The Love He Destroyed, My New Power

After seven years together, I told my boyfriend, Jaxon, I was pregnant. I thought it was the beginning of our forever.

Instead, I found him at my prenatal clinic, comforting his secret, pregnant wife.

He called our life a lie, a "business arrangement." His family beat me, humiliated me, and locked me in a dusty attic with rats for a month, leaving me to starve while he took his wife to her appointments.

He promised me a future, a family, but chose to protect her and abandon our child. I was just an inconvenience to be discarded.

So when they finally dragged me to the hospital, I made a choice. I waited for him to arrive after the procedure, his face full of fake concern.

He saw the blood-stained sheets and his face crumbled.

"What... what have you done?" he stammered.

I smiled, my voice as cold and empty as my womb.

"I got rid of it, Jaxon. I aborted your baby."

1

I told Jaxon I was pregnant, and he looked at me like I' d just announced the end of the world. My joy shattered into a million pieces right there on the polished living room floor. Seven years. Seven years of building a life, a future, our future. Now it felt like a lie.

"Pregnant?" His voice was a flat line. No warmth, no excitement. Just a question, hanging in the air like a death knell.

"Yes," I whispered, my voice barely audible. I clutched the positive test stick in my hand, the two pink lines a cruel mockery of what I' d expected. "We're going to have a baby, Jaxon."

He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. It was a nervous habit, one I knew too well. "Alexis, this... this is complicated right now."

Complicated? My heart clenched. "What's complicated about it? We've talked about this. We want children. This is wonderful news!"

He avoided my gaze, turning to stare at the city skyline outside our penthouse window. "I have a lot on my plate with the Fuller Group. The merger, the new development downtown... it' s all consuming."

"But a baby, Jaxon. Our baby." I walked towards him, wanting to touch his arm, to remind him of us. He instinctively took a step back.

"Can we table this, just for a bit?" he said, his voice clipped. "I have to leave. A crucial meeting." He grabbed his jacket, already halfway out the door.

I stared at his retreating back, the silence in the apartment deafening. He didn't even wish me good luck for my first prenatal appointment later that week. He just left.

I went to the clinic alone. The sterile white walls seemed to mock my solitude. I filled out forms with a shaky hand, ticking boxes about medical history, but leaving the "partner's information" section blank. It felt like a betrayal to myself, a stark reminder of his absence.

The waiting room was filled with smiling couples, their hands intertwined, their faces glowing with shared anticipation. I pretended to read a magazine, but my eyes kept darting to the door, half-expecting, half-dreading Jaxon' s impossible arrival. He was supposed to be in a "crucial meeting."

My name was called. I took a deep breath and walked into the examination room.

"Congratulations, Alexis," the doctor said, her voice warm. "Everything looks perfect. You're about eight weeks along." My heart fluttered with a bittersweet mix of joy and loneliness.

As I left the clinic, my head swimming with new information and a fragile sense of hope, I spotted her. Kassie Beach. She was sitting in the same waiting room I had just left, her hand resting protectively over her slightly swollen belly. My breath hitched. Kassie. Jaxon' s "business partner's daughter." The one he spent so much time with for "networking."

My eyes immediately dropped to her ring finger. A massive diamond sparkled, undeniably a wedding ring. Next to it, a thinner band. My mind raced, trying to make sense of it, but the pieces wouldn't fit. Kassie was pregnant. And married.

A cold dread seeped into my bones. I watched as her name was called. She stood up, smoothing down her dress, and walked confidently towards the examination room. I instinctively hid behind a large potted plant, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

Minutes later, I heard voices from Kassie's room. A man's voice. Jaxon's voice. It was unmistakable. I peeked around the plant. He was there, holding a small, pink baby blanket. He was talking softly to Kassie, his hand gently caressing her belly. A tenderness I hadn't seen directed at me in months.

"Our little one," he murmured, his face alight with a smile I hadn't realized I was missing. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Kassie's forehead. They were laughing, a light, carefree sound that felt like a knife twisting in my gut.

"How many months, honey?" Kassie asked, her voice sugary sweet.

"Almost three, my love. Just like the doctor said."

Almost three months. My doctor had said eight weeks. Three months. The world spun. My own pregnancy. Jaxon' s coldness. Kassie' s ring. Kassie' s pregnancy. A horrible, sickening realization dawned on me.

My phone vibrated in my hand, startling me. It was the clinic reception, calling my name again for a follow-up appointment. My cover was blown.

Jaxon's head snapped up. His eyes, wide with shock, locked onto mine across the busy waiting room. His face went ashen, his jaw dropping. The baby blanket slipped from his grasp, falling to the floor.

He had been busy. That was the lie. He had been busy building a life with someone else. My vision blurred. I took a slow, deliberate step forward. Then another. My legs felt heavy, but I moved, drawn forward by an unseen force. My face, I knew, was devoid of any emotion.

I stopped in front of Kassie, who was now staring at me, her eyes narrowed. Jaxon stood frozen beside her, unable to move.

"How many months?" I asked Kassie, my voice flat, hollow. Each word felt like it was tearing a hole in my throat.

Jaxon lowered his gaze, his silence a confession. Kassie, however, beamed, a triumphant glint in her eyes. "Almost three months," she chirped, stroking her belly. "We're so excited."

My teeth clenched, and I felt the metallic taste of blood in my mouth as I bit down hard on my lip. Almost three months. Eight weeks. Our pregnancies were almost perfectly aligned.

My world imploded. The foundation of my seven years with Jaxon crumbled beneath my feet, leaving me suspended over a gaping abyss. A single tear escaped, tracing a hot path down my cold cheek. Then another, and another, until my vision blurred completely.

"Jaxon," I choked out, my voice trembling badly. "Explain this. Now."

His face contorted, a mixture of guilt, panic, and something else I couldn't quite decipher. He took a hesitant step towards me, then another, his arms reaching out. He pulled me into a tight embrace, burying his face in my hair. "Alexis, baby, I'm so sorry. I can explain everything."

His words were a balm, a temporary reprieve. But then he pulled back slightly, his eyes still avoiding mine. "It's... it's a business arrangement. A temporary one. For the Fuller Group. Kassie's father is a crucial investor."

My blood ran cold. A business arrangement? My eyes flickered to Kassie, who, behind Jaxon's back, was giving me a smug, knowing smirk. The kind that said, he's lying, and we both know it.

Then, as if on cue, Kassie's smirk vanished, replaced by a sudden, theatrical sob. She clutched her belly, collapsing onto a nearby chair. "Jaxon! Tell her! Tell her we're married! Tell her this baby isn't a mistake!" Her voice was shrill, cutting through the sterile clinic air.

The word "married" hit me like a physical blow. The air left my lungs. My knees buckled. I pushed Jaxon away, the force of my shove surprising even myself. He stumbled back, his eyes wide.

I stared at him, desperately searching his eyes for any sign of the man I loved, the man who had promised me forever. But his eyes were downcast, fixed on the floor, betraying nothing but shame. He looked utterly defeated, a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Jaxon," I whispered, my voice raw with disbelief, "Are you married to her?" I pointed a trembling finger at Kassie, who was now sobbing dramatically.

He slowly met my gaze, his eyes filled with a bottomless remorse. He nodded once, a barely perceptible movement. My heart shattered into a million irreparable pieces.

"And us?" I demanded, my voice rising. "What about us? What about our baby? The one growing inside me right now?" I placed a hand over my own belly, feeling a fierce, protective surge of love for the tiny life within.

"You're going to abandon your own child for hers?" My voice was now a venomous hiss. "You're going to let them call your child a bastard while you play happy family with her?"

Kassie's sobs instantly intensified, cutting me off. "My baby isn't a bastard!" she shrieked, tears streaming down her face. "My baby has a father! A husband!" She looked at Jaxon with wide, tear-filled eyes, pleading for his protection.

Jaxon, ever the knight in shining armor for Kassie, instantly rushed to her side, pulling her close. His gaze, when it met mine, was no longer remorseful. It was distant, cold, and filled with a strange, almost hostile protectiveness of Kassie.

The sharp crack echoed in the sterile clinic. My head snapped to the side, the sudden impact rattling my teeth. A searing pain bloomed on my cheek, followed by the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. I stumbled, tasting copper and bile.

Jaxon stood over me, his hand still raised, his eyes cold and contemptuous. He looked at me as if I was something dirty, something to be discarded. Then, he slowly lowered his hand, as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just struck the woman carrying his child.

"Look what you've done," he hissed, his voice laced with ice and disgust. "You're stressing out Kassie. Can't you see how fragile she is?"

Fragile. My mind registered the word, a cruel irony. I was the one bleeding, the one whose world had just imploded, and I was being accused of fragility. The man I loved was gone, replaced by this cruel stranger.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, my fingers trembling slightly. The coppery taste confirmed the bite inside my cheek. It wasn't the first time he'd lost control when Kassie was involved. It always ended with Kassie playing the victim, and him defending her, no matter the cost.

"What did you expect, Jaxon?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, yet laced with a chilling sarcasm. "Did you expect me to congratulate you? To throw you a party for abandoning me and our child for another woman? For another family?" My voice rose, a raw, primal scream threatening to burst from my chest. "You married her! You had a baby with her while promising me forever!"

His jaw tightened, a flicker of guilt, a ghost of the old Jaxon, passing through his eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it came.

"Alexis, listen to me," he said, his voice surprisingly calm, almost soothing. It was the calm before the storm, the calm of a predator. "Kassie is... she's very delicate. And her family is important to the Fuller Group. This marriage, it's temporary."

Temporary. The word sliced through me like a dull blade. "Temporary?" I echoed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "What, is the baby temporary too? The wedding ring? The vows?"

He stepped closer, his hand reaching for mine. I flinched away. "No, hear me out," he pleaded, his voice softer now. "I'm with her because she needs me. She has no one else. But you, Alexis... you're strong. I know you are."

His grip on my arm tightened, pulling me closer. "Just give me a year. After Kassie gives birth, I'll finalize things. Then we can get married. I promise you, in one year's time, we will have the wedding we always dreamed of." He looked at me with an intensity that, in a different life, might have been convincing. But not now. Not after everything.

I said nothing, my gaze fixed on some distant point beyond his shoulder. My mind was a blank.

"Jaxon, darling?" Kassie's sweet, impatient voice cut through the air. She was standing by the door of the examination room, her hands on her hips. "The doctor said I need rest. And I'm starving. Are you coming or not?"

Jaxon stiffened. His eyes flickered from me to Kassie, a clear choice laid out before him. Without a word, he released my arm, turning abruptly and walking towards Kassie. He didn't look back.

I watched him go, watched him take Kassie's hand, watched him disappear down the corridor. In that moment, I understood the stark difference between love and cold, calculated neglect. I understood that I was not chosen. I was merely an inconvenient truth.