A terrible suspicion was already forming.
And Charity, seeing my expression, couldn't hold back her laughter.
She waved her phone at me. On the screen was a group chat—flooded with screenshots taken from my delivery video, turned into mocking memes.
Mixed in were crude jokes. Vulgar comments. People laughing at my expense.
"One second her face is all twisted up, the next her eyes are rolling back—and she's so red and sweaty. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd never guess this was childbirth, haha."
"Leave it to Brendan to kick off the new year with entertainment like this. Think the missus will run away from home when she finds out?"
"Who cares..."
I closed my eyes, unable to stomach another word. The rage made my wound throb.
"Brendan. Are you still not going to explain?"
I'd assumed he'd simply shown the video to Charity.
I never imagined he'd screenshot the worst moments, turn them into animated memes, and share both the video and the images in the cash-gift group chat he used with his friends.
Over a hundred people in that group. Most of them strangers, maybe—but his close friends knew exactly who I was.
And right now, they were having the time of their lives discussing it.
Brendan frowned, clearly irritated by my confrontational tone.
He studied me from above for a long moment, as if finally deciding he was done pretending. Then he spread his hands, his expression utterly indifferent.
"There's nothing to explain. I was just having some fun."
"Naomi, it was just a joke. Don't take it so seriously."
My breath caught in my throat.
"A joke?"
My hand trembled as I pointed to the filthiest comments on the screen.
"You turn your wife—who just gave birth—into a punchline? Brendan, are you even human?"
He snatched the phone with an impatient sigh and typed a half-hearted message telling everyone to knock it off.
"That's enough, Naomi. Don't be so dramatic."
"You gave me a child. I was happy. What's wrong with sharing the video so the guys could celebrate too? If you don't like it, just don't look."
I went rigid, unable to believe those words had come from his mouth.
But then again—maybe I'd never really known him at all.
Everything before this. All of it. A mask.
The realization that I'd spent five years with a man who'd casually expose my most private moments to strangers sent ice crawling down my spine.