Lorraine
I stood at the doorway, the full PPE gear shielding me like armor, though it did nothing to protect my heart. When Hendrix and Althea turned to look at me, I forced myself to maintain composure, keeping my voice steady as I greeted them. Hendrix didn’t even flinch, didn’t even seem to recognize me. The man who once traced every inch of my face with his fingers, who used to say he could recognize me in any crowd, now stared through me as if I were a stranger.
I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat and focused on my task. "I’ll be administering fluids now," I informed Althea clinically. My hands trembled slightly as I prepared the IV line, but I clenched my jaw and forced myself to be steady.
I shouldn’t have been surprised at how Hendrix looked at Althea—like she was the air he breathed. His fingers caressed her cheek tenderly, his eyes brimming with love and devotion. A sight that once belonged to me. Now, I was merely an intruder in a love story I never agreed to be part of.
Then, as if fate itself wanted to twist the knife deeper into my chest, Althea’s voice rang out. "When will you divorce your wife in the US? You never even let me see her photos or know her name."
I froze, my fingers pausing over the tubing. My breath caught in my throat, the air thickening, suffocating me.
Hendrix sighed as if burdened, but his next words shattered me entirely. "I will break up with her soon. But I have to frame her, say she engaged in dissipation of assets. That way, I will have everything—including our shared assets."
My world stopped. My vision blurred. My pulse pounded in my ears like war drums.
Althea let out a soft sigh, oblivious to the devastation her words were causing me. "But will it take long? What about our baby? I wanted to go to your house in the United States already."
Our house. The home I thought we built together with love, with dreams.
Hendrix smiled, rubbing gentle circles over Althea’s stomach, his voice soothing. "Don’t worry, love. I’ll handle everything. Soon, we’ll have the life we deserve."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to rip off this suffocating PPE suit and demand answers. But what would that do? The truth was laid bare before me. My husband, my Hendrix, the man I had loved with every fiber of my being, had never been mine to begin with.
My legs moved before I could think. I turned on my heel and walked out of that hospital room, each step like a blade slicing into my soul. My breath came in short, ragged gasps. I ripped off my gloves, my mask, anything that felt like it was caging me.
Then, standing in the empty hallway, I broke.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and unrelenting. A sharp sob clawed its way out of my throat as my hands pressed against my chest, desperate to hold my heart together. But how could I? How could I ever mend something shattered beyond repair?
I leaned against the cold wall, gasping for air, hyperventilating as grief crashed over me in violent waves. Everything was a lie. Every "I love you," every "I miss you," every whispered promise over late-night calls—it had all been a carefully crafted illusion.
And I had been a fool.
The next morning, the hospital bustled with early discharge preparations. I had barely slept, the weight of betrayal pressing heavily on my chest. I wasn’t sure if I had the strength to face them again, but something inside me needed to witness it. To see if there was even an ounce of remorse in Hendrix’s eyes.
But there wasn’t.
From a distance, I watched him hover over Althea, adjusting her blanket, making sure she was comfortable. He smiled at her, his fingers ghosting over her swollen belly with such tenderness, such adoration, that it left me breathless.
How could he have ever looked at me like that and lied? How could he have held me in his arms while secretly planning to discard me?
I reached for my phone, my fingers trembling as I dialed his number. It rang once, twice—
From across the hallway, I saw him glance at his phone, his expression tightening. He exhaled sharply before silencing the call and slipping the device back into his pocket.
"She’s calling again?" Althea asked, her voice laced with annoyance.
Hendrix let out an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah. She’s that dependent on me. So clingy it’s suffocating, even when we’re worlds apart."
The final blow landed straight in my chest.
I pressed a hand over my mouth, suppressing the sob that threatened to escape. The pain was unbearable, a deep, searing wound that no amount of time or distance could heal.
I had given him everything. My heart, my trust, my devotion. And yet, I was nothing more than a nuisance to him now. A loose end he needed to tie up.
