“Listen to Daddy, stop being so stubborn.” He smiled like a helpless parent.
“Gareth, Cassie and I grew up together, even slept naked in the same bed. She’s never seen me as a man. Don’t make it a big deal.”
Then he shoved her back toward me as if he was magnanimous.
“Come on, just apologize to Gareth. You’re pregnant. Even if he doesn’t care, your friends do.”
One line, and suddenly every pair of eyes was filled with contempt—toward me.
Cassandra stiffened, lips trembling, but finally muttered,
“…It’s my fault, alright?”
My stomach turned. I couldn’t breathe.
Without a word, I left the room.
I hadn’t expected Cassandra to chase after me.
The woman who was usually silent now overflowed with complaints.
“Tristan is my best friend, and you’re jealous of that? What a lunatic!”
“You might as well tie me to your belt like a dog—you’d suspect anyone anyway!”
“Think! I’m pregnant. What could possibly happen between us? If there really was something, would he dare say it out loud?”
Something inside me snapped.
“Yes—you’re nothing. It’s all my fault for being such a loser!” I roared, trembling. “I’ve endured you for too long!”
Every buried grievance rose up, striking me like whips. Only I knew how much this final straw had crushed me.
“Cassandra, when I drank myself half-dead with clients, you went with him to get a haircut. When I lay in a hospital bed after a car accident, you were out playing tennis with him. Every time I needed you, you were with your ‘best friend’—even today!”
My chest heaved, tears streaming.
“He mocked me to my face with those filthy words, and you flirted with him right in front of me. And when I finally broke down and called the police, you didn’t defend me—you screamed I was crazy!”
I wiped my face with shaking hands.
“From that moment on, Cassandra… we’re finished.”
Silence.
Then, a soft voice brushed my ear:
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”
I turned—
She wasn’t talking to me. She was wearing headphones, playing games with Tristan through a microphone.
…
Their laughter and shouts echoed from the bedroom all night.
I sat alone on the balcony, Cassandra’s pregnancy test report clenched in my fist, and called the lawyer.
“Hello. Please draft a divorce agreement.”
The next morning, a stabbing stomachache woke me. I staggered through the house until I found her lounging on the sofa, legs crossed, phone in hand.