My Dear Ex-Husband, You No Longer Have the Right to Love Me!

I didn’t say anything else.I turned around and walked out,numb.My hand instinctively cradled my belly,feeling the faint flutter of life inside me.

“Don’t worry,baby.We don’t need that room.I’ll make you a better one.”

Behind me,Beckett stood frozen,watching me walk away.That same flicker of guilt from the hospital flashed across his face again—sharp and quick,then buried.

But as Delaney called out to him from the nursery,he turned and walked back to her.

Later,when I was back in the master bedroom,my phone buzzed.I got a string of voice messages from Delaney.

I opened them one by one and hearing Beckett’s doting tone in the recordings,I realized all their past affection was just practice for Beckett.

He was practicing on me and our baby,all for the sake of Delaney’s child.

Every nourishing soup I drank,every gift I received for the baby,every parenting tip Beckett shared with me—it was all just practice for Delaney’s baby.

Even the nursery itself was prepared by Beckett for the child in Delaney’s womb.

I and the baby were just tools for Beckett’s rehearsal.He didn’t want Delaney to suffer through his learning curve,so I became the sacrifice.

I listened to the messages over and over,the pain swelling inside me until I laughed.Not because it was funny—because it hurt so much it pushed me over the edge.Everything I had been so proud of since the moment I got pregnant had been nothing but a lie.

Beckett’s tenderness toward my child?It didn’t even come close to what he showed Delaney and hers.

I clenched my phone so tightly my hand shook.It hurt to breathe.All I could do was whisper over and over to myself that it was okay.

It was okay.Because soon,we’d be free of him.

Just me and the baby.And we’d be just fine.

The baby kicked,like he could hear me.Like he understood.

I wrapped my arms around my belly and held it close.

I stayed that way for a long time,until I could finally breathe again.

After Delaney moved in,Beckett practically glued himself to her side.

And me?I stopped expecting anything from him the moment I saw the truth.

One night,as I walked downstairs to get some water,I heard her voice through the slightly open door of the guest room.

“Beckett,”she cooed,“I heard that Saint Christopher medal from your family works really well.The baby’s been keeping me up at night...could I borrow it for a while?”