Carl Larson's intern is about to die, and her only wish is for him to sleep with her once. I disagree, and he says I'm petty.

"It's just a one-time thing. She's about to die! Why do you have to assume I'm up to something dirty?"

Is that so? I've seen them together more than once, though.

I later agree, and he's relieved… until he sees me lying on his operation table for an abortion. He widens his eyes in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

I smile. I want him to murder his child. I want him to regret this for life.

It was 10:00 pm, and I was sitting across from Carl Larson. It was our anniversary today.

He looked exasperated when he said, "I'm just spending one night with her. That's all. She doesn't have much time left. She's been saving herself for me for the past three years. Can't you be a little understanding and let me do this for her?"

The candlelight flickered between us. The roses I had spent all afternoon picking were already starting to wilt, just like our six years together were coming to an end.

Carl disappeared for a week. When he finally came back, he didn't say a word about where he'd been or ask how I was doing. The first thing he said was that he wanted to sleep with another woman.

I didn't even know how long we sat there in silence until his phone rang on the table. It was that special ringtone he had set for Wendy Lyle.

"Carl, you're still not coming?" Wendy's voice came through the phone.

I tightened my fist so hard that my knuckles went white. "Carl Larson! We're not over yet!"

"Oh, Hailey, you're with him? The power went out at my place, and Carl said he was coming to—"

Before she could finish, I snatched his phone and hurled it against the wall with everything I had. The screen shattered into pieces, and even the frame of our wedding photo cracked.

"Hailey Sutton! Are you out of your mind?" Carl shot up, picking up the broken phone. "Calm down. You need to get it together."

I clenched my jaw and gave him a hard look. "If you walk out that door, Carl, you'll regret it."

I'd been planning to share with him the good news tonight—that I was pregnant with our baby. He'd always said he wanted a child, but now, he was nothing but rotten.

Carl didn't say a word. He stayed silent until the candle burned out completely, leaving us in the dark.

"Hailey, it's just this one time," he finally said. "I've already explained it. After this, I won't be involved with her anymore. Why can't you just let it go?"

It was the first time he ever raised his voice at me.

"Let it go? Carl, you're my husband! If you sleep with another woman, that's cheating!"

Carl paused for a second before shooting me a cold look. "It's only cheating if I hide it. I'm being honest with you, Hailey. Stop blowing this out of proportion."

His words cut right through me, and I completely lost it.

After he left, I tossed all the food on the table straight into the trash. I had woken up early to make this special meal, but he didn't even spare it a glance.

I put a hand on my belly and let out a bitter laugh. "Baby, your dad doesn't want us anymore."

Then it hit me—Carl had said he wouldn't regret anything. But what if he was the one who'd ended up killing our baby? Would he regret it then?

...

He wanted a divorce because he said he couldn't cheat while still married. I wasn't having it. I knew it wasn't really his idea—it had to be Wendy's.

If Carl cheated while we were still married, he'd lose everything. But if he divorced me first, then hooked up with Wendy, we'd split everything down the middle.

Even if I fought him on it after that, it wouldn't matter.

…

"It's just a formality, Hailey. After I sleep with her, we'll get remarried."

I stared at him, the man who once promised me forever. How could he say something so horrible? Didn't it make him sick?

I clenched my fists, trying to hold back the tears, and shot him a fiery look. "Carl, are you really sure you want a divorce?"

Carl frowned. "It's just a formality. We'll get remarried once all this blows over."

Getting remarried?

I stared at Carl, stunned. I couldn't believe this was the same man I'd been with for six years. I never saw this coming, not after all that time. He wasn't like this before, talking about cheating like it was no big deal.

How could he think he could sleep with someone else and just waltz back to me like nothing happened? I was a person, not some kind of trash can.

I lost it and grabbed his hair, desperate to find something that proved he wasn't really Carl.

He shoved me off, his face darkening with anger. "What's wrong with you?"

I cried so hard. "Give him back! I want Carl Larson back! I want Carl Larson back!"

For a second, I saw a flicker of pain in his eyes—he was affected, even if just a little.

He pulled me into his arms, trying to calm me down. "Hey, stop crying. I told you, it's just a formality. I'll be back with you."

I sobbed. "But you'll be disgusting after you come back. Carl… I don't want someone like that."

He froze. "Who else would you want, Hailey? You've got no one but me."

Carl was right—I didn't have anyone else. I was completely alone, an orphan. He knew this, yet he was still so heartless.

He kissed my tears away and carried me to the bedroom. In the haze of everything, he got turned on and tried to touch me.

I panicked and stopped him. "No, Carl."

He acted like he didn't hear me, burying his face into my shoulder. His kisses were urgent, almost frantic.

I shoved him off with all my strength, tears burning my eyes. "No!"

Carl's eyes went cold, his face hardening. "I haven't even slept with her yet, and you already think I'm disgusting?"

I wanted to say something, but before I could, I threw up.

Carl completely lost it, slamming the door as he stormed out.

I wanted to tell him it was just morning sickness, but he didn't even look back. I figured he went straight to Wendy's.

Looking back, I'd crossed paths with Wendy more than once.

Back then, she was just a fresh college graduate—full of energy but pretty clueless. She worked under Carl and kept making rookie mistakes.

"She's such an idiot. I don't even get how she graduated." Carl used to complain to me about her all the time.

I'd try to calm him down, telling him to cut her some slack. But everything changed when he found out Wendy had late-stage cancer. Suddenly, he started feeling sorry for her.

He said he'd never met anyone so upbeat and positive while dealing with something so devastating. From that point on, there was something different in his eyes whenever he talked about her.

At first, I didn't think much of it. After all, Carl and I had been married for six years and shared countless days and nights together.

I'd stuck by him while he went from being a nobody to a well-known OB-GYN. I thought Wendy was just a passing thing in his life—until I saw that cold look in her eyes whenever she looked at me.

A woman's intuition was usually right. Not long after, I walked in on her in Carl's arms, crying while he gently wiped away her tears and kissed the corner of her eye like she was some kind of treasure.

They looked like they were made for each other. Honestly, I might have wished them the best if the man holding her wasn't my husband.

Carl said Wendy reminded him of me when I was younger—always making mistakes and learning from them.

What a joke. I was nothing like Wendy. I graduated from a top university. She was just a homewrecker, not even close to being on my level.

…

I drifted in and out of sleep, finally waking up to see the sun high in the sky. My phone was flooded with missed calls—all from Carl.

One message read, "Meet me at the courthouse at 10:00 am."

10:00 am? It was already 3:00 pm.

Just as I was about to turn off my phone and go back to sleep, another message popped up. "Do you have any idea what time it is? I've been waiting forever."

I shot a quick reply, "Don't even think about divorcing me."

Then, I pulled up the location tracker on my phone to check where Carl was. Sure enough, he was at Wendy's.

The tracker even had a recording feature. Carl set it up for my safety. I never thought it'd come in handy like this one day.

I watched them all over each other in bed. My stomach turned, and I ended up throwing up everything. I couldn't help but wonder—would they really just sleep together once?

Of course not. Once someone had taken a bite of the forbidden fruit, they'd keep going back for more.

My phone rang with an incoming call from Carl. He sounded pissed. "How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

I could hear rustling on his end of the line. Suddenly, a thought hit me. What if he knew I was pregnant? How would he react?

"Carl, I'm pregnant."

There was a long pause, then he actually laughed. "Hailey, you'll say anything to avoid a divorce, huh? You've always been on birth control. There's no way you're pregnant."

But I wasn't always on birth control. I skipped a pill last time.

He wanted a baby, and I wanted to give him one. That was when it happened—the baby came. But now, he didn't want it anymore.

Carl hung up. He said we had to file for divorce as soon as possible. I stared at the video on my phone, feeling every ounce of strength leave me.

Well, he was officially a cheater now, right?

…

I was burning up with a fever, lying in bed with a pounding headache. Without thinking, I called out, "Carl, I feel awful."

But the room was dead quiet. That was when it hit me—today was the day Carl and Wendy were supposed to hook up.

Wendy had posted a bunch of updates on Instagram—probably to make sure I saw them. Carl's face was hidden in the pictures, but their hands were intertwined.

The caption read, "I finally found my destiny."

Destiny?

I sneered and commented, "Destined to be a homewrecker?"

Not long after, I saw she had deleted my comment.

I spent three days at home, barely eating or drinking, too weak to even move.

Finally, my best friend came over. She took one look at me and immediately called Carl. "Where are you? Your wife's really sick, and you're doing nothing?"

"Hailey's right there with you, isn't she? What are you two trying to pull? Is dragging this out with these stupid games really that fun for you?"

I didn't even have the energy to say anything.

My friend snapped, "Carl, have you completely forgotten the promise you made to treat her right? It's only been a few years, and you've already thrown it all out the window?"

Carl didn't even bother arguing. "I've already talked to her. We'll get remarried later. What else does she want? Tell her to come over and wrap up the divorce. Wendy's done waiting."

My friend stared at the phone in disbelief, about to yell, but Carl had already hung up.

"You're really going through with the divorce?" she asked.

I could only nod weakly.

She was about to say something else when the doctor walked in. "You're pregnant. Why aren't you taking better care of yourself? It'll be a nightmare if something happens to the baby."

My friend's face went pale. "You're pregnant?"

The doctor looked confused. "You didn't know?"

My friend was about to call Carl again, fuming. Using what little strength I had left, I grabbed her arm.

Carl wouldn't believe it. He'd probably think I was just making it up to drag out the divorce, that I didn't want to let him go. His heart was with Wendy now.

No matter what I did, I'd only look like the bad guy in his eyes. It would only be when he saw the truth for himself that he'd realize what he'd done.

After three days of resting at home, my friend came with me for a checkup at the hospital.

As soon as we entered, someone gasped, "Hailey."

My whole body went stiff when I saw Wendy and Carl.