Once and Never Again

After the funeral, I dragged myself home, exhausted.

I was deep asleep when laughter woke me up in the middle of the night. I crept toward the noise and pushed the door open. There they were, Charles and Julia, all wrapped up in each other while not wearing a thing.

They did not even notice me as they kissed and held each other.

"Charles, you went to a funeral during the day and here you are, cheating at night! You're vile. Watch out, or my mom's spirit might just come after you!" I could not keep quiet any longer.

Charles stopped suddenly, gently placing down the woman he was holding. He started getting dressed without any rush.

"When your mom was really sick, I was the one who said yes to the new treatment at the hospital. I knew you tricked me, but I still let her get better. If it weren't for me, she would've been gone a long time ago."

"When I first met you, I just wanted you to help my mom. I didn't plan on us dating or getting married. You were the one who fell for me right away. Even when you got the wrong idea and were mean to me, I never fought back.

"But you just had to bring her home on the day we said goodbye to my mom!"

Charles slowly did up his shirt buttons, looking at me like I was not worth his time. "This is what you get for wanting a divorce. How do you like it? Ask me for a divorce again, and see if I don't make things even worse for you! Got it?"

I could not take my eyes off him, wondering how he could be so different back then.

Julia snuggled up to Charles with a pout. "Honey, you don't care about Sophia, so why not marry me? Our families are powerful, and together, we'll be unstoppable."

"She lied to me once, and I can't just let her walk away to have a happy life of her own. I'm going to make sure she pays for what she did."

Charles gave Julia a big kiss.

"I didn't mean to lie to you. I just had to save my mom. It's all over now. Let's just go our separate ways nicely. You'll be with Julia, and I'll wish you both the best."

Feeling lost, I screamed, begging him to be kind to me.

Charles let go of Julia and came over to me, grabbing my chin so hard I was scared to even breathe. "I told you, you're stuck with me forever. I'm going to make sure you're always in pain."

He tossed me to the ground and stormed off with Julia in his arms.

Pain jabbed at my belly, and I trembled so much it took forever to calm down. I called the number I remembered, "Hey, Mya. It's me."

"Sophia, is that really you? You finally remembered me!"

Mya was my bestie, but after things got bad with Charles, he would not let me see her, and we lost touch.

"Mya, I need to get away from Charles quietly. Can you help me?"

"Of course! You're finally going to dump him." Mya did not ask any questions and said yes right away.

Mya was a lawyer with lots of connections. She found some people who could help me pretend to be dead.

They made a plan after I told them everything. "Hang in there a few more days. When we're ready, we'll start."

Soon, I would be free from Charles!