That day, we lost our first child.
That same day, I learned that woman was carrying his baby for me—a boy. The Delgado family treated him like a treasure.
So when I gave birth to Joy later, no one in his family even wanted to look at her.
Every memory sharpened into a thorn buried deep in my chest.
I stared at the divorce papers in my hands and felt nothing but relief.
If Ferris had moved on, then I wished them well.
I picked up my phone and placed a delivery order to their door. Twenty boxes of condoms. Seven flavors.
That should be enough.
A second later, a text came in from my mysterious contact.
"Done?"
I sent him a photo of the signed divorce agreement.
"Walked away with nothing—except the majority stake in Delgado Corp."
A voice message came back. Through the voice distorter, the man's tone was cold and ruthless.
"Well done. And as I promised—I'll make sure you and your daughter want for nothing overseas. And I'll make sure Ferris Delgado's reputation is destroyed."
That night, Joy spiked a high fever.
When Ferris kicked her, her forehead had struck the corner of the table. There'd been no symptoms at first, but gradually, blood began seeping through.
I named her Joy because I wanted her to grow up happy.
But all I'd ever brought her was pain.
Before she lost consciousness, she was still clutching the hem of my shirt. "Mommy, is Joy a bad girl? Why won't Daddy celebrate Joy's birthday?"
Even now, my little girl believed it was her fault that her father had stormed out.
I choked back tears and called Ferris. He hung up. Again and again.
I couldn't wait for him. I scooped Joy into my arms and rushed toward the garage, but the bodyguards closed in around me.
"Mrs. Delgado—no, I'm sorry, Ms. Winfield. You're no longer a member of the Delgado family. You don't have vehicle access."
Joy was burning hotter in my arms. The wound on her forehead throbbed visibly.
She was only three. 103.5 degrees. I was terrified the fever would cause permanent damage.
Finally, on the tenth call, Ferris picked up. His voice was lazy, dripping with the satisfaction of a man freshly sated.
"What, crawling back to me already? Regretting it?"
"You animal! Joy has a fever! If anything happens to our daughter, I will hate you for the rest of my life!"
Glass shattered on his end. But his composure returned almost instantly.
"A fever? You'd use our own daughter just to trick me into coming home? You're out of your mind."
He hung up without mercy.
So that was what I was to him.
Ten years of love, and it couldn't compete with a woman who waltzed in halfway through.
I had no choice. I held my daughter and ran.
The nearest hospital was five miles away.
By the time I tasted blood in the back of my throat, I'd made it. I placed Joy in the doctor's arms.
Only when her temperature came down did I let myself collapse into sleep.
The next morning, before I even opened my eyes, a bucket of ice-cold water crashed over my head.
Someone seized me by the collar and slammed me against the wall.
"Noreen! What the hell did you do to Bess?!"
My back cracked against the concrete, and the taste of copper flooded my mouth again.
"You knew Bess was allergic to strawberries, and you deliberately sent us strawberry-flavored condoms! She used one last night and had a reaction!"
I almost laughed. The absurdity of it was staggering.
There was a time when the Delgado family was on the verge of bankruptcy. I'd ridden on the back of his bicycle. I'd shared cold bread rolls with him for dinner. At our poorest, two grown adults squeezed onto a four-foot bed together.
And through all of it, I never once thought about leaving him.
He used to hold me at night, tears falling because his heart ached for me.
"Noreen, why are you so good to me? I will never let you down. Not in this lifetime."
