—how's someone that small-minded supposed to be Mrs. Norris?"
"Don't cry, Susana. An apology? Like she even deserves one."
"Where's Ervin? As her lawyer, how can he leave Susana hanging like this?"
I tapped into Susana's social media feed, and her latest post hit me like a slap—a grid of nine photos.
[Last night I crashed out from exhaustion, and he held the baby, soothing her all night long, even changing her diaper. Pretty happy with this godfather.]
Smack in the middle was a shot of Ervin coaxing her and the baby to sleep.
His face was pure tenderness.
Ervin hadn't glanced at his phone; he just took a piece of spicy bacon and tried to feed it to me.
The fishy stench hit me hard. I had gastritis and couldn't handle spice—those bright red chili flakes nearly made me puke.
"Ugh—"
Ervin's brow furrowed right away.
"What's with the theatrics? You gag just from smelling chili?
"You're so fragile—how's the baby not going to starve?"
I gave him an icy stare.
"Toby said you hadn't shown up at the office in three days. On my way to find you, I got in a car accident.