Chapter 2

2.

This wasn't the first time Damian had gotten physical with me.

The last time he pushed me, it was also because of Sienna.

Six months ago, Sienna got divorced. She walked away with almost nothing, just her son.

She had been a stay-at-home mom with no job and no income.

Destitute and homeless, she was desperate for help.

When Damian heard the news, he swooped in to save her, renting an apartment for them and giving her money. It seemed his old flame for his ex-girlfriend had never truly died out.

That was the first I had ever heard of this woman, the great love he’d had for years but couldn't be with.

It led to the first major fight of our marriage.

Damian swore he only saw Sienna as a friend, that he was just helping a single mother in a desperate situation.

He accused me of being a jealous, small-minded woman who lacked empathy for another woman's suffering.

After that fight, we started sleeping in separate rooms.

A few days into our cold war, I realized my period was late. I bought a pregnancy test from the drugstore and saw the two clear lines in the privacy of a bathroom stall at work.

I was ecstatic. We had always wanted a child, but our busy careers had always gotten in the way.

I wanted to tell Damian immediately, but we were still fighting. I decided to wait, to try and smooth things over. My birthday was in two days. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to make up and give him the wonderful news.

On my birthday, I cooked a huge dinner, his favorite dishes, and waited for him to come home.

He walked in at seven o'clock.

But he wasn't alone. He had brought Sienna and her son with him.

He said, "The apartment I rented for Sienna isn’t safe. She said some strange man has been following her. I was worried, so I thought they could stay with us for a while."

His words froze the blood in my veins. All my excitement and happiness vanished in an instant.

Of course, I said no.

And so, we started fighting again, right there in front of Sienna.

Maybe he was trying to save face, or maybe he was genuinely furious, but at the peak of the argument, he shoved me. Hard.

I was completely caught off guard and fell to the floor.

He took Sienna's hand and looked down at me. "If you're going to be like this, you can have this house all to yourself."

Then, he left with Sienna and her son.

As Sienna walked out the door, she shot me a look of pure triumph.

That push was all it took. I started bleeding.

A kind neighbor saw the blood and rushed me to the ER. The doctor shook his head, his voice full of pity. "Given your history of Endometriosis, this pregnancy was a miracle to begin with. It was high-risk. You should have been more careful."

I spent the night in the hospital for observation.

During the follow-up check, the doctor said that to prevent infection and future complications, they recommended a follow-up procedure to make sure everything was clear.

I was terrified. Terrified that I would never be able to have a child of my own.

I broke down, sobbing as I called Damian.

He declined the call. A few moments later, I saw Sienna’s Instagram post.

[Thank you, Damian, for bringing me to see the Northern Lights. Thank you for remembering my old wish.]

In that moment, it felt like my soul had been ripped out of my body.

My husband, while I was undergoing a procedure after losing our baby, was halfway across the country, making another woman’s dreams come true.

I felt like a pathetic, tragic clown.

I stared at the photo of them cuddled together, liked it, and commented: [You two look perfect together!]

A second later, his angry call came through. "Hailey, what the hell? Sienna just got divorced, she's fragile. I brought her out here to clear her head, and your comment was just cruel. She had a total breakdown because of you."

On the other end, I could hear Sienna's choked sobs. "Damian, don't... don't blame Hailey because of me..."

I hung up the phone and laughed, a hollow, bitter sound.

I went online and hired a certified home health aide to help me with paperwork, pick up my prescriptions, and run errands.

After my procedure was over, I checked my phone and saw someone had tagged me on Instagram.

It was another post from Sienna.

[Thank you, Damian, for the sky full of fireworks.]

She even commented on her own post: A romantic man is such a bonus.

I knew the routine. This was how Damian always cheered her up.

Lying in my hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, only one thought echoed in my mind: Divorce.

The moment I was discharged, I went straight to a lawyer's office.