The cold surgical instrument pierced my body, and I flinched, fingers twisting into the bedsheet.
Through the haze, I could hear Pat's smug laughter drifting in from somewhere nearby.
"Reggie, I wasn't planning on keeping this baby."
"But your wife's belly never seems to grow, and honestly, I worry for you."
"She was throwing herself at boys back in middle school. Who knows if she's already too damaged to carry?"
Reginald said nothing in my defense. Not a single word.
He let out a soft "Mm," and with that one syllable, shattered ten years of trust.
I watched my child dissolve into a pool of blood, tears sliding down past my temples.
"Could you send me a copy of that video?"
When I got home, rose petals were scattered across the floor.
The kitchen was already prepped with ingredients, every dish one of Reginald's favorites.
Expressionless, I swept the washed vegetables and cleaned shrimp straight into the trash.
The rose petals on the floor were swept away like garbage.
The blue balloons filling every corner of the room, I popped them one by one.
What had been a warm, loving home now looked like a landfill.
The door swung open. Reginald took in the wreckage, freezing for a split second.
Then his eyes landed on my swollen, red-rimmed eyes. He dropped his briefcase and pulled me into his arms, patting my back gently.
"Sweetheart, who upset you?"
I remembered the day Pat had waltzed into our house. I'd been crying, demanding to know why my father had betrayed my mother.
Pat had shielded my father, her face twisted and ugly as she screamed that my mother was the other woman.
She said her mother had met my father first. Her mother was his first love.
She said my mother had used money to manipulate him, that he'd only married her out of obligation to the family.
I'd lunged at Pat, wanting to tear her lying mouth apart, but she'd grabbed me by the hair and slapped me across the face. Twice.
My ears were still ringing when Reginald appeared.
He pried Pat's fingers loose, shoved her hard to the ground, and his voice came out like a blade.
"Touch a single hair on her head again, and I'll kill you."
Back then, I thought he was a godsend. I didn't notice the tangled knot of love and hatred in his eyes when he looked at Pat.
I was so stupid.
I pushed Reginald away, my lips twisting into a bitter smile.
"The surprise is ruined."
He stroked my hair gently, pulling out his phone to call his assistant, ordering a cake and flowers delivered as fast as possible.
"If the surprise is ruined, I'll make you a new one."
I stared at him, my throat dry and raw.
"You can redo a surprise. But what about trust? Once trust is shattered, can it ever be put back together?"
Reginald frowned, clearly not understanding what I meant.
He guided me to the couch and was about to ask what was really going on when his phone buzzed. Two short vibrations.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the contact name on the screen.
Star.
When Reginald first confessed his feelings for me, he'd told me I was his favorite star in a sea of people.
The nausea I'd been holding back surged up all at once. I bolted to the bathroom and retched violently over the sink.
Reginald followed, carefully rubbing my back.
"Did you eat something bad?"
"Come on, I'll take you to the hospital right now."
He moved to scoop me up in his arms.
I stepped out of his reach and reminded him his phone was ringing.
He glanced at the screen and hesitated before declining the call.
His hand rose to my forehead, and his frown deepened.
But the moment he turned to find medicine, the phone rang again.
The third time.
Reginald pulled it out, looked at me with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, something came up at the office. I need to head back and deal with it."
He barely finished the sentence before he was gone, vanishing from my sight.
