Chapter 2

2

When they returned from the hospital, Mrs. Pierce didn't even wait for me to speak. She kicked my bedroom door open and pointed a finger right at my nose.

"Tanya, pack your bags. Get out of this house right now!"

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, forcing the tears back.

Adrian reached out and gently took his mother's hand, but his eyes still avoided mine.

"Mom, please. Let's just talk about this calmly."

He finally turned to look at me. The eyes I used to adore were now filled with nothing but exhaustion.

"Tanya, maybe it's best if you quit your job. I can take care of you. But if you're going to insist on working and causing drama, you need to stay at the downtown apartment for a while. At least until the kids are better."

I stared at the man I had spent seven years of my life with. My heart shattered into a million pieces.

I turned around, opened the closet, and pulled out a suitcase. Seven years of marriage, and it turned out my entire life could fit into one bag.

Serena was leaning against the doorframe, a smug smile playing on her lips as she watched me crumble.

"You should just go, Tanya. Don't make things harder for Adrian."

I didn't even give her the satisfaction of a response. My mind was flooded with the memory of three years ago.

Adrian had come running out of the lab, kneeling at my feet and clutching me with a look of pure disgust for himself.

"Tanya, they swapped my meds. I'm so sorry. I made a mistake."

"I paid her off. She's gone. You'll never see her again."

I had touched my empty belly and forgiven him back then. I even helped him clean the lab the next day, picking up the remnants of his betrayal.

Then came the accident two years later. We were supposed to be buying baby clothes. Adrian took a call, panicked, and drove us into a wall.

My baby, who was supposed to meet me in weeks, was gone forever. The doctors said my internal scarring was too severe. I would never be a mother.

Adrian had sobbed into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry! Don't cry. We don't need kids. We just need each other."

Every time I visited him in the hospital afterward, he brought two meals. One large, one small.

I thought the big one was for him and the small one was for me.

Until the day I finally felt strong enough to walk on my own. I wanted to surprise him.

The door to the next room was cracked open. I saw him holding Serena―the woman who was supposed to be gone. He was sharing that large meal with her, feeding her bit by bit.

"Tanya, she has cancer! She has nobody to look after her," he had pleaded when I caught him.

"I know how kind you are. There's nothing between us. I'm just helping a human being in need."

"My heart only belongs to you."

I had touched the scar on my abdomen and chose to believe him again.

I arrived at the small downtown apartment in the middle of the night. My stomach was empty, but the thought of food made me want to throw up.

My phone lit up with a text from Adrian.

"The baby went into anaphylactic shock. The doctor said it's a miracle we got there in time."

"Mom says you should focus on your work. Don't bother coming to the baby's one-month celebration."

I sat in that dark, empty apartment until the sun came up.

It was time to leave for good.