Chapter 3
Edward hadn't been gone twenty minutes when a sharp pain tore through my lower belly.
I braced myself against the couch, dragged my phone off the coffee table, and dialed him with shaking hands.
It rang and rang before he finally picked up, and his voice came through flat with irritation.
"What is it now?"
The pain chopped my words into pieces, and I forced them out through my teeth.
"My stomach... it hurts, it really hurts... come home..."
He didn't sound worried. He laughed at me.
"It's one birthday dinner. You need an excuse that bad? Charlotte, could you drop the drama for once?"
Tears came before I could stop them, and I kept trying to make him hear me.
"No, listen... it hurts, I'm not making it up... it's the baby..."
He cut me off.
"You know exactly what you did. Don't use that baby to make me feel sorry for you. Push this any further, and we're done. We'll get a divorce.
"Hang up and get started. Melissa loves that peach cobbler you make. Don't screw it up."
My heart sank completely.
One cough used to send him into a panic. He would drive across town at two in the morning for cough syrup, then hold me half the night, promising he'd never let me get cold again.
I tried again, and he cut in with a cold laugh.
"Save it. I'm telling you, Charlotte, I don't care if you're sick. I don't care if you're in labor. Melissa's dinner gets made first."
The line went dead. My vision grayed at the edges, and the pain in my belly kept climbing.
I used the last of what I had to call 911.
I got my address out, and then everything went black.
I woke up in a hospital bed with an IV line taped to the back of my hand.
The doctor standing beside the bed saw my eyes open and frowned.
"You're barely three months along. Nothing's stable yet. You can't be putting yourself through that kind of stress. Keep going like this and you'll lose the baby."
I looked up at the ceiling and let the tears run without making a sound.
The doctor sighed and started to say something else, but my phone buzzed against the nightstand.
It was Edward.
I hesitated for a moment, but still picked up.
His voice was still impatient, even a little angry.
"Where are you? Why aren't you home cooking yet? Melissa and the others are already here!"
My throat tightened as I stared at the IV drip, watching the medicine fall, feeling completely numb.
"I'm at the hospital," I managed to say, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Edward let out a cold, mocking laugh, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Cut the act, Charlotte. You're not fooling anyone. All I asked was for you to make dinner. Is making dinner really that big of a deal?
"Get back here. Don't embarrass me. It's Melissa's birthday, and if you ruin it for her, we're getting a divorce."
With that, he hung up on me again.
The doctor couldn't help but shake his head.
I pulled the needle out of my hand, ignored the doctor calling after me, made it out of the building on unsteady legs, and got a cab home.
I opened the door and froze.
Edward's whole crowd had taken over the living room.
Melissa sat in the middle of the couch in a pink dress with everyone arranged around her like a court.
Everyone was having a wonderful time.
Then they saw me, and the noise cut out.
Edward looked up, caught the color of my face, and his glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
Melissa was on her feet in a second, crossing the room in quick little steps, her face arranged into worry.
"Charlotte, did you go out by yourself? Why did it take you so long to get back?"
Something clicked for Edward at that. His eyes went over my rumpled clothes, and his face darkened.
I ignored Melissa and headed for the bedroom to lie down.
I made it two steps before Edward's voice snapped after me.
"Charlotte!"
He caught my arm and held it, his voice hard.
"It's Melissa's birthday and she wants your cooking. Get in the kitchen."
I closed my fist around the hem of my shirt until my nails bit into my palm, and the sting cleared my head.
"I'm not doing it," I said, my voice steady but unyielding.
Edward's face darkened in an instant, his glare icy enough to make me shiver.
"What did you just say?" he snapped.
"I said I'm not doing it."
I repeated it quietly, and it took everything I had left.
Melissa moved in fast, took hold of Edward's arm, and let her eyes go red at the corners.
"Eddie, maybe I shouldn't have come. If I'm making things hard for Charlotte, I'll go. I don't want you two fighting because of me."
Edward didn't even glance at me. He patted the back of her hand and softened his voice.
"Don't be ridiculous. This isn't about you."
Then he turned to me, and there was nothing in his face but disgust and impatience.
"Charlotte, stop throwing a fit. It's one meal. Is that going to kill you? You don't cook it, you don't stay in this house."
It felt like someone had just stomped all over my heart.
The whole marriage had been a joke from the first day.
I looked at Edward, and suddenly, I felt completely drained.
I nodded.
"Alright. Let's get a divorce," I said.
Edward's anger froze on his face, like he never saw it coming.
I looked at him, and the last spark in my eyes faded away.
"Edward, let's get a divorce," I said.