Her Name Upon His Lips

If I hadn't seen his tenderness for another woman with my own eyes, I might have believed he was just a cold man by nature.

His words echoed in my mind, the memories of the past five years a gut-wrenching roller coaster. I felt like a fool.

I had been so naive, thinking that if I was just devoted enough, one day he would love me back.

The more I thought, the more my heart ached. I collapsed onto a bench in Central Park and sobbed.

I don't know how long I cried. My body trembled, and my voice was too raw to make a sound.

Just then, my phone chimed.

It was a text from Jackson.

"I'll be with Chloe for the next few days. Get the first draft of the design done in three days. She needs it for a competition."

I didn't reply.

The acceptance was a crushing weight. I was unloved.

Suddenly, I felt a faint flutter in my abdomen.

Wiping away my tears, I gently touched my belly. "That's right. I still have you, my baby."

Jackson didn't come home for a week.

But he texted me every day, hounding me about the design.

A week later, he returned.

I'd done a lot of thinking while he was gone.

Perhaps it was time for me to walk away.

But the child...

"You look terrible. Have you even looked in a mirror? You should learn a thing or two from Chloe..."

His words tore my heart to shreds.

The word "pregnant" was a shard of glass I'd swallowed, lodged in my throat.

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "Okay."

That night, I went to bed early.

I slowly opened my eyes to the reek of alcohol mixed with a strange perfume on him. The next second, his mouth crashed down on mine. Before I could resist, he had me pinned.

He took from me ravenously, until a sharp pain shot through my body.

"Chloe, Chloe..."

As he slurred her name, he collapsed on top of me and went still.

A single, hot tear slid from the corner of my eye.

And that unfamiliar perfume on him was so piercing.

I felt filthy.

The thought was nauseating: I was sharing my husband with another woman.

I scrambled out of bed and into the bathroom, letting the scalding spray wash away every trace of his touch.

My mind was chaos. I had to get out. Now.