One Miscarriage, The End of Our Marriage

On our third wedding anniversary, I was half-kneeling at the hospital payment window. My bank card had exactly $27.60 left on it.

The doctor had told me, 「If she isn't admitted for bed rest, the baby could be in danger.」

On the thirtieth call, Finn Henson finally picked up.

Phoebe Hardy's sugary voice drifted through the line. 「Finn, did you really get the Porsche delivered for me?」

I clutched the bill, my hand shaking hard. 「You said the company had no money, but you have money to buy her a car?」

Finn laughed. 「Marie Swanson, stop using the baby to blackmail me. If you hadn't crawled into my bed back then, do you think I ever would've married you?」

He had always believed I drugged him into marriage three years ago, that otherwise he'd have married his childhood sweetheart, Phoebe.

When the truth was, that night he was the one who got drunk and wouldn't let go of me, swearing he'd marry me.

Once the alcohol wore off, he turned it all around and blamed me, leaving me to carry the shame of it for three years.

Soon after, Phoebe posted to her socials.

The photo showed the sports car and a bouquet of roses.

The caption read, 「Thank you for giving me and my child a home when I was at my lowest.」

I pressed him. 「The hospital fee is only thirty thousand. I'm carrying your child!」

His voice was thick with irritation. 「Phoebe got abandoned by some man overseas, stuck with a kid, it's pitiful. You're my wife. Would it kill you to be a little gracious?」

The words had barely left his mouth when a sharp pain tore through my lower belly. Blood spilled out.

Before they wheeled me into the operating room, he sent one last voice message. 「Quit the act. A baby isn't that precious.」

When I woke, the baby was gone.

The doctor told me, eyes rimmed red, 「Ms. Swanson, the damage is too severe. For the rest of your life... you won't be able to have children again.」

I gripped the prenatal report tight, knuckles white.

My phone was full of evidence that Finn had been evading taxes.

Finn, I'll make sure you understand.

What you destroyed with your own hands wasn't only your child.

It was your company, your name, and the rest of your life.

......

「Marie, stop looking at it.」

Garry Head walked in wearing his white coat.

He was my high school classmate, deputy head of obstetrics and gynecology here.

He didn't say much. He came over and gently pried open the prenatal report I'd crushed into a wrinkled ball, one finger at a time.

When I spoke, my throat was bone dry.

「Did Finn come?」

Garry lowered his eyes and shook his head.

Beside him, the nurse said softly.

「We called from your phone. He hung up right away.」

I lit up the screen.

The chat was still stopped at last night.

That voice message Finn had sent was still there.

I tapped it open.

「Quit the act. A baby isn't that precious.」

The man's impatient voice rang out clear across the ward.

I shut the message off, my fingers trembling so badly I could barely hold the phone.

The door swung open.

Byron Mason, Finn's special assistant, stepped inside.

He wore a sharply pressed suit, a document in his hand.

「Mrs. Henson, Mr. Henson asked me to bring you this.」

I glanced at the cover.

《Voluntary Termination and Waiver of Liability》.

Byron bowed his head, his tone stripped of any feeling.

「Mr. Henson's instructions are that once you sign, acknowledging this miscarriage was due to your own causes and that you won't seek money from the Hensons, he'll give you two hundred thousand in recovery compensation.」

I stared at those few words.

My throat was dry and aching.

「He's afraid I'll make a scene?」

Byron said nothing.

「Mr. Henson says your health is poor, so you shouldn't stir up trouble.」

I smiled.

I flipped to the last page of the agreement.

If I filed for divorce myself, I would have to walk away with nothing, surrendering any claim to assets accumulated during the marriage.

Finn was guarding against me.

Afraid I'd use the baby as leverage, and even more afraid I'd touch his company's books.

I picked up my phone and dialed Finn's number.

It rang a long time before it connected.

In the background, a little boy was coughing.

Then Phoebe's sugary voice followed.

「Finn, Spencer's wheezing again. Come look, quickly.」

The moment Finn started talking to me, his tone went cold.

「Did you sign the agreement or not? Don't start anything with me.」

I bit down hard on my lip.

「Our baby is gone. Do you even know that?」

The line went quiet for a beat.

Then he laughed.

「Marie, the baby was never your shield.」

「Your own body was too weak to hold onto it, and now you want to pin that on me?」

Listening to him accuse me, even breathing hurt.

Phoebe's voice cut in again.

「Miss Swanson, don't blame Finn. He stayed up all night taking care of Spencer, didn't close his eyes once.」

Three years ago, when we got married, Phoebe said she was heartbroken and went overseas.

A while back, she suddenly came home with a sick child, weeping that some man had abandoned her abroad.

Ever since, a guilt-ridden Finn had poured every ounce of his patience into her.

Phoebe kept up the saintly act. 「You're an adult. Don't hold a grudge against a sick little boy, all right?」

I looked at the bruised purple needle marks on the back of my hand.

How absurd.

My child was already gone, and she still wanted me to graciously step aside for hers.

「Finn, is that what you think too?」

「What else?」 His voice was thick with annoyance. 「Phoebe suffered so much overseas these past few years. If it weren't for you back then, why would she have ever left the country? You became Mrs. Henson, and you don't even have that much grace in you?」

I closed my eyes, and the tears fell.

「I understand now.」

I hung up and looked at Byron.

「Tell Finn I want a divorce.」

Byron froze.

「Mrs. Henson, don't act rashly.」

「Mr. Henson left instructions. If you bring up divorce, you must first go back to the old residence and explain the drugging from three years ago, in front of Mrs. Fox and Miss Hardy.」

He was threatening me.

Using the blame I'd carried for three years to force me to bow my head.

Garry stepped forward and handed me a medical records envelope.

「Marie, the surgical records, the embryonic tissue sample, and the payment records, I've sealed them all for you, by the book.」

I asked him.

「Can these prove whose child it really was?」

Garry nodded.

「As long as the chain of procedure stays intact, the hospital can provide the sample for a paternity comparison anytime.」

I pulled the needle out of the back of my hand.

Byron startled.

「Mrs. Henson, what are you doing?」

I threw back the blanket and got out of bed.

「Don't they want me to explain things?」

「Let's go. Back to the Henson house, right now.」