My wrist throbbed from the impact, and my heart ached so badly I could barely breathe.
He turned his head away, his Adam's apple bobbing, both fists clenched white-knuckle tight.
When he finally spoke, his voice came out raw.
"Gertie, I'm sorry..."
I listened to those words, raised my hand, and swung another slap across his face.
But before it could land, he pulled me into his arms.
That was when Grace's voice rang out behind us.
"Julian... what is this?"
"Grace, it's pouring out here. Why did you come outside?"
Julian shoved me away in a panic, turning to face those reddened eyes of hers.
Grace stared at him in disbelief, her voice hoarse and cracking.
"You lied to me. Told me you had business at the office. And all this time you were out here wrapped around this tramp?"
"If I hadn't noticed you left your phone behind, I never would've known what kind of man you really are!"
She lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and slapped me hard across the face.
"Miss Harding, I was kind enough to invite you to dinner, and this is how you repay me? Throwing yourself at someone else's husband?"
Julian pulled her into his arms, his voice dropping low and soothing.
"Grace, stop. Don't do this. You still have the baby to think about."
That only made her spiral further. She screamed until her voice broke.
"Oh, so NOW you remember I'm carrying your child?!"
"And you go and do THIS to me!"
"You know the one thing I hate most in this world is a homewrecker!"
My scalp burned. My cheek stung like fire. I looked at Julian, at the guilt carved across his face, and my voice came out strangled.
"Julian. Tell her. Between the two of us, who's really the other woman?"
His gaze dropped. His lips pressed into a hard line. He didn't say a single word.
I let out a quiet, bitter laugh and took out my phone, unlocking my private album.
"Since he won't say it, I will."
"Take a good look, Miss Barnes. Between the two of us, who is the third wheel?"
Grace's entire body went rigid. Her head snapped up, eyes flooding with disbelief as she turned to Julian.
"You told me I was your first love. You lied to me!"
She screamed, stumbling backward.
Her foot slipped, and she crashed against the edge of a planter.
Julian's face drained of color. He lunged forward, catching Grace before she hit the ground, her face white as paper.
She shoved at him wildly. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"
"I'll get rid of this baby. I won't let my child be a homewrecker's child!"
Julian's eyes rimmed red. He scooped her up, arms locked tight around her waist, his voice thick with anguish.
"Don't talk like that. You're my wife. You and this baby are my whole world."
I reached out instinctively to stop him, but his shoulder slammed into me and sent me sprawling to the ground. He looked down at me, his expression dark as a storm.
"You knew Grace was pregnant, and you still said those things to provoke her!"
"If anything happens to her or the baby, I will never forgive you."
I lay on the wet ground. A shard of broken glass on the pavement had driven itself into my arm, and blood soaked through my sleeve in seconds.
I watched his retreating back, that unwavering, merciless back, and it felt like a fist had closed around my heart and was crushing it to pulp.
But Julian... I gave you a daughter too.
I drifted into a strange, fractured dream.
The sky blazed with fireworks, brilliant and blinding, and Julian knelt before me on one knee, a simple ring cradled in his palms, his eyes full of reverence.
"Gertie, the luckiest thing that ever happened to me was meeting you. Falling in love with you."
"Will you marry me?"
The scene shattered. In its place was Julian holding Grace, walking away without a backward glance, and the image seared into my eyes like staring into the sun.
I sobbed, crying out through the haze.
"Julian, don't leave me..."
