Love Left Me Wandering

After five years of marriage, Sean Carter was betrayed fifty-two times.

I endured it all in silence.

Until I was nine months pregnant.

It started with his secretary offending an important client. To keep the deal intact, Sean Carter— my husband — demanded I apologize on his behalf by joining them for drinks.

I stared at him in disbelief. "I'm pregnant. You want me to drink? What if something happens—"

He cut me off impatiently. "It's just a drink, not to take your life."

Annoyed by my hesitation, he encouraged them to keep pouring drinks down my throat.

The fiery alcohol scorched my throat, triggering premature labour.

While I fought for my life in the hospital, he spent the night with his secretary in the countryside villa.

When I woke up after delivering the baby, I turned to my mother-in-law. "Mom, you promised me — have the baby, and I could leave. Can I go now?"

Her face twisted with conflict and guilt. "Aria, won’t you give him one last chance? He—"

Before she could finish, the hospital room TV blared with breaking news.

The screen showed Sean holding a woman draped in his jacket as they exited a car. She leaned against his chest, her face flushed with something more than just warmth.

Though her body was mostly covered, the camera caught a tantalizing glimpse of her bare thigh, dotted with suspicious red marks.

No explanation was needed. It didn't take much to know that the two of them had just experienced a heated battle in the car.

A reporter's voice filled the room: "Sean Carter, CEO of the Carter Group, was spotted with a mysterious woman…"

When my mother-in-law saw this news, she was so furious that her chest rose and fell strongly, her breathing was rapid, and her whole body was filled with anger. Anger contorted her face, but when her gaze landed on me, it softened into guilt and sorrow.

Tears welled in her eyes. She struggled to speak but then choked out, "Fine. I’ll help you with the divorce."

Look at her choking and wiping tears, my heart like something blocked, pain pricked at my chest, sharp and relentless. Still, I held firm. "Thank you, Mom."

I hadn’t even looked at the child I’d just birthed. All I knew was that he weighed four pounds and five ounces, with pale, delicate skin — and looked like me.

A nurse approached. I was told to go and see him, to see the baby I had fought so hard to give birth to.

I shook my head. "No. As long as he’s healthy, that’s all that matters."

If I didn’t see him, there would be no thoughts.

Because if I did, I’d never be able to let him go.

But there was no way I could continue to stay in the Carter Family.

It was better than leaving with me and living a life of uncertainty.

It would be best for him to stay in the Carter Family.

I lay on the hospital bed and looked out the window.

Thinking about leaving here and where I can go.

I was abandoned from birth and grew up in an orphanage.

No relatives whose blood is thicker than water, no friends who can depend on each other.

I was like a tiny sailboat adrift on the vast ocean, without a port to call home.

My mother-in-law felt sorry for me and was even more angry at Sean's inaction. She took out her cell phone and called him frequently, trying to get him to come and see us.

Finally, on her last attempt, someone answered. All she got in response was a cold, mechanical female voice. it wasn’t Sean.

"Madam, Mr. Carter is in a meeting right now. You can call back later ..."

Before she could finish, a faint, unmistakable moan leaked through the phone.

Mother-in-law was no fool. She knew exactly what was going on and turned pale with rage.

"Tell Sean this: If he still considers me his mother, if he still recognizes me as his mother, hurry up and come to the hospital; otherwise, I'll just pretend that I haven't given birth to him in this life!"