My Water Broke, But He Chose Her FirstChapter 1
My water broke, and pain seized my entire body. Gasping, I dialed my husband, Rhys Abbott. He answered, but his voice lacked any urgency.
He was too busy helping our beautiful neighbor, Emily Fox, move her car.
"Babe, it's snowing heavily out here," Rhys said, his tone casual. "Parking is a nightmare. Just hang tight a little longer. As soon as I get this parked, I'll race back to you. I promise."
I froze, clutching my stomach. Wait? I didn't expect his first reaction to be a command to hold on.
A wave of fury momentarily eclipsed the pain.
"Rhys Abbott, do you have any idea what the priority is right now?" I snapped, my voice trembling. "My water broke! I'm going into labor. Why are you wasting time parking a car? Get back here and take me to the hospital!"
"Okay, okay," he muttered, sounding annoyed.
But he didn't come back.
Minutes dragged by, each one agonizingly slow. A knot of unease tightened in my chest. Forcing myself through a contraction that nearly doubled me over, I crawled to the window and looked down into the courtyard.
My blood ran cold.
The car was already parked. Rhys wasn't rushing toward the building. He was standing by the vehicle with Emily, chatting idly. Their smiles were ambiguous, intimate.
I dialed him again. He picked up, but before he spoke, Emily's voice filtered through the speaker—sickly sweet, dripping with feigned innocence.
"Rhys, you're the best. Thanks for helping me park—and for offering to cook my birthday dinner personally. But... didn't your wife say her water broke? Is it really okay for you to be here?"
Rhys scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain.
"Ignore her. She's been crying wolf for three days, claiming she's in labor. I'm exhausted dealing with her drama."
He paused, and I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "Besides, she's an adult. If she's really giving birth, she can call an ambulance. Why does she need me to hold her hand? If she can't handle a little thing like childbirth, she's not fit to be a mother."
His voice softened for Emily. "But you—you're just a young girl, new to the city and all alone on your twenty-second birthday. I help you park, I cook you a meal, and she throws a tantrum? It's just petty jealousy. Completely unreasonable."
Unreasonable.