Chapter 2
I knew he loved me.
If he didn't, we wouldn't have lasted through all those years of dating.
If he didn't, he wouldn't have spoiled me rotten, turning me into someone who could throw tantrums and burst into tears over nothing.
Over the next week, Willian didn't come home at all.
But he still called the housekeeper every day, grilling her on every little detail about how I was holding up.
She tried to talk me around.
"Mrs. Booker, you and Mr. Booker are the most loving couple I've ever seen. Whatever's going on, just hash it out and it'll be okay.
"He's lost so much weight lately."
The housekeeper had been with us for years and had never once seen Willian and me fight.
Even his mother Polly Booker, who hadn't liked me much at first, had eventually warmed up to me as her daughter-in-law, seeing how happy our life together was.
My phone rang—it was from Willian's number.
"Stella, Willian's had way too much to drink. Can you come pick him up?"
"Forget it!"
After hanging up, the knot in my chest only tightened.
I couldn't stop picturing his back as he walked away, looking a bit more stooped than before.
In the end, I couldn't harden my heart and leave him there alone.
After wrestling with myself, I grabbed my car keys.
And headed out the door.
The private room door was slightly ajar, so I lingered outside without going in.
Willian was totally wasted, sprawled across the sofa with his arms and legs flopped everywhere, no dignity left.
The pregnant girl stood right in front of him.
One of Willian's friends shifted awkwardly.
"Ms. Tanner, Stella wouldn't come, and Willian's refusing to budge, so I had no choice but to call you."
The girl smiled softly and leaned down to hoist him up by one arm.
He caught her off guard, shoving her back.
A chorus of gasps snapped Willian out of his drunken stupor.
He stared at the woman in front of him, twisting his face into a smile that looked worse than a sob.
"Deanna, it's all because of you... Stella doesn't want me anymore..."
Willian kept repeating that line, then started scrambling around for more alcohol.
Nobody could stop him; he grabbed a bottle and chugged it desperately, one swig after another.
Out of nowhere, Deanna snatched the bottle from his grip and hurled it to the floor, shattering it.
The room fell dead silent.
Even Willian, mid-drunken meltdown, just gaped at her in a stupor.
"Willian, all this racket is going to scare our baby.
"Get up. I'm exhausted—take me home."
Willian, who basically ran Qrathe, had never been ordered around like that by anyone but me.
Everyone braced for his anger, holding their breath in the heavy silence.
But he didn't say a thing.
He just stood up slowly, grabbed his coat, and trailed quietly after Deanna.
They walked out together.
I ducked behind a corner, watching the pair ahead of me.
A laugh bubbled up out of nowhere.
But it carried a bitter sting.
I followed their taxi to a luxury apartment complex.
I saw it with my own eyes: Willian getting out and heading upstairs with her.
A light switched on halfway up the high-rise.
I sat in my car all night, staking it out—Willian never left.
At seven the next morning, he headed back in with breakfast in hand.
I stared at that all-too-familiar figure.
Then slipped away quietly, all alone.
I called Willian back home, but I didn't mention the divorce.
I glanced at the man, who'd slimmed down considerably, then quickly looked away.
"I didn't pick you up last night. Where'd you stay?"
Willian's fingers trembled slightly. After a pause, he said, "I crashed at the office."
I couldn't quite put a finger on what I was feeling—not much bitterness, really. Mostly, it was just disappointment.
When had Willian started lying to me?
The guy who'd once promised to always be honest with me for life... he'd changed.
I didn't call him out on it. At this point, it didn't matter anymore.
"How far along is she?"
Willian's voice caught for a few seconds, like he hated hurting me.
"Almost seven months."
With that, he dropped to one knee in front of me, burying his head in my lap.
His tears soaked through my skirt.
"Stella, I messed up. Please don't leave me."
In all the time I'd known him, Willian had never cried.
But now, he was sobbing hard.
Watching him like that tore at my heart too.
Still, I knew I couldn't let myself go soft right then.
"Set up a meeting with that girl for me."
We met at Deanna's place.
Willian waited outside.
Deanna gently rubbed her belly, her eyes brimming with excitement for the baby.