Chapter 1
Georgina’s POV
My husband is cheating on me. The words still feel unreal, but I already made my decision: I’m getting an abortion.
I’m all alone in a taxi, on the way to the clinic. With my hand on my belly, I walk inside.
“I called in earlier for an abortion, I tell the nurse behind the desk. “I want to have it done today.”
“Is your husband here?” the nurse asks, looking behind my shoulder like she expects to find someone there.
“He’s at work.” My throat is tight with unshed tears. “He already agreed.”
The nurse nods, giving me papers to sign.
The termination goes smoothly. To be honest, I don’t remember much of it anymore. The physical pain is surprisingly minimal.
What I didn’t expect was the emptiness in me. It feels like my soul was snatched and now I’m hollow.
Another thing I didn’t expect is my husband Derek abandoning me for another woman.
On my way back home, I pass Derek’s car. I don’t know where he’s going, but I want to ask him what went wrong. It doesn’t matter, though. Because as soon as I go online, I immediately
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see that he’s tagged in a photo on Facebook.
The photo shows Derek and Vivian, his first love. They’re smiling, and his eyes are so bright and full of love. His friends. are littered in the comments.
“You look amazing together,” they say.
“All the years apart did nothing to break you.”
“You belong together.”
“And to think that Fatty almost ruined this!”
vian.
Derek has a friend group of five. Four men and one woman,
They all grew up together. Derek and Vivian were thought to be endgame, but she was trapped in a marriage with a foreign man.
That’s the only reason why Derek married me.
But Vivian got divorced recently. She came back to the state with her son. I went from Derek’s wife to the villain in their love
story.
His friends never said anything when Vivian left Derek. And yet they blame me now for getting in the way. For existing.
“They don’t hate you,” Derek told me once. “It’s just that you need to stop calling when we hang out in the nightclub. They think it’s disrespectful.”
I don’t always call, even though he’s there every night. I only do that when I worry about him, but it doesn’t matter.
In their eyes, I’m a controlling freak. They even called me,
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“Fatty.”
Whenever they come over, they treat me like a maid. Derek never calls them out.
Just like he doesn’t call them out for being messy online now.
I press like on the post. I refreshed the feed, and suddenly, it’s gone. It seems that they all forgot to block me before they made that post.
***
It’s three in the morning now, and I hear the front door opening. I know it, it’s Derek. I can’t sleep, and I can hear him lingering in the living room before finally getting into the bedroom.
When I turn to face him, he freezes. “I didn’t know you’d be up. You shouldn’t have waited for me. Did you make some tea for me, at least?”
“No,” I say, trying not to breathe in the smell of alcohol and cologne emanating from him.
He sighs. For a moment he seems to struggle to find the right words to say. Then, he just mutters, “Well, you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be up this late.”
I say nothing, closing my eyes and wondering if I should tell him what I just did.
The next morning, I don’t wait for Derek to wake up. I get ready and head to the office early. My job is the only thing I have now. I can’t have my personal stuff ruin this.
Since I used to fuss over Derek every morning, Lalways came in
Chapter 1
late. This is the first time I’m on time, and my director, Joanal Brown, looks surprised.
“Look who’s here,” she says in wonder as I walk into the conference room. “Good thing that you came in early for once. I was wondering if you’re interested in this assignment
overseas.”
I freeze at the door.
“I know you put your family first,” Joana explains. “That’s why I’m a bit reluctant to offer this to you. But I also know how competent you are. This assignment will put you on top and I-”
“I accept it,” I say immediately. “Ms Brown, I appreciate the offer very much. I won’t let you down.”
“Perfect,” she says. But her eyes are sweeping over me, curious. “Georgina? Um. I don’t mean to pry, but I saw the flowers in your trash. Did you fight with your husband?”
shake my head. A small laugh escapes my lips.
Fight? With Derek?
No. Of course not. He never cared enough to fight.
Every time I brought something to his attention, he would look at me like I was a petulant child.
I open my mouth to excuse myself, but that’s when my phone buzzes with a call. from Derek.
