Ninety-Nine Chances Gone

For three years, I was James Cole's wife, a title he forced on me. But his relentless, obsessive love started to win me over. I was even pregnant with our child, finally daring to hope for a future together.

But the day I got the positive pregnancy test, the man who had been obsessed with me was gone. He began publicly chasing a young intern, Janay Rodgers, showering her with the same grand romantic gestures he once used to win my heart.

To win her over, he leaked a twisted story about my mother abandoning me, turning the public against me. He accused me of poisoning Janay and sided with his father to force me into a risky paternity test that threatened our baby's life.

He orchestrated a live TV interview where my own mother was paid to call me a gold-digger, all to make Janay look like a triumphant hero.

When I collapsed in pain on stage from the shock, he ignored my pleas for help. He was too busy comforting Janay, who had a "broken wrist."

I lost our child that day.

Lying alone in the hospital, I heard his father demand he divorce me. His brother brought me the papers. I signed them without a second thought.

I didn't want his money or his apologies. I just wanted to disappear from his life forever.

Chapter 1

For three years, I was James Cole' s wife, a title he forced on me. In that time, the cold walls I built around my heart began to crack. His love was a relentless storm, and I, against my better judgment, started to find shelter in it. I was even starting to love him back.

The day the doctor confirmed my pregnancy, I felt a flicker of real hope. Our future, once a bleak landscape, seemed to hold the promise of something new, something alive.

But when I got home, the man who had been obsessed with me was gone.

James was distant. He stopped coming home at night. The warmth in his eyes was replaced by a chilling indifference.

Then, the news broke. He was publicly chasing Janay Rodgers, a young intern from a local radio station. He showered her with grand gestures, the kind of things he used to do for me.

Janay was fiercely independent, a woman who valued her freedom above all else. She was just like I used to be.

I heard his words to her, repeated in gossip columns and on social media.

"I'll be the constant wind beneath your wings. No matter how far you fly, I'll follow."

It was a painful echo of what he once told me.

"They say you can't grow blue roses in this city, but I'll make them bloom just for you. I don't believe you won't love me then."

In our garden, the blue roses he planted with his own hands were starting to wither. I took a pair of gardening shears and cut one down. The snap of the stem felt final. My foolish hope was dying with it.

His public displays for Janay were a constant torment. He cooked for her on a busy street corner, a spectacle for all to see. Meanwhile, I sat alone at family dinners, enduring my relatives' sharp criticisms and pitying looks.

"Why isn't James here, Erica? A man needs his freedom, but this is too much."

I just smiled and said nothing.

I went home and cut down another rose.

One evening, I saw an interview with Janay. She said casually, "The Earth is also home to animals. Pets should be free."

The next day, my cat was gone. He was my companion for ten years, a part of my family long before James. James had released him onto the street. Without a word.

I searched for days, my voice raw from calling his name. All I found was his tracker, lying in an alley, stained with blood.

I trembled as I returned to the garden. I cut down another rose. And another. And another. My hands shook, but my movements were steady.

Then, to boost Janay' s radio show ratings, James did the unthinkable. He leaked a story about my past, twisting the painful memory of my mother's abandonment. He fabricated details, painting her as a promiscuous woman who left her child for a man.

The internet erupted.

"Like mother, like daughter."

"No wonder her husband left her for a pure girl like Janay."

"She' s probably just as trashy as her mom."

The comments flooded my screen, each one a fresh wound. I was heartbroken. I went back to the garden, the shears feeling heavy in my hand. I continued to cut down the roses, one by one, until only six remained.

I stopped. I would give him six more chances. Six more opportunities to destroy me completely.

My role as Mrs. Cole required me to attend a university graduation ceremony as the wife of an honorary board member. As I sat in the front row, I flipped through the program. Janay Rodgers' s name was listed among the top graduates. Her resume was impressive.

James arrived late. He walked past me without a glance, his eyes fixed on the stage where Janay was about to receive a scholarship.

Just as her name was called, James' s assistant walked up to the dean and whispered something. The dean' s expression changed. He cleared his throat and announced a sudden disqualification.

"Due to concerns raised by Mrs. Cole regarding Ms. Rodgers's character, we must rescind the scholarship offer."

The crowd gasped. All eyes turned to me. Then to Janay, whose face was a mask of shock and devastation. James immediately went to her, leaving me to face the scorn of hundreds of people.

He was using me. He was painting me as the villain to make Janay see him as her savior.

Janay ran from the hall in tears. As she passed me, she stopped.

"How could you?" she whispered, her voice tight with rage. "You have everything. Why would you crush someone else' s dream?"

I said nothing. I just sat there, enduring her words, knowing James was watching, satisfied with how his plan was unfolding.