Chapter 3
I looked at the coffee.
For seven years, he had brought me the same order after difficult shifts. I used to think remembering it meant he noticed me.
Now I knew memory required very little.
Choosing me required more.
“I’m listening.”
Daniel sat beside the bed.
“A month ago, Sophie took a pregnancy test. It was positive.”
“Who was the father?”
He looked away.
That was my answer.
“She wasn’t sure,” he said.
“Then why did she tell you?”
“She was frightened.”
“She had my number. I drove her to appointments.”
“This is why she didn’t tell you. You’ve always had a problem with her.”
Even now, I was the jealous wife.
Sophie was the frightened victim.
“Did she have a blood test?”
“She was waiting for confirmation.”
“And you believed the child might be yours.”
Daniel said nothing.
His silence hurt more than a confession.
“So you risked my life for a child who might not exist.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“The doctor said I could die.”
“I thought you could hold on.”
“Why?”
“You’re stronger than Sophie.”
There it was.
I could survive dinner alone. Another missed anniversary. Being abandoned in an emergency room.
Daniel had turned my strength into an excuse to hurt me.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
“Sophie is a friend. She has no one else.”
“She had me.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I came here to fix this, not argue.”
“You came here to explain why choosing her was reasonable.”
His phone vibrated.
Sophie’s name appeared on the screen.
He turned it facedown.
“If Sophie and I needed you at the same time again,” I asked, “who would you choose?”
“You.”
“Are you sure?”
“You’re my wife.”
A cramp tore through my abdomen.
Warmth spread beneath me.
When I lifted my hand, my fingers were red.
Daniel reached for the call button.
His phone rang again.
A message appeared.
Daniel, I can’t breathe. Please come.
His eyes moved toward the door.
“You just said you would choose me.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“You’re already in a hospital.”
“So is she.”
“She could be reacting to the medication.”
“And I’m bleeding.”
Daniel hesitated.
Only for a second.
It was enough.
“Go,” I said.
He stared at me.
“I want to see what your promise is worth.”
A nurse rushed into the room.
Daniel stepped aside.
“I’ll come back as soon as Sophie is safe.”
He left before the nurse pulled back my blanket.
The doctor found the heartbeat several minutes later.
It was faint, but still there.
“Another episode like this could end the pregnancy,” she warned.
After she left, I thought about Sophie’s story to the police.
The jealous wife.
The argument in the car.
Daniel had believed her before he ever asked for my side.
I had no strength to correct another lie while my child was fighting to survive.
First, I needed to get away from them.
Then I would deal with whatever Sophie had told the police.
I called Rachel.
“I don’t need a consultation anymore. I need divorce papers.”
“Are there children involved?”
“I’m pregnant. Daniel doesn’t know.”
“He will eventually have legal rights.”
“I don’t need forever. I need enough time to leave safely.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
After the call, I opened the airline app.
One seat remained on a morning flight.
One way.
I booked it.
Daniel could lie about whom he loved.
He couldn’t lie about where he went every time he had to choose.