Seven Days of Goodbye

Ruby gave him this soft, sugary smile.

"Sleeping with Mommy and Daddy makes you that happy?"

Alex nodded hard, voice all small and pitiful.

"Of course! Mommy, Daddy, when are you gonna get married and take me to Montedra?"

Brian's face went dark.

Ruby jumped in fast.

"Alex, how many times has Mommy told you? If Mommy and Daddy were together, your aunt would be hurt. Don't ask that—it puts Daddy in a tough spot."

Then my dad chimed in, voice low.

"Kid just wants his parents together. Honestly? You two should just come clean to Shiloh."

My head buzzed. Every word echoed—sharp, clear, cruel.

But strung together? It felt unreal. Too twisted to process.

I looked at his face—Brian's face, just younger. Back then, I used to smile at the resemblance.

Once, I brought it up. My mom got weirdly defensive.

"What nonsense! Are you accusing your husband? Brian treats you so well. How could you doubt him?"

I panicked.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just thought... maybe he was meant to be part of our family."

Mom let out this big, fake sigh.

"Then it's fate. He was always meant to be ours."

And I believed it. I looked at that kid—with Brian's eyes, Brian's brows—and thought it was destiny.

But now? Now I see exactly how deep the lie went.

My husband had a kid with my sister—behind my back.

My parents knew. Covered for them. Helped raise him like it was normal.

They built this picture-perfect little family, all smiles and secrets.

And me? I treated that kid like he was my own.

But to him, I was just the "bad woman" who kept his parents apart.

Those shoes I stood in line for on Christmas Eve?

They were a setup—an excuse to keep me away.

What a sick, twisted joke.

Then Brian stood to grab something, glanced outside—and froze.

The cutlery hit the floor with a loud clang. A second later, he ran out, panic written all over him.

He stopped in front of me, voice shaking.

"Shiloh... when did you get back?"

Ruby clung to his side like she wanted me to choke on the sight.

But Brian didn't play her game. He shoved her off and grabbed my hand.

The second he felt how cold I was, he yanked me into his arms.

"Shiloh, why are your hands so cold?"

The faint gardenia scent on him hit me—Ruby's scent.

My eyes locked on the lipstick smudge on his neck.

"You're disgusting."

His face froze, like he'd never seen me look at him this way. For a second, I swear it actually hurt him.

I shoved him back and slapped him hard.

"Why her? Why my sister?"

Brian went pale. "You heard everything?"

Behind him, my parents and Alex slipped out the door.

I kept my voice cold. "That love child looks just like you."

Color rose in Brian's cheeks, but he still tried to spin it.

"I know I let you down. But the kid's innocent. He's not a love child—he's the child Ruby had for us."

I let out a sharp laugh. "For us?"

He nodded, dead serious.

"Yes. She was only eighteen. When she found out you couldn't get pregnant, she was scared I'd leave you. She offered to carry the baby for you. I refused at first, but I kept dreaming of Zara. I missed her so much, and I..."

The second he said 'Zara', my head filled with the baby girl I'd already been carrying.

If Brian hadn't been messing around behind the wheel that day, there wouldn't have been a crash.

No steel pipe ripping through me.

No stillborn Zara.

No hysterectomy.

Because of him, I lost my child. I lost every chance at another.

And now he stood there acting like cheating on me was some kind of sacrifice—like another woman giving birth made it my baby?

What kind of brain-dead logic even was that?

I glared straight through him.

"Enough. We're getting a divorce."