The car wasn't big to begin with, and Regina's hospital bags were already stuffed into the trunk.
To prepare for the baby's arrival, Tyler had gone to every maternity store in town. He had filled the backseat with newborn supplies.
He carefully helped Regina into the front passenger seat before finally noticing me standing there.
"Lisa, Gina's holding the baby. Can you squeeze into the back?"
He had completely forgotten that I usually got car sick.
I hated the smell of public buses so much that I spent over a year saving up to buy my first car.
I let Tyler drive it so he could pick me up and drop me off on his way to work. That way, I could sit in the front, roll down the window, and get some fresh air.
But now, the passenger seat in my car was occupied by another woman.
"Sorry, Lisa, I hope you don't mind," Regina said. She flashed an apologetic smile as she cradled the newborn.
Then, with misty eyes, she turned to Tyler. "I told you not to pick me up. Look at the backseat, it's already packed with stuff. And Lisa is tall, there's no room for her. I should've just taken a cab."
Tyler panicked. "What? Since when does a new mom have to take a cab home? It's just a little squeeze. What's the big deal?"
I'd heard this kind of thing from him plenty of times before.
Like when Regina casually mentioned that getting up to use the bathroom at night was too much trouble in her third trimester.
That same night, Tyler emptied our master bedroom and moved all her things in, because it had an en-suite bathroom.
After that, she took over everything I owned without hesitation.
And Tyler? He said, "It's just stuff, Lisa. Why are you being so stingy?"
But that wasn't just stuff. That was our marital home, the wedding gift my father had given me.
Why should I just hand it over to her?
Tyler didn't wait for my answer. He yanked open the car door and grabbed my arm to force me into the backseat.
Maybe he pulled too hard, because my forehead smacked against the car, leaving a red bruise.
For the first time, Tyler looked a little guilty. "Sorry, Lisa. I got too excited about the baby. I didn't mean to."
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
The more I tried to hold it in, the angrier I felt. And the more I backed down, the more suffocating it became.
Without another word, I flagged down a taxi and tossed all the baby supplies into it.
Then, without hesitation, I slid into the driver's seat of my car and looked at Tyler and Regina.
"Something came up at work. I need the car. You guys take a cab."
Tyler's face darkened. He clenched his fists and struggled to hold himself back.
"Lisa! Can't you at least drop Gina off first? Do you have to make a scene in front of the hospital? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Yeah. I was doing it on purpose.
I leaned over, reached past Regina, and pushed open the passenger door. Then, I gestured for her to get out.
I met Tyler's eyes and said, "Not waiting. Resigning."
Then, I drove off, watching their figures shrink in the rearview mirror.
I pulled out my phone and called an old friend. "Get me the divorce papers. ASAP."
By the time I got home, Tyler and Regina were in the bedroom. They were laughing over the newborn like a happy little family.
Tyler barely looked up when I walked in. "You quit?"
"Yeah."
He had been furious just moments ago, but the second he heard my answer, his face lit up with satisfaction.
"Now that's more like it."
Still grinning, he walked over while cradling Regina's baby in his arms. "Look! Isn't he adorable? He looks just like my buddy when he was little."
I glanced at the baby. It was wrinkly, like all newborns.
"Your buddy was already a baby when you were still in the womb. So when exactly did you see him 'when he was little'?"
Tyler realized I was mocking him. His smile faltered.
The room went silent. A few seconds later, a loud, piercing cry broke the tension.
Regina immediately sat up in bed. "Tyler, he must be hungry. Bring him here."
Tyler fumbled to hand the baby over.
I couldn't care less about their little family drama. I set down my keys, changed my shoes, and turned toward the bathroom.
But before I could take another step, Regina lifted her shirt right in front of both me and Tyler.
I turned to look at Tyler and noticed he looked a little embarrassed too.
He averted his gaze, but his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
Meanwhile, Regina, who was still sitting on the bed, shot me a smug look.
She did that on purpose.
"Tyler!" I gritted my teeth, barely holding back my anger. An inexplicable sense of humiliation crept up my spine.
Before he could respond, Regina let out a dramatic little gasp.
"Oh no, Tyler! Grab me some tissues, I'm leaking! The bed's all wet!"
The tissues were right there on the nightstand, yet Tyler scrambled over like it was an emergency.
It was as if they had completely forgotten the concept of boundaries. Without hesitation, he pressed tissues against her chest.
The way he did it—so naturally, so practiced—made my stomach turn.
My hands clenched into fists at my sides.
Still facing away from me, Tyler spoke as he continued tending to her. "Lisa, don't overthink this. Gina just had a baby. This is all normal. You shouldn't be so narrow-minded about it. One day, you'll go through the same thing."
I let out a cold laugh. "So, is that your excuse for having no shame?"
Ever since she moved into my bedroom, Tyler had been "accidentally" walking into the wrong room in the middle of the night.
More than once, I had passed by and seen Regina lying in bed, half-covered—only bothering to shut the door when she realized it was me standing there.
And now, right on cue, Regina's eyes welled up with tears.
"Lisa, it's my fault. My husband died so young, and now I'm left alone with a baby. I even have to trouble Tyler over something like this… I'm so sorry for being such a burden to you both."
Tyler turned to glare at me. His expression was cold.
"Enough already. She's the one suffering, and you're acting like she did something wrong over a few tissues? You're making a big deal out of nothing."
For some reason, I suddenly laughed. I thought back to the summer we got married.
"They say all men love staring at pretty women on the street—the crop tops, the long legs, the short skirts. Are you the same?"
Back then, I used to lie on his shoulder, listening to him speak with nothing but warmth and adoration.
"I don't look at other women. No one's as beautiful as my wife."
But now, not only had he looked; he had touched.
At that moment, Regina's face suddenly flushed.
"I think there's too much milk… The baby's too small and doesn't have the strength to suck it out. It's all clogged up. It hurts so much. Tyler, help me…"
I wasn't a mother yet, but even I knew that when milk ducts were truly blocked, they were rock-hard and completely stuck.
She had just been leaking moments ago.
But Tyler, who was as clueless as ever, didn't know any better.
He shot me an awkward glance, hesitated for a second, then pulled out his phone and opened a video he had saved for a while.
"Lisa, I'm a man. I shouldn't be the one to do this. Here, watch this and help Gina out."
It was a lactation massage tutorial, explaining the technique in full detail.
I stared at him. My eyes were burning, and my throat was tight with words I couldn't force out.
Tyler sighed, acting like this was some great moral dilemma. "It's late. There's no way we'll find a lactation specialist right now. It's not like I can do it, right?"
Regina let out a soft, pained moan from the bed, but when Tyler said that, her eyes lit up with expectation.
In front of a newborn, I couldn't even find the right words to describe how disgusting they were.
Swallowing the nausea rising in my throat, I forced out a single sentence. "Do whatever you want."
Then, I turned and stepped into my bedroom.
The moment my foot crossed the threshold, I heard noises from the master bedroom next door—sounds I didn't need to hear to know exactly what was happening.
What they didn't know was that a few days ago, when Tyler went to the hospital to stay with Regina, I had installed a hidden camera at home.
That footage captured everything. It captured every disgusting little thing they did. And now, I had it all saved and ready to go.
This time, I had a gift for them.