Alex POV

The first thing I did when I got home was open the closet.

My wedding dress hung there, entombed in plastic, a white specter of the day I thought my life began.

I didn't cry.

Tears felt too small, too insignificant for the crater Gavin had blasted in my chest.

I grabbed the dress, the plastic crinkling like a death rattle in the silent bedroom, and threw it onto the floor.

I found the sewing scissors in the drawer.

The sound of steel slicing through silk and lace was perversely satisfying.

Rip.

Snip.

Tear.

I destroyed the bodice first, then the long train that had trailed behind me down the aisle like a promise.

Within minutes, the symbol of our eternal vow was nothing but a pile of expensive white rags scattered across the hardwood floor like dirty snow.

I didn't stop there.

I stripped the bed.

I pulled down the curtains.

I went into the bathroom and swept every bottle of his cologne into the trash can.

I was purging him.

I was trying to scrub his scent, his presence, and his lie out of the air I had to breathe.

I was sitting on the edge of the bare mattress, staring at the wall, when the front door opened downstairs.

It was late.

Gavin walked into the bedroom, loosening his tie, looking for all the world like the weary, hardworking husband coming home to his wife.

He stopped dead when he saw the dress on the floor.

"Alex?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion rather than guilt. "What happened here? Are you okay?"

He stepped toward me, reaching out a hand.

I flinched so hard I nearly fell off the bed.

"Don't," I said.

The word was a bullet.

Gavin froze, his hand hovering in the air.

"You look pale," he said, his voice dripping with a concern that felt like slime. "Is this about the bank? Henderson called me. There was a clerical error, Alex. Don't overreact."

A clerical error.

He thought I was stupid.

He thought I was just the comfortable alternative who would believe whatever crumbs he tossed me.

"I'm fine," I lied, standing up and moving away from him.

He sighed, a sound of impatience masking itself as fatigue.

Without missing a beat, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a checkbook.

He scribbled something quickly, the pen scratching harshly against the paper, and tore it out.

"Here," he said, extending the slip of paper to me. "Go buy yourself something nice. Replace the dress if you want. I know you've been stressed."

I looked at the check.

It was for fifty thousand dollars.

That was the price of my dignity.

That was the cost of six years of my life.

He was trying to buy my silence before I even started screaming.

"You think this fixes it?" I asked, my voice hollow.

"Fixes what?" he snapped, his mask slipping. "Stop being dramatic, Alex. I have a headache. The company is in a crisis."

His phone buzzed.

He looked at the screen, and for a split second, his eyes softened in a way they hadn't for me in years.

"I have to go," he said, shoving the check onto the dresser. "Emergency meeting."

"At midnight?"

"Business doesn't sleep," he said, turning his back on me. "Oh, and by the way, Eliana might stop by tomorrow to see the twins. They get along so well. Try to be welcoming."

He walked out.

I went to the window and watched his car pull out of the driveway.

He didn't turn toward the office.

He turned toward the upscale district where Eliana lived.

The nausea hit me then.

It wasn't just emotional.

It was a physical upheaval, a wave of sickness that sent me running to the bathroom.

I retched into the toilet until there was nothing left, my body shaking, sweat beading on my forehead.

I sat back on the cold tiles, wiping my mouth.

Then I realized.

My period was late.

Three weeks late.

I had been so stressed, so busy with the twins, I hadn't noticed.

I opened the cabinet under the sink.

I had a box of tests left over from when we were trying, back when I thought we were building a family.

My hands trembled as I unwrapped the stick.

The three minutes of waiting felt longer than the six years of my marriage.

I flipped it over.

Two pink lines.

Positive.

I stared at it, the plastic stick mocking me.

A baby.

I was pregnant with the child of a man who called me a placeholder.

A man who was currently in bed with his "real" love.

A man who planned to kick me out and replace me.

I laughed.

It was a dry, broken sound that echoed in the empty bathroom.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor.

I stood up and walked to the trash can.

I threw the positive test right on top of the broken glass of his cologne bottles.

Then I grabbed three of his favorite shirts from the hamper and threw them in too.

Alex POV

I spent the next morning with my hand resting heavily over my flat stomach, feeling like I was carrying a time bomb instead of a life.

This child... it should have been a miracle.

It should have been the happy ending.

Now, it was just another shackle binding me to a sinking ship.

I needed to know.

I needed to be absolutely certain before I did what I knew I had to do.

Moving on autopilot, I drove to the office again, parking down the street.

I didn't go up this time.

Instead, I waited at the café across the street, the one where Gavin liked to get his mid-morning espresso.

Sure enough, at 10:30, they came out.

Gavin and Eliana.

She was clinging to his arm, laughing at something he said, her head thrown back in a display of perfect, carefree joy.

They looked like a power couple.

They looked like they belonged together.

I slipped into the line behind them, pulling my hat low, praying my sunglasses hid the swollen redness of my eyes.

"She's still there, Gavin," Eliana complained, her voice a high-pitched whine that grated on my nerves. "When is she leaving? The twins are confused. They need their real mother."

"Soon," Gavin assured her, grabbing a napkin. "The lawyers are drafting the papers as we speak. I just need to make sure she doesn't take anything. The pre-nup is solid, but Alex can be stubborn."

"What if she tries to use the twins against us?"

"She can't," Gavin scoffed. "She has no biological claim. And honestly, Eliana, she was just a vessel. A glorified babysitter. You know that. The kids have your genes. That's what matters."

"And what if she gets pregnant?" Eliana asked.

My heart stopped.

Gavin laughed.

"She won't," he said. "I've been careful. Besides, even if she did, do you think I'd want a child with a substitute when I have you?"

Substitute.

Vessel.

Tool.

The words carved themselves into my bones.

He didn't see me as a human being.

He saw me as an appliance he had rented until the owner came back.

Nausea rose in my throat. I turned and walked out of the café.

I didn't confront them.

There was no point in screaming at a wall.

I felt a sharp cramp in my abdomen, a phantom blade twisting in my gut.

I drove straight to the clinic.

I sat in the sterile waiting room, surrounded by women with their own stories, feeling utterly alone amidst the scent of antiseptic and old magazines.

When they called my name, I stood up without hesitation.

I couldn't bring a child into this mess.

I couldn't let Gavin use another innocent life as a pawn.

I couldn't let Eliana raise my child alongside the twins she was already stealing.

I made the appointment for the procedure.

Then I called Maria.

"File it," I said, my voice dead calm.

"File the papers. File for divorce. Today."

"Alex, are you sure?" Maria asked gently. "We can fight for alimony, for-"

"I don't want his money," I cut her off. "I just want out. I want to cut him out of me like a tumor."

My phone beeped.

It was Gavin calling.

I stared at the screen for a long moment before answering.

"Hey," he said, his voice breezy. "Just checking in. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said.

"Good. Listen, I'm going to be late tonight. Big project."

In the background, I heard a splash.

Then a child's squeal.

"Faster, Daddy! Push me faster!"

It was Kenneth.

He wasn't at work.

He was at a pool.

Probably Eliana's pool.

"Sounds like a very demanding project," I said, ice dripping from every syllable.

Gavin didn't even pause. "It is. Boring paperwork. Anyway, I transferred some more money to your account. Buy yourself something to cheer up. You've been so gloomy lately."

"I don't need your money, Gavin."

"Everyone needs money, Alex. Don't be difficult. I'm doing this for us."

"For us," I repeated.

"Exactly. Look, I have to go. Love you."

The lie slipped out of his mouth so easily.

"Goodbye, Gavin," I said.

I hung up.

I didn't say "I love you" back.

I would never say those words to him again.

I walked out of the clinic, the appointment card burning a hole in my pocket.

A nurse walked by, chatting in hushed tones with a colleague.

"Did you see that guy on the news? The Dunlap CEO? Spotted with that model again. They say his wife is just a showpiece."

"Poor woman," the other nurse said, shaking her head. "She probably doesn't even know."

I stopped walking.

I stood in the middle of the hallway, people rushing past me like a river around a stone.

I wasn't the poor woman.

I wasn't the victim.

Not anymore.

I took a deep breath, the smell of antiseptic filling my nose.

I was going to burn his house down.

Metaphorically speaking.

But first, I had to survive the fire he had started.

Alex POV

The invitation to the twins' birthday party had taunted me from the fridge for weeks.

It was being held at the Dunlap Estate, a sprawling, sterile mansion that had always felt more like a museum than a home.

I knew better than to go.

But a part of me-the foolish, masochistic part that still bled for the life I'd lost-needed to say goodbye to Kenneth and Kaylin.

I arrived in a simple black dress, looking more like I was attending a funeral than a seventh birthday party.

The backyard had been transformed into a carnival, a riot of color that clashed with my mood.

Gavin was holding court near the chocolate fountain, looking dashing in a crisp linen suit.

Eliana stood right beside him, draped in a white dress that looked suspiciously, aggressively bridal.

She was beaming, playing the role of the gracious hostess to perfection.

The guests-a shark tank of Gavin's business partners, social climbers, and fair-weather friends-were already whispering.

I could feel their eyes on me like physical weights.

The pity.

The amusement.

The wife who didn't know she was already a ghost in her own life.

Gavin's gaze landed on me, and his jaw tightened. He frowned, clearly annoyed that I had shown up to ruin his carefully curated tableau.

"Alex," he said, walking over. Eliana trailed behind him like a possessive shadow. "I didn't think you were coming."

"It's the twins' birthday," I said, my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands. "I raised them, remember?"

"Of course," Eliana interjected, her smile saccharine and sharp. "And we appreciate all your... help. But Gavin and I have it under control."

Gavin turned to Eliana, ignoring me completely, and pulled a velvet box from his pocket.

"For you," he announced, his voice projecting loud enough for the nearby guests to hear. "For being such an amazing mother figure."

He snapped the box open.

A diamond necklace.

It was huge, gaudy, and cold-exactly the kind of ostentatious display I had always hated.

But Eliana gasped as if he had given her the moon.

"Oh, Gavin! It's beautiful!"

She turned, sweeping her hair aside so he could clasp the heavy chain around her neck.

I felt sick.

Then, the sound of running feet broke the tension.

The twins.

Kenneth and Kaylin.

My babies.

Or so I had foolishly thought.

They skidded to a halt, their eyes darting from me to Eliana.

"Mommy!" Kaylin squealed.

My heart leaped, then shattered as she ran past me to hug Eliana's legs.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," I said, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. I stepped forward, holding out the small, thoughtfully wrapped gifts I had brought.

Kenneth looked at me with a sneer that looked terrifyingly unnatural on a seven-year-old's face.

"We don't want your presents," he spat.

"Kenny?" I asked, stunned, the box nearly slipping from my fingers.

"Eliana said you stole her bracelet," Kenneth shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. "She said you're a thief and a liar and you want to take Daddy away!"

The music seemed to cut out.

The entire party fell into a suffocating silence.

"I didn't..." I stammered, looking around at the sea of judging faces.

"You did!" Kaylin yelled, her voice shrill. "Go away! We hate you! Eliana is our mommy now!"

Gavin stood there, watching the spectacle.

He didn't correct them.

He didn't defend me.

Instead, he placed a protective hand on Eliana's shoulder, solidifying their unit against me.

"Maybe you should leave, Alex," Gavin said, his voice ice-cold. "You're upsetting the children."

"I'm upsetting them?" I asked, my voice rising in disbelief. "You're poisoning them!"

"She's hysterical," Eliana said to the crowd, her voice trembling with a fear that was entirely performed. "Please, someone help."

I stepped toward the twins, desperate to explain, to make them see the woman who had tucked them in every night for years.

"Kenny, Kaylin, it's me. It's Alex. I love you."

"No!" Kenneth screamed.

He rushed at me.

He was just a child, but he hit me with the force of pure, unadulterated hatred.

He shoved me.

I was standing at the very edge of the shallow stone steps leading down to the patio.

I lost my balance.

My heel caught on the uneven stone.

I tipped backward.

Time seemed to warp, slowing down into a nightmare frame-by-frame.

I saw Gavin's face.

He wasn't reaching for me.

He was holding Eliana tight.

I hit the steps hard.

My head cracked against the stone with a sickening thud.

Pain exploded in my skull, followed instantly by a sharp, tearing agony in my abdomen.

I rolled to the bottom, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

I lay there on the cold patio, staring up at the indifferent blue sky.

Gavin looked down at me from the top of the steps, like a king surveying a fallen peasant.

He didn't move.

"Come on, kids," he said, turning his back on me without a second glance. "Let's go cut the cake inside. Alex is just making a scene."

"Bye, bad lady!" Kaylin yelled.

They walked away.

They left me lying in the dirt.

I tried to sit up, but the world spun violently.

Then I felt it.

A wetness between my legs.

Warm.

Sticky.

I touched my hand to my leg and brought it up to my face.

Blood.

Bright, red blood.

The baby.

My hand went to my stomach, clutching at the emptiness.

The final connection to Gavin.

The innocent life I had been conflicted about, the life I was going to end anyway.

But having it taken from me like this... violently, by the children I raised, under the gaze of the man I loved...

It broke the last string holding me together.

I lay on the stone, bleeding out my future, while inside the house, they began to sing "Happy Birthday."