He'd sneered. Called it a performance. Pulled Faith close to shield her from my "drama" and walked out without a backward glance.
By the time the staff got me to the ER, it was too late. Ten minutes, the doctor said. Ten minutes earlier, and my child would have survived.
Now Faith looked up at me, eyes glistening with rehearsed innocence.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I just wanted to see your trophy up close. I didn't mean to knock it over."
John drew her against his chest. "Don't apologize. You're the one who's hurt."
Then his gaze found me, and the tenderness vanished. "Why was something that fragile left out in the open? It's a hazard."
I stared at him.
Seven years ago, he'd scrapped a hundred-million-dollar deal and chartered a helicopter from Harbor City to Riverdale—just to watch me accept that award. After we married, he'd placed it on the mantle himself.
Your pride is my greatest pride, he'd told me then.
Now it was just broken glass.
When I stayed silent, irritation flickered across his face. "Never mind. There's something you need to know."
He rose, his shadow falling over me. "Faith needs proper rest during her pregnancy. She'll be taking the master bedroom. Pack your things. You can move back after the baby comes."
The cruelty of it punched the air from my lungs. He was giving my bed to the woman who'd mocked me while I bled.
"Fine," I said.
John went still. He blinked, thrown by my compliance. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
I didn't wait. I walked out of the house and dialed the number I'd memorized years ago.
"Mr. Simmons." My voice was steady at last. "Draw up the divorce papers."
The sigh on the other end of the line was heavy with regret. "Have you really thought this through? After all, you once gave up everything..."
I did.
Despite my parents' fierce opposition—even at the cost of severing ties with them—I had abandoned my career at its absolute zenith to marry into Harbor City.
Back then, John was a different man. To court me, he'd commuted between cities by helicopter every single day for three years. When the Weiss family disapproved, he stripped himself of his title as heir and followed me to Riverdale. Ignoring the ridicule of his peers, he worked construction, hauling steel pipes until his shoulders were raw, just to save enough for a diamond ring.