Seven Years of Marriage, Seven Years of Lies

Robert quickly assessed the situation and organized some kind-hearted bystanders to help pull me out of the wreckage.

The moment they moved me to a safe distance, the car exploded behind us.

Robert examined my injuries while concerned onlookers crowded around.

They whispered among themselves.

"Why was a pregnant woman driving alone? What was her family thinking?"

"Is she okay? I called an ambulance, but the line was busy for so long. When I finally got through and told them the location, they accused me of lying before I could even explain it was a car crash. What kind of hospital hires people like that?"

"Lady, you're pregnant. You shouldn't be out on your own. That belly looks like you're about to pop. What's your husband's number? I'll call him for you."

Their concern, after initially staying back in fear of the explosion, made my eyes sting with unshed tears.

I endured the pain and weakly shook my head.

Strangers on the street showed me more compassion than my husband.

Zayne had been willing to kill me and our baby for the sake of a woman who had already left him once.

The seven-year itch was true.

Everything that had happened since I was reborn seemed like a cruel reminder of how blind and foolish I had been.

No one seemed to notice Robert's expression growing darker with every word the crowd said.

Once he finished checking me over, he immediately pulled out his phone and called the ER.

The line went through.

He barked in frustration, "Get an ambulance to the corner now. Did you not realize there was a car accident? If I hadn't been passing by, this patient would be a corpse. How many calls do we have to make to get you here? Who gave you the nerve to handle this so poorly?

"Do you have any idea how important the ER is? If you can't do your job, then get ready to pack up and leave."

Within five minutes, I was in the back of an ambulance.

That was when my phone rang.

Robert answered it for me and held the phone to my ear.

Zayne's furious voice came, making my blood run cold.

He snapped, "You're still calling the ER? When will you stop this? Didn't I tell you I had something important today? Why do you have to bother me now? Look at yourself. You're about to give birth, and this is how you act?

"I've been working all day. Can't you handle your crap without calling me every five minutes? What, you can't live without me? Plenty of women get pregnant, and none of them act as crazy as you.

"If I hadn't come today, Jodie might've bled out. Do you even care? Can you stop being so selfish? I'll come home when I'm done. Don't bother me again."

I could hear Jodie's pitiful sobbing in the background as he unleashed his anger on me.

He didn't even let me get a word in or bother to ask how I was or what had happened before hanging up.

The memory of his cold, indifferent face from my previous life flashed before my eyes.

Tears streamed down my face and landed on the stretcher.

I trembled uncontrollably.

The pain in my abdomen brought me back to reality.

Blood, mixed with amniotic fluid, pooled beneath me.

But none of this compared to the agony of being cut apart by Zayne.

As I was rushed into the emergency room, the woman who had hung up on me earlier saw my pale face and froze.

Her eyes widened with horror.

She immediately rushed over, stammering apologies.

She said she had thought it was a false alarm.

She excused herself and called it a mistake.

Robert, noticing something was wrong, asked a few questions. When he found out I was Zayne's wife, his expression turned dark with anger.

Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and called Zayne.