He clicked his tongue and said dismissively, “Look, I’m busy. I’m taking newborn photos with Shannah and our son. Zareena wants a doctor? Fine, I’ll send someone.”
Terese hung up, gripping my hand tightly with her cold, trembling fingers.
“Don’t be scared, honey. The doctor will be here soon,” she promised, though her voice was full of fear.
I held my swollen belly with both hands, feeling the life inside me slowly grow weaker.
Tears blurred my vision. My whole body was trembling.
And at that moment, the past came rushing back.
In my previous life, this was exactly how my babies had died—sewn shut inside me by Sullivan’s order, suffocated before they even had a chance to breathe.
Fighting through the pain, I reached out and grabbed Terese’s hand. My voice was weak, but I forced the words out anyway.
“Mom, three years ago, when my dad fell into a coma trying to save Sullivan… you promised to treat me like your own daughter. You said… if he ever treated me badly, you’d help me leave him.”
Tears welled up again as I continued, “I’m begging you. Please… help me divorce him. I swear, I won’t get in the way of the woman he loves, or her child being his heir. Mom, I just… I just want my babies to be born safely.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears as she nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, I remember… At first, I just wanted to repay your father’s kindness. I only planned to make you my goddaughter. But it was Sullivan—he’s the one who pursued you. He confessed, he proposed, he said he loved you so much…”
She choked on her own words and shook her head. “How did it end up like this? It’s all that bitch’s fault! If she hadn’t shown up out of nowhere, none of this would’ve happened!”
I let out a bitter laugh, my heart breaking.
‘Yeah. How did we go from childhood sweethearts to this?’
He was the one who, at his coming-of-age celebration, blushed and told me he’d love me forever.
He swore, if he ever betrayed me, he’d suffer a thousand cuts and die a painful death.
And now?
He was doing exactly that to me—slashing me apart, piece by piece, for another woman.
“Please… Mom,” I whispered, every syllable scraped from the bottom of my throat.
Hearing the desperation in my voice, she finally nodded, firm with resolve.
“Alright, honey, alright. When you two got married, I made him sign a divorce agreement. I had it drawn up just in case this day ever came.”
She stood abruptly.