His Childhood Sweetheart Returned, So I Chose VengeanceChapter 1

In the second year of my marriage, my husband's childhood sweetheart came back from studying abroad.

The very first night she returned, she secretly poked holes in every condom my husband and I had.

My parents' murders were still unavenged. I'd made it clear: no children.

"Ellie just finished school. She's young. She doesn't understand these things. Just take the pill," he said.

He knew full well I was allergic to oral contraceptives, yet he still said those words to protect a girl his family had taken in.

Even after taking the pill, I still got pregnant.

The day the doctors told me the ectopic pregnancy couldn't be saved, I called my husband, who was busy throwing a graduation party for Eleanor Lambert.

"Paul, I think I'm having a miscarriage."

Paul Fletcher was doing something on the other end. Heavy breathing crackled through the phone. "Jessica Pruitt! There's a limit to how far you can push this. Didn't you take the pill? Where the hell did a baby come from? Have you been sleeping around behind my back?"

I hung up in despair and dialed 911.

The next day, Paul finally showed up at the hospital with Eleanor in tow, both of them looking thoroughly satisfied.

Without a word, he slapped me across the face and wrapped his hand around my throat. "Jessica, you really were screwing someone else behind my back?"

My cheek burned, but that pain didn't amount to a thousandth of what was tearing through my abdomen.

——

He didn't let go until my eyes rolled back and I couldn't breathe.

My vision swam as I stared at his neck. A bright red hickey. I let out a cold laugh. "Funny. Which one of us is the cheater here?"

Paul faltered for a split second, then tugged his collar straight. "It was just a dare. A party game. Besides, Ellie's like a sister to me. You really think something could happen between us?"

Then he turned it back on me. "Now talk. Whose bastard did you just lose? Who's the man?"

Two years of dating. One year of marriage. And all it amounted to was this: he didn't trust me.

I sat there, face white as paper, my voice scraped raw. "One of the side effects of emergency contraceptives is ectopic pregnancy."

Two weeks earlier, Eleanor Lambert had returned from studying abroad. Her family and the Fletchers went way back.

Her adoptive parents had died years ago, and she'd lived with the Fletcher family ever since.