Joint Weddings and Joint Divorces

I had once dreamed of a blissful marriage. Yet, Soren cared more about Jenna's fear of heights than the asthma I developed in my pregnancy.

I could barely breathe in the suffocating smoke and dropped my phone a few times. My yellow maxi dress was drenched in blood from my contractions.

But Soren didn't pick up my calls. Just when I was about to faint, he finally answered.

"Soren, my stomach… It hurts… S-Save me…" My voice was frail and punctured with short gasps, but all I could hear from the other end was Jenna's tearful cries.

"Soren! It's too dangerous up here! I'm begging you. Don't save me!"

My heart sank when I heard Jenna's voice.

As the flames licked the apartment, Soren didn't hesitate to yell at me, "What hurts? You complain about the pain all the time! You make it look like you have a more difficult pregnancy than everyone else."

He added, "You're not a princess, so stop acting like one. I'm going on my mission now. Stop calling me!"

Little did he know that I lost consciousness a few times when he spoke to me. Voice hoarse, I still yelled into the phone, "No! I'm bleeding…"

Suddenly, I heard Jenna's piercing scream from the other end. "Soren, I'm scared!"

Soren's patience had worn thin. He barked, "That means you're in labor! I'm sure you don't need me to teach you about that!

"Why did you have to call me when I'm on duty? Jenna's now tied on the rooftop by her abductor. She's fighting for her life!

"You're always so dramatic. Just call a doctor for help. I'm not your midwife!"

I had lost all my strength listening to his rant. I dropped the phone to the floor and closed my eyes as tears of despair stained my cheeks.

Quietly, I waited for the grim reaper to arrive.

But Juliet showed up at the last minute. Five months pregnant, she covered my face with a wet towel and carried me down 13 flights of stairs. However, she held her belly and grimaced after she placed me on the floor.

…

Unlike me, Juliet had lost her child to an emergency abortion.

"Elsie, I'm in so much pain…" Juliet was resting in the bed next to mine. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Her eyes had lost their sparkle.

She murmured, "I'm not just in pain. I'm heartbroken too."

Her words were gut-wrenching. I couldn't think of how to comfort her because I overheard Zach's voice in the background of my phone call with Soren. From the sounds of it, he was gently comforting Jenna.

How ridiculous! Juliet and I thought we married for love, but our husbands made a joke out of us!

At that moment, Juliet received a call from Zach. He snapped at her, "Is this what they call baby brain? I told you many times to stay away from that vicious sister of yours! You're not listening, are you?"

Zach further explained, "Jenna was involved in a scary and mysterious abduction. If Soren made a mistake in the rescue mission, she would have fallen off the building!

"Eliza knew that, and that's why she timed her call to when Soren was rescuing Jenna, hoping that Jenna would fall to her death!

"You're going to be like Eliza if you hang out with her all the time. One day, if you get into serious trouble, I promise I'm gonna arrest the both of you and give you the worst sentence possible!"

He immediately hung up on Juliet after chastising her. She didn't have a chance to explain herself before he blocked her number.

"Elsie, why is this happening to me?" Juliet asked. "Even if he had some misunderstanding about me, he should have asked me about our baby! He hasn't been home for a month now…"

She sobbed as she gently placed a hand on her belly. Soon, her oxygen mask misted over. Her short breaths felt like a stab to my heart.

"I'm sorry, Jules. It's all my fault…" I covered my face in regret as I sobbed uncontrollably.