Goodbye to You

Getting remarried?

I stared at Carl, stunned. I couldn't believe this was the same man I'd been with for six years. I never saw this coming, not after all that time. He wasn't like this before, talking about cheating like it was no big deal.

How could he think he could sleep with someone else and just waltz back to me like nothing happened? I was a person, not some kind of trash can.

I lost it and grabbed his hair, desperate to find something that proved he wasn't really Carl.

He shoved me off, his face darkening with anger. "What's wrong with you?"

I cried so hard. "Give him back! I want Carl Larson back! I want Carl Larson back!"

For a second, I saw a flicker of pain in his eyes—he was affected, even if just a little.

He pulled me into his arms, trying to calm me down. "Hey, stop crying. I told you, it's just a formality. I'll be back with you."

I sobbed. "But you'll be disgusting after you come back. Carl… I don't want someone like that."

He froze. "Who else would you want, Hailey? You've got no one but me."

Carl was right—I didn't have anyone else. I was completely alone, an orphan. He knew this, yet he was still so heartless.

He kissed my tears away and carried me to the bedroom. In the haze of everything, he got turned on and tried to touch me.

I panicked and stopped him. "No, Carl."

He acted like he didn't hear me, burying his face into my shoulder. His kisses were urgent, almost frantic.

I shoved him off with all my strength, tears burning my eyes. "No!"

Carl's eyes went cold, his face hardening. "I haven't even slept with her yet, and you already think I'm disgusting?"

I wanted to say something, but before I could, I threw up.

Carl completely lost it, slamming the door as he stormed out.

I wanted to tell him it was just morning sickness, but he didn't even look back. I figured he went straight to Wendy's.

Looking back, I'd crossed paths with Wendy more than once.

Back then, she was just a fresh college graduate—full of energy but pretty clueless. She worked under Carl and kept making rookie mistakes.

"She's such an idiot. I don't even get how she graduated." Carl used to complain to me about her all the time.

I'd try to calm him down, telling him to cut her some slack. But everything changed when he found out Wendy had late-stage cancer. Suddenly, he started feeling sorry for her.

He said he'd never met anyone so upbeat and positive while dealing with something so devastating. From that point on, there was something different in his eyes whenever he talked about her.

At first, I didn't think much of it. After all, Carl and I had been married for six years and shared countless days and nights together.

I'd stuck by him while he went from being a nobody to a well-known OB-GYN. I thought Wendy was just a passing thing in his life—until I saw that cold look in her eyes whenever she looked at me.

A woman's intuition was usually right. Not long after, I walked in on her in Carl's arms, crying while he gently wiped away her tears and kissed the corner of her eye like she was some kind of treasure.

They looked like they were made for each other. Honestly, I might have wished them the best if the man holding her wasn't my husband.

Carl said Wendy reminded him of me when I was younger—always making mistakes and learning from them.

What a joke. I was nothing like Wendy. I graduated from a top university. She was just a homewrecker, not even close to being on my level.

…

I drifted in and out of sleep, finally waking up to see the sun high in the sky. My phone was flooded with missed calls—all from Carl.

One message read, "Meet me at the courthouse at 10:00 am."

10:00 am? It was already 3:00 pm.

Just as I was about to turn off my phone and go back to sleep, another message popped up. "Do you have any idea what time it is? I've been waiting forever."