Chapter 5
James froze, terror spreading across his face. It was as if he couldn’t understand. why, after hitting, my head, the blood was coming from my lower body.
At that instant, the reality seemed to hit him. He rushed over, lifting me up, shaking me violently. The people around us were frozen in shock, too scared to breathe.
All I could hear was James‘ panicked voice. “Shannon, stop pretending! Are you done. yet? Talk to me! Don’t think I’ll feel sorry just because of this…”
I was losing too much blood. As James spoke, his voice became less confident, causing my face to visibly pale. Meanwhile, a flicker of triumph passed through Lindsay’s eyes, but she quickly realized. how serious the situation was.
After a long pause, she stepped forward,
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her voice cautious. “You should take her to the hospital. I think Shannon… she’s miscarried.”
At the word‘ miscarriage,‘ James froze as if waking up from a nightmare. In a panic, he scooped me into his arms and rushed to the car, completely disoriented. Just as Lindsay tried to climb in, James floored it, speeding without her. That final team- building event ended in bloodshed.
As I lay in the backseat, every bump in the road made the pain worse. My head throbbed, and my abdomen felt like it was being ripped apart. I was numb,
heartbroken. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw blood soaking into the car seat beneath me. I never thought that after everything, I still couldn’t save this child.
Maybe fate told me we weren’t meant to
have a child together. For the first time, James had chosen me over Lindsay. The victory I had been waiting for came at a moment like this.
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her voice cautious. “You should take her to the hospital. I think Shannon… she’s
miscarried.”
At the word‘ miscarriage. James froze as if waking up from a nightmare. In a panic, he scooped me into his arms and rushed to the car, completely disoriented. Just as Lindsay tried to climb in. lames floored it. speeding without her. That final team- building event ended in bloodshed.
As I lay in the backseat, every bump in the road made the pain worse. My head throbbed, and my abdomen felt like it was being ripped apart. I was numb.
heartbroken. Out of the corner of my eye. I saw blood soaking into the car seat beneath me. I never thought that after everything. I still couldn’t save this child.
Maybe fate told me we weren’t meant to
have a child together. For the first time,
James had chosen me over Lindsay. The victory I had been waiting for came at a moment like this.
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Tears slipped from my eyes as everything went dark. When the surgery was over, the nurse wheeled me out of the operating
room.
James rushed over to the doctor, his voice trembling. “How is she? Is she okay?”
The doctor’s expression was cold, his tone harsh. “Are you the patient’s family? Don’t you know she’s had a history of violent miscarriages? This pregnancy required extra care! She’s been on injections for days with no improvement, and you still let her drink? Are you trying to kill her?”
The doctor continued, his voice sharp. “And what about the blunt trauma to her head? If this was caused by someone, you should call the police. This isn’t an accident. It’s practically an attempted murder! If you’d brought her in any later, I wouldn’t have been able to save her.”
James’s face drained of color, guilt etched into every line. When I finally woke up in the hospital room, he was sitting next to
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Tears slipped from my eyes as everything went dark, When the surgery was over, the nurse wheeled me out of the operating
room.
James rushed over to the doctor, his voice trembling. “How is she? Is she okay?”
The doctor’s expression was cold, his tone harsh. “Are you the patient’s family? Don’t you know she’s had a history of violent miscarriages? This pregnancy required extra care! She’s been on injections for days with no improvement, and you still let her drink? Are you trying to kill her?”
The doctor continued, his voice sharp. “And what about the blunt trauma to her head? If this was caused by someone, you should call the police. This isn’t an accident. It’s practically an attempted murder! If you’d brought her in any later, I wouldn’t have been able to save her.”
James’s face drained of color, guilt etched into every line. When I finally woke up in the hospital room, he was sitting next to
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the bed, his head buried in his hands.
As soon as he heard me stir, he looked up, his voice barely steady. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? That was my child, too. If I had known, I wouldn’t have-”
I cut him off before he could finish. “There’s nothing left to say. Even if you had known, you wouldn’t have let me keep the baby.”
I took a breath and continued, my voice calm. “Let’s get divorced. I’ve already sent the papers to your company. Just sign them, and we’ll be done.” I continued, “I never cared about the money or the assets. But now, I’m taking back what’s mine. What you gave her during our marriage. I’ll be suing Lindsay for it. So you should start preparing.”
James’s face twisted in disbelief. I half
expected him to argue, to defend Lindsay.
But after a long pause, he clenched his jaw and finally spoke. “I can explain everything
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that happened before. But why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? It wasn’t just your child. It was mine, too.”
I gave him a bitter smile, not even bothering to look at him. “Tell you? You’ve been spending all the money meant for raising a child on houses and shares for Lindsay. What would be the point? You’d just think I was using the baby to fight for your assets.”
“And then get berated by you again? Why would I bother?” James froze, the second half of his sentence swallowed back.
For a moment, a flicker of struggle crossed his face, as if he were remembering all his past mistakes. Just as he opened his mouth to explain, the door to the hospital room
swung open.
Lindsay walked gracefully, holding a lunchbox in one hand and a stack of
documents under her arm, her face.
radiating sweetness and concern.
“Shannon, are you okay? It’s all my fault. I
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didn’t know you were pregnant. I never would’ve asked you out to eat if I had known. Fuck, I feel terrible for causing another misunderstanding between you and James-”
Before she could finish, James’s expression darkened, and for once, he turned on her. His voice was sharp. “Who told you to come in without knocking? Do you behave like this at home, too? This isn’t the company, and it’s definitely not your home!”
Lindsay’s smile faltered, her eyes widening in disbelief. She stood there for a moment, stunned by his harsh tone. Then, tears. welled in her eyes, and she dropped the lunchbox and papers before running out of the room, visibly shaken.
I couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh. “Aren’t you going to chase after her? This time, half your company’s shares might not be enough to win her back. Maybe you should give her the entire company.”
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didn’t know you were pregnant. I never would’ve asked you out to eat if I had known. Fuck, I feel terrible for causing another misunderstanding between you and James-”
Before she could finish, James’s expression darkened, and for once, he turned on her. His voice was sharp. “Who told you to come in without knocking? Do you behave like this at home, too? This isn’t the company, and it’s definitely not your home!”
Lindsay’s smile faltered, her eyes widening in disbelief. She stood there for a moment, stunned by his harsh tone. Then, tears welled in her eyes, and she dropped the lunchbox and papers before running out of the room, visibly shaken.
I couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh. “Aren’t you going to chase after her? This time, half your company’s shares might not be enough to win her back. Maybe you should give her the entire company.”
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James’s face flushed with embarrassment. He didn’t argue, knowing he was in the wrong. Instead, he bent down to pick up the scattered papers. But when his hand landed on them, he froze.
Right on top was the divorce agreement I had sent to his office, and underneath was Lindsay’s pregnancy report.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him hastily tear them up and toss the pieces. into the trash. A cold smile tugged at my lips. He thought he was clever, thinking he had hidden it from me as if I didn’t already know. But his act was laughable. I had been so blinded by love that I had deceived myself, too.
With those feelings gone, I saw him for what he indeed was. A pitiful clown.
I discovered Lindsay’s pregnancy before he did, thanks to a sneaky social media post she made, one she had set to be visible
only to me. I had blocked her posts then, but when I unblocked her, I found the
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surprise waiting.
Even after shredding the papers, James couldn’t relax. He muttered something about getting me some water, then slipped out of the room, taking the trash with him. When he returned, he was suddenly more attentive than ever, hovering over me like a man trying to redeem himself.
But no matter what he did, I stayed silent. I ran out of words long ago. After years of endless arguments and coldness, nothing was left to say.
Once he had finished fussing over me, I finally broke the silence. “Tearing up the divorce papers doesn’t change anything. I’ve made my decision. You’ve caused me to miscarry twice. We have no future, James.”
James collapsed into the chair beside the bed, gripping his hair in frustration. “I admit the first miscarriage was my fault, but how could you hide this one from me? Don’t you think that’s wrong? Yes, I acted
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impulsively, but my heart was in the right place. I just wanted to clear things up between you and Lindsay. Why else would I have taken you to that event? I didn’t invite you to the other ones, did I?”
He continued, his voice desperate. “I know your drinking limit better than anyone. I thought you were just mad and didn’t want to reconcile, so I panicked. I didn’t want Lindsay to be humiliated in front of everyone. If you had told me the truth, I never would’ve forced you to drink!”
His words were pathetic, and I couldn’t believe he was still trying to shift the blame
onto me.
I cut him off, and my voice was as cold as ice. “Whether or not you’ve thought it through has nothing to do with me anymore. I don’t care about your team-
building events. Plus, we don’t need a child. What we need is a divorce. It’s over,
James.”
His eyes filled with despair, and his voice.
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cracked as he pleaded. “Shannon, I know I messed up, but can’t you forgive me just this once? I’ll take back the house. I’ll give you all the shares. We’ve been together for so long, I know who my real wife is. I was just making up for the mistakes of my youth with her…”
“Making up for it with a child?” I cut in, my tone sharp.
He hadn’t expected me to know about Lindsay’s pregnancy. His face went pale, and panic set in as he tried to explain. “That was an accident. I was drunk at a business event, and she came to pick me up…”
His voice trailed off, weak, as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He knew how hollow his excuse sounded. Maybe he suddenly decided that having a child was a good idea because Lindsay was pregnant. Maybe, in his mind, I was just caught up in her good fortune.
But in the end, I had nothing.
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I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I’ve forgiven you so many times this past year. Not just this year— during the seven years before Lindsay came back, I knew you were in touch with her. I pretended not to care. I never imagined she’d come back and take you away completely.”
I paused, letting the weight of my words sink in. “But now, I’ve come to terms with it. I don’t want you anymore.”
He fell silent, no longer arguing. Instead, he became even more attentive, caring for
me with a dedication I hadn’t seen in the eight years we’d been married. James carefully and gently wiped me down thrice. a day with wet towels. Then, he applied the skin care products he used to mock, meticulously avoiding the wound on my head as he washed and dried my hair. He took notes on every doctor’s instruction and followed them to the letter.
James memorized when to change my
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bandages and when I needed my medication. He was more diligent than I was. He even learned to cook, delivering meals to me on time daily and delivering dishes he’d found online. It was as if our roles had reversed. All the care I had given him over the years was now being repaid, just in time for our divorce.
His once all–important job was moved online, and he managed everything from the hospital room. The nurses on the ward talked about how I had the perfect husband, joking about setting their standards for marriage based on James.
None of them knew why I was really in the hospital.
The more attentively he cared for me, the more I realized how foolish I had been. I
used to think he didn’t know how to care for people, but I saw the truth. He was competent and just had never wanted to.
During this time, Lindsay sent countless messages, all of which James ignored. She
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complained about headaches, stomachaches, and everything in between, but he refused to leave my side.
Eventually, annoyed by her persistence, he would step into the hallway to take her calls, telling her to stop bothering him. One night, as I lay in bed pretending to be asleep, he answered another call from her. The room was so quiet that I could hear Lindsay’s soft sobs through the phone.
She cried for a long time, but all she got in return was a cold, heartless response. “Get an abortion. I’ve scheduled the surgery.”
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