Chapter 3

The cold night air hit me like a slap as I burst out of the ballroom doors and onto the deserted terrace. It was drizzling, a fine, icy mist that clung to my skin and immediately chilled me to the bone. I shivered violently, but the physical sensation was almost a relief, a sharp contrast to the burning inferno that raged inside me. My nausea, thankfully, receded a little, replaced by the deep, hollow ache in my stomach.

A baby. Ethan and Jenna were having a baby.

He had always said he hated children. He' d said they were a distraction, an impediment to success, a drain on resources. He' d painted a vivid picture of a childless future, just him and me, a power couple untethered by mundane responsibilities. I had bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

The first time I got pregnant, it was an accident. We were still in the small garage apartment, dreaming big. I was terrified, but also secretly thrilled. A tiny part of me hoped this would be the thing that solidified us, made us a real family.

"Alize," he'd said, his voice hard, devoid of emotion, "you know we can't. Not now. This is a crucial time for Innovate Tech. Do you want to jeopardize everything we've worked for?" He didn't ask. He commanded. He never asked.

I was numb, bewildered. He took me to a clinic upstate. He waited in the car, reading market reports on his phone. When I came out, pale and trembling, he barely looked up. "Here," he said, handing me a thick envelope stuffed with cash. "Get yourself something nice. You deserve it." He never mentioned it again. It was just a transaction. A problem solved.

It happened again. And again. And again. Five times.

Each time, the conversation was the same. His career. His vision. His "not ready." Each time, the same clinic, the same cold metal stirrups, the same sterile air. Each time, the same thick envelope, a silent, bloody payoff for my shattered motherhood.

He never used protection. He always said he "forgot" or "didn't like the feel." I was always the one left to deal with the consequences, to swallow the bitter pills, to undergo the invasive procedures. I convinced myself it was because he was so consumed by his genius, so focused on our future. I believed he loved me enough to make these sacrifices for us.

After the fourth time, the doctor had given me a grim warning. "Mrs. Hall," she'd said, her voice gentle but firm, "your body can't take much more. Another termination, and you might never be able to carry a child to term."

The words had echoed in my mind, a chilling prophecy. But still, I stayed. Still, I loved. Or what I thought was love.

Then, the fifth time. The baby was already a few weeks old when I found out. It was our seventh wedding anniversary, though only I remembered. I had cooked his favorite meal, lit candles, bought a small cake. I was going to tell him about the baby. I was going to fight for this one. I was going to make him see.

He never came home.

I called his office, then his personal assistant. No answer. My heart, already a bruised thing, began to throb with a dull premonition. I drove to Innovate Tech, my stomach clenching with each mile. The lights were on in his executive suite. I pushed open the door, my hand trembling.

The scene that greeted me was burned into my memory, a permanent scar on my soul. Ethan, shirtless, his back to me, in an embrace with Jenna. Her honey-blonde hair fanned across his chest, her soft giggles filling the room. My newly hired protégée, the woman I had groomed, the woman I had trusted.

My breath hitched. The plate of anniversary cake I was holding slipped from my numb fingers, crashing to the floor, scattering crumbs and frosting like shattered dreams.

They froze. Ethan turned, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and annoyance. Jenna, startled, scrambled off him, pulling her dress down. She looked at me, a flicker of something that might have been shame, quickly replaced by defiance.

"Alize! What are you doing here?" Ethan barked, his voice laced with pure fury, as if I were the intruder. He quickly grabbed a shirt, pulling it on, his back still to me. "Get out!"

Jenna huddled behind him, peering at me with wide, frightened eyes, as if she were the victim.

I couldn't speak. My mouth was dry, my tongue thick. All I could do was stare at the wreckage of my life, strewn across his polished office floor. I remember turning, slowly, mechanically, and quietly closing the door behind me, as if trying to preserve some semblance of dignity for the two of them.

I drove home, numb. When he finally showed up hours later, reeking of expensive perfume and cheap lies, I was waiting. The house was in chaos. I had systematically destroyed everything that held a memory of him-photos torn, gifts shattered, his clothes slashed to ribbons.

"How long?" I asked, my voice flat, dead.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, surveying the damage with an air of weary resignation. "Alize, don't be dramatic. It was nothing. A moment of weakness."

"How long, Ethan?" I repeated, my voice rising.

He finally looked at me, his eyes cold and distant. "A few months. What does it matter? You're being hysterical. Look at this place! You're insane!"

"Hysterical?" I laughed, a raw, broken sound. "You call this hysterical? Is this what you offer for seven years of my life? A few months of 'weakness' with my protégée? With the woman I hired?"

He threw up his hands. "What do you want, Alize? Money? I'll give you anything. Just don't make a scene. Don't ruin my reputation."

"My reputation?" I shrieked, the word tearing out of my throat. "What about my reputation? What about my dignity? What about everything I gave up for you?" I grabbed my phone, my fingers fumbling with the screen. I scrolled to Jenna's contact. "I'm going to call her. I'm going to tell her everything. I'm going to tell her about the abortions, about our marriage, about the true cost of being your secret."

He lunged. His hand clamped over mine, his grip like iron. "No!" he roared, his face contorted with rage. "You will not! She knows nothing about that. She's innocent in this, Alize. Don't you dare drag her into your pathetic misery!"

My head spun. She knows nothing. The words echoed in my mind. Was it true? Was she just a pawn, as I had been? Or was she a willing accomplice, a sharper opportunist than I had ever been? No, it didn't matter. Not anymore.

"You're disgusting," I whispered, tears finally streaming down my face. "You're a monster."

"Fine!" he shouted, releasing my hand, his chest heaving. "If that's how you feel, then fine! We're over, Alize! I want a divorce!"

His words, once a terrifying threat, now sounded like a strange kind of freedom. For years, he had held the threat of divorce over my head, a sword dangling by a thread. But this time, something had snapped inside me. The pain was too great, the betrayal too profound. There was nothing left to lose.

I looked at him, truly looked at him, and saw not the charming genius I had loved, but a hollow, selfish stranger. "Fine," I echoed, my voice surprisingly steady. "Let's do it."

He was shocked. He had expected me to beg, to plead, to cling to him as I always had. But I didn't. I just stood there, watching him, my heart a barren wasteland.

The divorce was brutal. He stripped me bare, financially and emotionally. He offered a pittance, a fraction of what I was entitled to. "You never contributed anything legally, Alize," his lawyer had sneered. "You were just a wife." A secret wife. I signed the papers without a word, my hand surprisingly steady. I wanted out. I wanted him out of my life.

"You'll regret this, Alize," he'd promised, his voice dripping with venom as I walked away from the courthouse, a free woman in name only. "You'll come crawling back. You'll realize what you lost."

But I never did. I rarely even thought of him anymore. Until tonight. Until this reunion, which I only attended because Sarah had practically dragged me here, insistent that I needed a night out.

End Flashback

The chill of the night air brought me fully back to the present. I leaned against the cold stone railing of the terrace, trying to quiet the trembling in my hands. The nausea was returning, stronger now, a familiar, unwelcome sensation.

Just then, the terrace door opened again. It was Jenna. Her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed, her shoulders slumped. She looked less like a triumphant fiancée and more like a frightened child.

"Alize," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I... I need to talk to you."