Leaving Marriage for Dreams

I stared in disbelief at the suitcases Scott was carrying up the stairs—not mine, but Adriana's. Her laughter floated down from the second floor of our home, musical and light, a stark contrast to the heaviness settling in my chest.

"Scott?" I called out, one hand instinctively cradling my barely showing pregnancy. "What's happening?"

He appeared at the top of the stairs, his face flushed with excitement that hadn't been directed at me in months. "Holly, can you make up the guest room? Actually, no—" He paused, running a hand through his dark hair. "Adriana will take our bedroom. You can move your things to the guest room."

The words hit me like physical blows. "Our bedroom? But I'm—"

"It's just temporary," he cut me off, not meeting my eyes. "Adriana needs space after her long flight from Paris. The guest room is too small for all her things."

I watched as he disappeared back into what had been our bedroom, where Adriana Cooper—his childhood friend who'd been studying dance abroad—was now unpacking her designer luggage. The same room where, just last week, Scott had touched my stomach with something like tenderness for the first time since learning of my pregnancy.

Slowly, I gathered my clothes, my few precious photos, the journal I'd been writing in since the pregnancy test showed positive. The guest room was small, the bed narrow, but it wasn't the size that bothered me—it was what the move represented. I was being erased from my own life.

---

The Halloween party at Marcus Thompson's mansion should have been fun—I'd always loved Halloween. Instead, I stood awkwardly in a corner, my simple black dress and cat ears a stark contrast to Adriana's elaborate costume that showcased her dancer's body. Scott hadn't left her side all evening.

"Hey, Holly," Marcus approached, his words slightly slurred. "We've got a Halloween tradition to uphold."

"What tradition?" I asked, trying to smile. These were Scott's friends, not mine. In five years of marriage, I'd never quite belonged in their circle.

James joined us, clapping Scott on the shoulder as he and Adriana walked over. "The cemetery visit! Oakwood's supposed to be haunted tonight."

"I don't think—" I started, instinctively protective of my unborn child.

"Actually," Marcus interrupted with a smirk, "we should leave Holly there. Just for an hour. Ultimate Halloween prank!"

My blood ran cold. "Scott?"

He laughed, his eyes on Adriana's amused face. "Come on, Holly. Don't be such a killjoy. It's just a bit of fun."

"I'm pregnant," I whispered, but he was already guiding me toward the door, his hand firm on my back.

The ride to Oakwood Cemetery was silent. When Scott pulled up to the iron gates, moonlight casting long shadows through the ancient trees, my heart pounded painfully.

"Just wait by the main entrance," he said, not looking at me. "We'll be back in an hour. It's not a big deal."

"Please don't leave me here," I said, hating the tremor in my voice. "Scott, this isn't funny."

"God, Holly, it's just a joke. Adriana would have played along." He unlocked the doors. "One hour."

I stepped out, the October air biting through my thin dress. Before I could say another word, he drove away, taillights disappearing into the darkness.

For the first hour, I waited by the gates, shivering, telling myself they were just running late. By the second hour, I'd called Scott's phone seventeen times with no answer. By the third, I knew no one was coming.

The cemetery stretched endlessly, a maze of tombstones and mausoleums. I stumbled through, my phone flashlight barely cutting through the fog that had settled among the graves. Each step felt like a betrayal to the tiny life inside me, each moment of fear another failure as a mother.

Four hours after being abandoned, I finally found my way to a road. My feet were blistered, my makeup streaked with tears, as I walked the miles home.

Our house glowed with warmth as I approached, voices and laughter spilling from the open windows. I paused in the shadows of our garden, too exhausted to face whatever awaited me inside.

That's when I heard Scott's voice, clear in the night air.

"Honestly, she's become such a burden. The pregnancy was a mistake—I can barely look at her anymore without feeling disgusted."

Marcus's reply was indistinct, but Scott's laugh cut through me like glass.

"Marriage is a prison sentence, man. I should have waited for someone like Adriana."

I pressed my hand against my mouth to stifle a sob. The baby fluttered inside me—the first movement I'd felt—as if to remind me I wasn't completely alone.

In that moment, standing in the cold, overhearing my husband's true feelings, something inside me hardened. The Holly who had sacrificed everything for Scott Franklin began to disappear, replaced by a woman I barely recognized—one who wouldn't beg for scraps of love anymore.