He paused at the entryway and turned to look at me, his eyes dark and unreadable.

His voice dripped with disappointment. "You never used to be like this, Sharon."

Never used to be like what?

Offering up my heart on a platter, only to have him tear it apart piece by piece?

I'd cared too much. I couldn't bear to let go of ten years together.

And back then, I'd been pregnant.

So I swallowed the pain and chose to forgive him.

He promised to keep his distance.

And what happened?

The scar on my hand was proof enough of how foolish I'd been.

I traced the raised line of that scar with my thumb, and the old wound seemed to split open again, oozing and raw, the pain so sharp I couldn't breathe.

A sudden bang shattered my thoughts.

Benjamin had slammed the door on his way out.

I knew exactly where he was going. To Bertha.

I stared at the closed door and let the faintest smile pull at my lips.

"Goodbye, Benjamin."

Half an hour later, Bertha posted on social media. Visible only to me.

"He said I'm the only one who cares about him. He asked me to never leave."

The photo showed the back of Benjamin's head buried in her chest, their fingers laced together.

Not even an hour ago, Benjamin had told me to trust him.

Except his version of "trust" meant believing his relationship with Bertha was purely "friendship."

It meant believing that every time he skipped my prenatal appointments to deal with some minor crisis of hers, he was just being a "loyal friend."

It meant believing that the two of them, naked in the same bed all night, were simply "catching up."

Before long, Bertha deleted the post. Just like she always did.

As if what I'd seen was nothing more than a figment of my imagination, the paranoid delusions of an insecure wife.

Then she sent me a message.

"Sharon, Benjamin was in a really bad mood tonight, so he came to have a few drinks with me. Please don't overthink it."

"It's not worth letting an outsider like me cause problems between you two."

Don't overthink it.

I stared at those words and let out a cold laugh.

I remembered all too well. Back then, heavily pregnant, I'd shoved the screenshot of Bertha's post in Benjamin's face and demanded an explanation. He'd said the exact same thing.

"Bertha and I grew up together. After high school she went abroad and stayed there for years. She's finally back. Is it so wrong for me to spend time with an old friend?"

"Sharon, you're just cooped up at home on bed rest with nothing to do. That's why you keep overthinking everything."

When he saw me clutching my belly, my face draining of color, he seemed to realize he'd gone too far.

He pulled me into his arms and gently rubbed my stomach.

"Sharon, if not for me, then for our baby. You have to trust me. Stop overthinking, okay?"

He wiped my tears with a tender touch, his voice soft with resignation.

"Don't cry, Sharon. I promise. I'll keep my distance from her."

When my tears only fell harder, Benjamin deleted Bertha's contact right in front of me.

He even changed all his passwords to my birthday.

Ten years together. Seven years of marriage. Our baby was almost due.

Back then, I truly couldn't bring myself to let go.

So I gritted my teeth, forgave him again, and chose to believe him one more time.

And then what?

Less than a month.

That was all it took.

When I went into premature labor and learned that our baby had died inside me, when I needed Benjamin more than I'd ever needed anyone in my life, he left.

All because Bertha said she had a stomachache.

He left without hesitation.

Something inside me shattered. I grabbed the fruit knife from the bedside table, my voice raw and broken.

"Benjamin, are you really choosing her? If you walk out that door, we are done. Do you understand me? We are done."

Benjamin's expression darkened in an instant, and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Sharon, stop this. You have doctors right here, and they already said you're fine."

"Bertha just got back to the country. She doesn't have anyone, and her health has always been fragile. I have to go. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

He left without another word, without a single backward glance. All he gave me was the unyielding line of his retreating back.

The moment the hospital door swung shut, the knife slipped from my grip, the blade dragging across my wrist as it fell.

It left behind that jagged scar.

The buzz of my phone pulled me out of the memory. It was a voice message from Benjamin. He sounded drunk.

"Sharon, stop being mad at me. Give me another baby, okay?"

A baby.

My hand drifted to my stomach on instinct. The numbness had long since settled into my bones.

But hearing him mention a child still sent pain crashing through my chest in waves, so fierce it felt like drowning.

It took a long time before I could steady myself. I lifted my hand and wiped away the last tear, then quietly blocked both Benjamin's and Bertha's numbers.

I dialed an overseas number.

"Mom. Three days. Meet me at the airport."

Over the next few days, Benjamin didn't come home.

I didn't ask when he'd be back. I just started packing.

But seven years of marriage had left its mark on everything. So many of the things I touched still carried traces of him.

The white scarf he'd given me on our first date. I'd worn it for years, could never bring myself to throw it away, because he'd spent months knitting it by hand.

There were so many other firsts he'd given me, gifts he'd poured his heart into, staying up until his eyes were bloodshot to make with his own hands.

I'd kept every single one locked away in the safe, too precious to discard.

Later, as Benjamin's career took off, his gifts grew more and more expensive. I still accepted each one with a full heart, because they were proof that Benjamin had once loved me deeply.

But then came the second year after we moved into the mansion. That was when Bertha appeared.

My vanity began filling up with jewelry from every luxury brand imaginable. My closet filled with the latest haute couture from every season.

Some pieces were worth hundreds of thousands. Others, millions. But none of them came from love anymore.

They were just apologies. Compensation. Hush money for all the nights I'd spent waiting alone while he was with someone else.

I looked at those things now and walked right past them.

I packed only what truly belonged to me.

The day I finished, Benjamin happened to come home.

He spotted the suitcase in my hand and frowned.

"Where are you going this time?"

He still thought I was just throwing a tantrum.

After all, the old me had threatened to leave more than once.

I didn't correct him. I just lowered my gaze. "Just getting away for a bit."

Benjamin didn't notice anything different about me. Instead, he pulled me into his arms.

"Sharon, I've been waiting to hear from you these past few days."

Waiting to hear from me?

Strange. Because I distinctly remembered all the times I'd messaged him, begging him to come home.

All I ever got back was his impatient brush-off.

He cupped my face in both hands and fixed me with a serious look.

"All you had to do was say the word, and I would've come straight home. But you didn't."

His tone was reproachful.

As if the man who'd spent those days at another woman's side hadn't been him at all.

I didn't call him out on it. A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Benjamin took it as a sign that I'd forgiven him. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Sharon, I knew it. You're not like your mother."

Not like my mother?

The words left his mouth without warning, driving straight into my chest like a blade. The pain stole my breath.

He knew. He knew exactly how much damage my father's affair and abuse had done to my mother and me.

If my mother hadn't been strong enough, brave enough, the one buried in that grave would have been her.

She wouldn't have escaped abroad. Wouldn't have built the life she deserved.

And now, with one careless sentence, he dismissed everything she'd fought and bled for.

The worst part? The knife he was twisting had been handed to him by the girl I used to be, the one who'd loved Benjamin with her whole heart.

His gaze met my swollen, red-rimmed eyes, and he faltered.

"Sorry, Sharon. What I meant was, you don't have to struggle the way your mother did. Just stay by my side. That's enough."

"Is that so?" A smile broke across my face. I looked him dead in the eye.

Benjamin met my gaze, and something in his chest tightened for a reason he couldn't name. But he didn't examine it. He took my smile as a sign of reconciliation.

He nodded eagerly, his voice full of certainty. "Of course. Just trust me the way you used to, Sharon."

I laughed inside. Cold, bitter laughter. But I kept my face perfectly still.

That was when my phone buzzed.

I looked up at him, my voice calm. "My ride's here, Benjamin. Go take care of your work."

"Alright."

He still hadn't noticed anything wrong. He even walked me to the door, ever the attentive husband.

Before getting into the car, I called his name.

"Hm?"

"Goodbye, Benjamin." The words left my lips quietly.

This is it. The last goodbye. To Benjamin. To everything I used to be.

He ruffled my hair and grinned. "Go on, get some fresh air. I'll stay home, put in some work, and make even more money to spoil you with."

I didn't say anything. I just looked at him one last time, raised my hand in a small wave, and got in the car.

We were almost at the airport when my phone erupted, vibrating over and over.

An unknown number.

I assumed it was a scam call and blocked it.

But as I backed out of the screen, a text message caught my eye. Anonymous.

"Sharon Matthews, your baby isn't dead. Benjamin lied to you."

I stared at the words. My mind went blank.

The baby isn't dead?

Benjamin lied to me?

I sucked in breath after breath before the world stopped spinning.

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely type. One letter at a time, I managed:

"Who are you? What do you mean by..."

Before I could finish, a video came through.

It looked like it had been recorded in secret.

In the footage, Benjamin stood with his back to the camera, his arms wrapped around Bertha and the small bundle she cradled against her chest.

Bertha's voice was syrupy sweet. "Benjamin, are you sure about this? You really want to register your and Sharon's baby under my name?"

My fingers clenched around the phone until my knuckles turned white.

Then I heard his voice. Low. Certain.

"I made you a promise, and I don't go back on my word. Besides, my child is your child."

"But..."

He cut her off, patting her shoulder.

"I've already taken care of everything. Sharon won't find out. Don't worry. Your health has always been fragile, and your body isn't suited for pregnancy."

He paused, his tone light, almost breezy. "But Sharon's different. If she wants another kid down the road, I'll just have one more with her."

In the final frame, Bertha turned toward the camera and smirked.

So that was all I was to him. A vessel. A body built for bearing his children.

And that drunken demand for another baby finally made sense.