The Day I Saw Him with Her

On the day I was declared pregnant, I ran into my husband in the ob-gyn. He was with his long-lost love for a prenatal checkup.

"I'm not going home tonight. As you can see, I have business to attend to," Lawrence said quietly as he left with an arm wrapped around Melissa.

I fell silent and booked an abortion surgery. Everyone around us thought I was a simp for Lawrence. They thought I wouldn't leave, no matter how badly he mistreated me. He had the same thought.

No one knew that I only married him to repay a debt. That debt was now repaid. Ten years was up, and I could finally end this abominable marriage.

Pregnant

"Congratulations, you're four weeks pregnant."

My period was one week late, so I decided to have a checkup, only to be told I was pregnant. This baby was very much an accident. I got out of the consultation room and stood quietly in the corridor, my hand on my belly. I was spacing out, wondering if I should keep it.

I had always been frail. If I aborted the baby, I might never get pregnant again. Then, a commotion broke out in the crowd.

"Whoa, that's Melissa and her boyfriend! They're the perfect match, aren't they?"

"He's always there for every prenatal checkup. They're so in love."

"Their baby will be gorgeous. I mean, look at the parents!"

Without thinking, I looked at the crowd and saw Melissa Lichten and Lawrence Nielsen. Melissa went everywhere with her alleged boyfriend for nearly seven years, and everyone thought they were a couple.

We had gone out for dinner on Valentine's Day, all three of us. Some paparazzi found us and took a lot of pictures. The netizens cursed me, calling me a homewrecker. Of course, they had no idea I was Lawrence's wife.

I didn't want to stay around, or I'd be humiliated. Melissa, however, called out to me, "Melissa? Why are you here? Are you following me and Lawrence?"

Man, this was unbelievable. I had wrapped myself up so tightly, but she still recognized me. Not even the paparazzi had noticed me. Before I could answer, Lawrence frowned. He had determined I was stalking them. "You'd better not do this again."

The crowd looked at me weirdly, obviously thinking I was a stalker and homewrecker. This wasn't my first time running into something like this, but I still felt like crying.

Lawrence didn't even try to get me out of this mess. He led Melissa into the blood collection room. Of course, he wasn't going to tell everyone I was his wife, not when his true love would be lambasted if that were to happen.

It was funny that I was even considering keeping the baby. A man like Lawrence had no good genes to pass down anyway, not when he was a cold, unfeeling man. His child could be every bit as uncaring as his father, and who would take the brunt of it? Me.

I registered for the abortion that very day. On my way home, I called my lawyer. "Draft up the divorce papers and send them to me as soon as possible."

"But we haven't collected enough evidence of Mr. Nielsen's infidelity. If we can get the results of Melissa's amniocentesis and prove that her child is Mr. Nielsen's, you can get more of his money."

It was a shame, but I didn't want to wait anymore. "I'm fine with just half." This marriage was only intact because I endured every single humiliation thrown at me. Even one more day was torture for me. I'd rather give up some money in exchange for freedom.

I was unwell, so I went home to rest, but not too long after that, Lawrence came back. He was always cool and calm, no matter what he did. Sometimes, it felt like nothing could stir him, but he came back running this time, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He gripped my hand. "I saw the trending topic."

His grip was iron, and pain shot up my arm. I pulled my hand away. "And?" I didn't check the trending search. After all, I bet Melissa's PR team bought all the top spots just to show off how much Lawrence loved her.

Either that, or the articles would be calling me an idiot who was simping for Lawrence. Not like it was the first time, anyway. Her fans had also called me a homewrecker before.

Lawrence, however, seemed more agitated than ever. Through clenched teeth, he said, "The news said you had an abortion?"