No Second Chance For Him

Synopsis

Post‑surgery, anesthesia still clouding his mind, my husband Samuel Howard kept murmuring a string of numbers. On impulse, I dialed them on his phone. The call went through almost instantly. On the other end, a girl was crying, sounding really upset. "Professor Howard, I thought you'd never call me again! "Why didn't you reply to any of my messages?" I recognized her voice immediately. It was Susan Quinn, his new grad student. A month ago, I'd nearly divorced him over her. That night, he'd chain‑smoked three packs of cigarettes. By morning, his eyes bloodshot, he'd begged me to forgive him for our baby's sake. He promised he'd cut her off entirely, that he would focus on our family. My hand was shaking as I held the phone, but my voice came out much steadier than I expected. I said, "He just had surgery. He's in Room 403 at Harmony Medical Center. "Come if you want." After I hung up, I scheduled a procedure to end my pregnancy for later that day.