Chapter 4

I went to the hospital first.

The baby inside me was innocent. I couldn't let him be born an illegitimate child.

Besides, Cora couldn't have children. The child Carlos said he would adopt for her was probably the one in my belly.

There was no way I'd let him have his way.

*****

When I came to from the surgery, the anesthesia still hadn't worn off, and I saw my mom's face.

She looked at me with disappointment and anger, pinching my arm hard.

She said, "Brynn, I wish I had never given birth to you.

"I told you not to do it. I told you not to. But you went and had the abortion behind everyone's back.

"How are we supposed to explain this to Carlos?"

I was still groggy and couldn't feel the pressure of her fingers on my arm.

All I remember was, in a haze, I mumbled a few words.

I told my mom everything about Carlos being married.

My mom nearly passed out. My dad had to help her out of the room, and her crying echoed through the hallway.

I checked my phone and saw a message from Carlos that he had sent an hour ago.

He texted: [Cora said she invited you to her birthday party. Why didn't you show up?

[You hurt her feelings.

[Brynn, you've barely even met Cora, and you're already acting like this? If this is how you act now, I can't imagine how much drama you'll cause between you two in the future.]

I didn't know what to say, so I snapped a photo of the hospital room and sent it to him.

Carlos left me hanging for ages before finally replying with five words: [Stop pretending to be sick.]

I opened Instagram and saw Cora's posts flooding my feed.

Every post had photos of Carlos with her, hugging and kissing.

There was also a table full of expensive birthday gifts Carlos had given her.

But in the ten years I had been with Carlos, he had never given me a birthday gift worth more than two hundred dollars.

I liked each post one by one and commented simply: [Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together.]

Just then, my mom came back into the room, her eyes all puffy from crying. She grabbed my hand and said, "It's my fault. I never should've let you waste so many years on that jerk.

"Sweetheart, how did I let you end up as the other woman for so long? I really messed up. This is on me."

She started tearing up again and nearly broke down in tears.

After a while, my mom finally managed to calm down and asked, "Do you remember? Before you got together with Carlos, you had an arranged engagement with a boy from your school.

"That boy has become a famous young businessman now. I heard he's still waiting for you.

"If you're up for it, I can book us plane tickets right now and take you to meet him."

Meanwhile, Carlos kept blowing up my phone with messages: [Seriously, what's your deal? Cora waited for you forever, and you didn't even show your face.

[She was so anxious she ended up in tears, thinking she must've done something to piss you off.

[Brynn, you need to get along with Cora from now on, do you hear me?

[Whatever, I can't be bothered with you anymore. I'm taking Cora on a trip for a month. You stay home and reflect on your behavior.]

Carlos wasn't coming home for a whole month.

That meant the luggage I had left downstairs would probably be thrown away by the cleaning lady.

That was none of my business.

That night, I boarded the plane my mom had booked for me.

Before I left, with one final act of grace, I gathered up all my memories with Carlos into a zip file and sent them to Cora.

I wished Carlos would never find true love and that everything he ever wanted would always slip through his fingers.

I wished myself a lifetime of happiness.

The plane's engines hummed.

I whispered to my mom, "Mom, if that guy and I are a good match, let's get married as soon as possible.

"I've already wasted ten years. I don't want to waste any more time."