Sitting in my email was a job offer from overseas, forwarded by my old supervisor.
I'd been on the fence about accepting it. Now it seemed like the only option left.
Boss, I'm taking that offer. I'll come in tomorrow to handle the resignation paperwork.
I fully support this! Charles, with your talent, you're wasting yourself at this place.
The reply came almost instantly. I stared at the words on the screen, feeling strangely hollow.
The lock clicked. The door opened.
"Reunion over already?"
Elaine came in humming a tune, the faint smell of alcohol trailing behind her.
She walked toward me with a smile, but the moment her eyes landed on the ultrasound report on the table, her expression froze.
"Elaine, don't you think you owe me an explanation about this baby?"
Her footsteps halted at the edge of the living room. She turned and looked at the report sitting on the coffee table.
"You went through my things?"
That was the first thing out of her mouth. Not an explanation. Not an apology.
An accusation, thick with resentment.
Her icy stare seeped into me, freezing me from the inside out. I drew a long breath and forced myself to stay calm.
"Yeah. I went through your things."
"And if I hadn't, I never would've known you got rid of our baby behind my back."
My voice shook as I spoke. I could hear it clearly, the tremor I couldn't suppress.
Every ounce of restraint I had went into keeping my composure while I faced her.
"I'm busy with work. This is a critical time in my career. The baby came at a bad time."
Elaine's voice was perfectly level. Not a ripple of emotion.
Meanwhile, I was the one unraveling. I was the one who looked like he'd lost his mind.
"Something this big, and you didn't think you needed to talk to me about it?"
I pointed at the ultrasound report. "Elaine, I'm the father. Don't I at least deserve to know?"
My voice cracked higher with anger, and all it earned me was a wall of cold indifference.
She snatched the report off the table with an impatient flick of her wrist. "Charles, reproductive rights belong to the woman."
"I want to keep it, I keep it. I don't, and nobody gets to force me."
The words landed, and then, right in front of me, she tore the ultrasound report to pieces.
Scraps of paper drifted to the floor. I sat there as if standing on a sheet of ice, my whole body trembling.
My eyes stung. I turned my head away, swallowing the pain.
"Elaine. Let's get a divorce."