Once I'd finished talking with the HR rep from a certain multinational, I was on my way out.
Passing one of the private rooms, the voices inside stopped me in my tracks.
"Congratulations, Matthews. No more putting on that 'fear of women' act in public."
"Though, Lisa, you were gone all those years, and Matthews here kept his belt pretty loose. You really don't mind?"
A coy little voice answered. "He doesn't want me wearing myself out in bed, so he found a few others to practice on. Sleeping with Kate Swanson was something I personally signed off on, you know."
"Thaddeus, when are you actually going to divorce her? Baby and I both want to be loved out in the open."
"Right, Matthews. If it hadn't been for Kate back then, your grandfather would never have found out about you two. The old man's gone now. What are you still keeping her around for?"
"Give it a little more time. She just had a miscarriage."
In the middle of their laughing and teasing, I pushed the door open and walked in.
"No need to wait. Thaddeus Matthews, the divorce papers will be in your hands the day after tomorrow."
……
On the sofa, Lisa Dudley had her head tipped back, taking Thaddeus's kiss.
At the sound of my voice, Thaddeus turned his head first, then stood, tucking the woman in his arms behind him.
When he looked at me, his brows knotted nearly into one.
"Kate, you followed me?"
My expression didn't change.
"Yes. My husband with the fear of women has been coming home smelling like perfume these past few days. I figured I should confirm his sexual orientation."
I tilted my head and glanced at the woman behind him, my tone laced with mockery.
"Good thing. At least I wasn't sharing a husband with a man."
Thaddeus looked startled for a moment by how plainly I said it, then slid into an easy manner.
He pulled Lisa to his side.
"Fine by me. Saves trouble. We can divorce, but you won't get a cent."
His shamelessness made me laugh.
"You're the one who cheated."
Before Thaddeus could speak, Lisa blinked, all innocence.
"Miss Swanson, Thaddeus has a fear of women. The kind a doctor diagnosed, even. How could he possibly cheat?"
The room broke into laughter.
I walked over to Lisa and let my eyes settle on her belly.
"Then we'll wait until your child is born to divorce. Let this little bastard be my evidence."
That clearly got to Lisa. Her hand shot up to slap me.
I was about to block it when she lowered it again. Something calculating flickered in her eyes, and instead she clutched her stomach, crouched to the floor, and let out a moan.
"Thaddeus, my stomach hurts so much. The baby must be upset that someone called him a bastard."
Thaddeus scooped her up at once, his face tight with worry.
"Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."
As he passed me, he threw out one vicious line. "If anything happens to the baby or to Lisa, you'll never have a good day for the rest of your life!"
The others scattered soon after, leaving me alone in the room.
The bitterness of being toyed with and then thrown away washed over me.
I forced down the dull ache and decided to go home and start arranging the divorce.
Then a cramp seized my lower belly without warning.
Thaddeus didn't know I was pregnant again.
I braced myself against the wall, caught my breath, and left on unsteady feet.
Driving to the hospital for a checkup, my mind drifted, heavy and hazy, into memory.
Lisa Dudley was Thaddeus's widowed sister-in-law, a few years younger than him.
After Thaddeus's older brother died in a car accident, Thaddeus took it upon himself to look after her.
The two of them grew closer by the day.
Until, at a family dinner, Cecil Matthews caught them tangled together.
His older brother's mourning period wasn't even over.
Cecil was so furious he spent five days in the ICU.
When he woke, the first thing he did was send Lisa abroad.
The second was to have me, the granddaughter of his old comrade-in-arms, marry Thaddeus at once.
