"This is all Melanie's fault. Oliver, I hadn't had my fill yet."
Regina cupped his chin and the small of his back, teasing at his lips. His shirt was already half off, his frame taller and more striking for it.
Oliver's eyes were hazy as he kissed his way down her body. Only when his hand found the gentle swell of her belly did he push her back, holding himself in check.
"Pregnant, and still tempting me like this. I'll satisfy you this once. Wait for me in the usual place, like a good girl."
"Don't come looking for me anymore. Melanie almost caught us today."
Regina said, impatient, that of course she'd never find out.
"I just wanted you to stay with me. The baby and I both missed you." She burrowed into his arms, coaxing.
One wall away, I heard every word of it. As the heavy footsteps drew closer, I lay back down and pretended to be asleep.
"Mel, I'm really sorry. Something urgent came up at the company, I'll have to travel for a while…"
When Oliver got no answer and saw I was asleep, his mood lightened considerably.
Behind him, Regina mocked, "Look at that complexion, that scrawny figure. If I were a man I wouldn't want her either. Not a patch on me."
Oliver shut the door softly and left with his arm around Regina. Through the gap in the door I watched their backs recede. This was probably the last time I'd ever see them, for the rest of my life.
On my way out of the hospital, I found Regina's lab report on the floor. I'd long given up on Oliver, so looking at it left me strangely calm.
That night, not a single message from him. I finished packing to leave and kept only one box behind.
It was full of the love letters Oliver had written me and the photos from our wedding, every one of them long since yellowed.
At midnight, a message came from an unknown number, with a photo attached.
'Jealous? Oliver's reward to me. I doubt you've ever laid eyes on anything this expensive in your life.'
'Barely pregnant and already spoiling me this much. I'm nothing like a certain unlucky woman. If you're smart, you'll divorce quietly and step aside. Don't make things hard for Oliver.'
In the photo was a round-trip ticket to Switzerland, and on her hand a ring, round and enormous. It was the largest raw-stone diamond in the world, the one the news had reported sold at auction just five minutes ago.
I remembered Oliver's promise to take me to Switzerland to buy a brand-new diamond ring. Now it belonged to someone else.
The glow of the phone screen lit the bare mark on my right ring finger where a ring used to sit. I didn't reply, blocked the number, and went back to packing.
A full day and night, and nothing from Oliver. He used to call to say he was safe if a trip ran even two hours long. But I didn't care about that anymore.
Night fell, and the day had finally come. Once I was in the car, I looked at the place I'd lived for ten years, then tossed the keys onto the roadside.
The roads were clear the whole way. I stared blankly at my phone screen. Soon more photos and texts came through, and just as I went to open them, a hard brake jolted me.
"This road's lively tonight. Some rich family throwing a party, maybe?" the driver muttered, rolling down his window.
I looked at the dazzling bridge ahead, packed with people singing and dancing, everyone raising a glass in celebration.
Far as it was, I could still make out the two at the very center of it all: Oliver and Regina.
The scene in front of me pulled up the memory of that noisy wedding banquet years ago. But the photos on my phone dragged me back to reality.
In them Regina was beaming, accepting Oliver's proposal as he knelt on one knee, countless lavish gifts arrayed behind her.
The wedding gown on her was a hundred times finer than the one I'd burned, the full set of high jewelry glittering in the night, friends and family all cheering the happiness of the two of them in that moment.
'Oliver insisted on putting this wedding together for me. He loves me and the baby so much. As for you, I imagine he's already forgotten you completely.'
'He's worked so hard these past few days. If I weren't pregnant I'd have rewarded him properly. The next time you see him will be at the divorce. If you still want to keep any face, crawl out of the Gilbert house on your own. Oliver already treats me as the woman of the Gilbert house.'
This time I finally replied: 'Congratulations. Your wish is about to come true.'
The driver started to turn off and go around. Just as I was about to close the window, my eyes met Oliver's for a second.
I didn't care. But Oliver froze, went blank where he stood, the music around him suddenly grating in his ears.
The next second, my phone rang. It was Oliver.
