I left after husband made me abortion for my sister

The door creaked open. Jacob walked back in, holding a plastic cup of ice water.

"Lucy had to leave," he announced, handing me the cup.

"How convenient," I murmured, taking a sip. The cold liquid stung my dry throat. "I'm glad she's taking care of herself."

"She's family." Jacob pulled the plastic chair closer to the bed and sat heavy. "Your father called while I was at the vending machine."

"Did he?" I traced the rim of the cup with my thumb.

"He needs another capital injection for his construction company. I already wired the funds." Jacob adjusted his custom-tailored Italian suit cuffs. "The Thorne family estate can spare it. You don't need to worry about his finances."

"You always remind me," I said, keeping my tone flat.

"Remind you of what?"

"That you are the heir to a billionaire empire, and I am just the daughter of a small-time contractor."

"I never said that." Jacob frowned, a flicker of irritation crossing his handsome face. "I married you, didn't I? I didn't care about your background."

"No. You only cared that I quit my clinical neurology residency."

Jacob let out a long exhale. "We agreed on that. You were the most gifted student in your cohort. A genius with the brain. But my wife doesn't need to work grueling hospital shifts. Besides, your father's company was on the verge of bankruptcy before our wedding. My family bailed him out. I gave you a perfect life."

I gripped the plastic cup. A perfect life. A life where my husband gutted me on an operating table and threw my baby into an incinerator.

"You used to appreciate it," Jacob added, leaning forward.

"I did," I replied. I looked directly into his eyes. "You used to know everything about me. You used to bring me a flower every day."

"I still buy you gifts."

"Jewelry. Handbags," I countered. "But not the carnations. Pale pink. You knew the exact florist on 5th Avenue."

Jacob broke eye contact, staring at the blank wall behind me. "I got busy with the corporate merger. I'll have my assistant send a dozen bouquets tomorrow."

"Don't bother. They stopped arriving exactly ten weeks ago."

"Ten weeks?" he repeated.

"Right around the time Lucy came back from studying abroad." I tilted my head, watching his reaction. "Right around the time you went to Seattle."

His jaw tightened. The muscle ticked just beneath his skin. "The tech acquisition required my presence."

"Of course," I smiled softly. "Lucy was in Seattle too, wasn't she? For that modern art exhibition."

Jacob didn't flinch. He was a professional. "Was she? I didn't notice. Seattle is a massive city, Judy."

"And last month in Chicago?" I pressed.

"Real estate conference."

"And the dinner reservation at Le Bernardin?" I asked. "Table for two. I saw the credit card statement."

"Client dinner," Jacob shot back, his voice dropping an octave.

"And Lucy's sudden shopping trip to the Magnificent Mile the very next morning?"

"Pure coincidence." Jacob reached out, wrapping his warm hand over my cold fingers. "Judy, you just underwent a traumatic surgery for the miscarriage. The anesthesia is making your mind race. Don't invent problems where there are none."

"I'm not inventing anything," I said.

"You are." He squeezed my fingers. "I am devoted to you."

"That's a lie."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, that sounds like a lie." I forced a weak laugh, retracting my hand from his grip. "But I'll believe you."

That was the hundredth time. I had kept a silent tally in my head for years. One hundred times my husband had looked me in the eye and fed me a polished, flawless deception. He thought I was blind. He thought I was just the obedient, dependent wife who traded her scalpel for a diamond ring.

He didn't realize I knew about the missing uterus. He didn't know I understood the timeline of Lucy's ten-week pregnancy.

His phone vibrated in his breast pocket. He checked the screen, and his shoulders instantly went rigid.

"Take it," I offered.

"It's the board of directors. An emergency regarding the new shipping contract." He stood up rapidly, smoothing his tie. "I need to handle this outside."

"Take your time, Jacob."

He didn't wait. He turned and strode out of the room. The heavy wooden door clicked shut.

Silence rushed back into the sterile space. I pushed the thin hospital blankets off my legs. The numbing agents were wearing off, leaving behind a raw, searing agony deep in my pelvis. I ignored the fire in my gut. I gripped the metal bedrail and hauled myself upright.

My phone rested on the rolling tray table. I grabbed it and scrolled past the missed texts from my father, down to an old, archived contact.

I pressed dial.

It rang three times.

"Judy?" a gruff, commanding voice answered.

"Professor Higgins," I said.

"Well, this is an absolute shock. I haven't heard from my star neurology student in four years. Did you finally get bored of playing the billionaire's housewife?"

"Something like that," I answered, staring at the IV drip beside my bed.

"I told you not to throw your talent away," Higgins grumbled. "You had the best hands in the surgical lab. You could map a neural pathway faster than anyone I've ever taught. What do you want?"

"The Geneva visiting scholar program," I stated. "The one you emailed me about last month."

"I told you the deadline to accept was approaching. It's a rigorous two-year commitment, Judy. You’d have to leave your precious husband behind."

"I know."

"Are you entirely sure about this?" Higgins asked, his tone shifting to pure business. "If I process this paperwork, there is no backing out. You will be in Switzerland next week."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the tears that belonged to the naive girl I used to be. "I will attend on time."

"Good. I'll send the flight details and the contract to your email. Welcome back to medicine, Dr. Thorne."

"Thank you, Professor."

I ended the call.

My hands remained perfectly steady. I deleted the call log. Jacob thought he had clipped my wings, trapped me in a childless, powerless marriage while he built a new family with my sister. He forgot who I was before I became his trophy.

The door handle rattled.

I threw myself back onto the mattress, pulling the covers up to my chin just as Jacob stepped back into the room. He slipped his phone into his pocket.

"The board needs me to sign some documents in person," he said, avoiding my gaze. "I have to run to the corporate office."

"Go," I said, keeping my voice frail and weak.

"Will you be alright alone?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

He walked over and kissed my forehead. His lips felt like ice against my skin. "I love you, Judy."

"I love you too, Jacob."

He turned and left. I watched his retreating back until the door closed again.

Enjoy your victory, Jacob, I thought, staring at the empty doorway. Because when I return from Geneva, I'm going to take a scalpel to your perfect life.

Then, my phone vibrated in my palm.

An unknown number flashed on the bright screen. I hesitated for a second before swiping to answer.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Judy," a deep, unfamiliar male voice echoed through the speaker. "I know exactly what your husband did to you in that operating room today."

I stopped breathing. "Who is this?"

"The man who is going to help you destroy him."