Chapter 1

I was at the hospital waiting for my prenatal results when I got the photos.

My husband. And one of his female students. In bed.

【Mrs. Whitmore, wanna guess who he loves more? The baby, or me?】

I drove straight to his office. He didn't even flinch.

"You're pregnant. I just needed to take care of a normal urge. You're the only one I love."

To prove it, he deleted her number right in front of me.

Not long after, the hospital called me to come pay the bill.

"Your husband has penile entrapment and needs surgery. We need a family member's signature."

I steadied myself against the wall and took the consent form the doctor handed me.

The line at the bottom read: after removal, all reproductive function will be permanently lost.

I looked at the two of them on the bed, still fused together, and signed.

Then I scheduled an abortion for three days later.

If he loved living on the edge this much, I'd take him all the way there.

…

When they wheeled Aiden Whitmore out of surgery, the anesthesia hadn't fully worn off.

His face was the color of paper. He was trying to sit up.

The movement tore at his stitches. Cold sweat broke across his forehead. His voice came out cracked.

"How's Lena? Is she okay?"

I stood there holding the payment slip, watching the veins jump in his neck, and all I could feel was how absurd this was.

He was the one who'd just been cut open on the operating table.

And the first words out of his mouth were about whether Lena was in pain.

I followed the gurney into the room. He grabbed my hand and held on.

"Selene. Tell me. Is she okay?"

I pulled my hand free and looked him in the eye, one word at a time.

"When the two of you were stuck together, did you stop to ask her? Now that you're apart, why are you asking me?"

I pulled out the bill. My voice was flat.

"You're a professor. Can't you read the instructions on a sex toy?"

His expression darkened. He turned his face away.

"You're three months pregnant. I can't touch you. So I found someone else to blow off some steam. What's the big deal? I already told you I don't feel anything for her. Do you really want to make a scene in a hospital?"

I looked at the face I'd loved for seven years, and the only thing I felt was regret.

I didn't argue with him. I turned and went to sign the discharge papers.

On the drive home, he held my hand tightly.

"Lena and I, it's just sex. You know how it is. My friends all mess around like that."

"There's only ever one wife. I know that."

I looked down at his hand around mine. I didn't pull away right away.

He exhaled and tightened his grip.

"Go home and rest. I know today was a lot. I promise it won't happen again."

His promises. I'd heard them so many times my ears had gone numb.

Before bed, I took out the disinfectant, the way I always did.

His expression changed in an instant.

He snatched the bottle out of my hand and hurled it to the floor. Glass sprayed across my calves. Beads of blood rose up and wouldn't stop.

"Enough already. I just had surgery today. Can't you give it a rest for one goddamn day?"

I crouched to pick up the shards. He yanked me back up by the arm.

"Selene, I'm telling you right now. Don't try to use this to control me."

"Did you really think you could keep me on a leash with something like this?"

He flung my hand away. I lost my footing and fell backward.

My lower back slammed into the corner of the bed. I slid to the floor.

My face went bloodless. Something warm was sliding down between my legs.

Aiden's pupils contracted. He scooped me up in a panic and ran for the door.

"Selene, don't scare me like this."

"I'm taking you to the hospital right now. Nothing's going to happen to you."

I curled up in the back seat. The pain came in waves, dragging my consciousness in and out.

I clawed at the seat trying to hold on to something, and my fingers closed around a used piece of lingerie.

Beside it, a used imported condom.

Aiden's voice came out guilty.

"The lab guys pushed those on me after the project wrapped. I tried them out with Lena first."

I closed my eyes. I didn't have the energy to deal with him.

By the time we reached the hospital, the pain had stolen my voice. He carried me into the ER.

His phone kept buzzing against my hip.

He glanced at the screen and broke into a sweat.

"Lena says she's hurting down there again. I need to go check on her. I'll be right back."

He didn't hesitate. He turned and left.

I lay on the exam table with tears sliding out of the corners of my eyes.

Close to dawn, Aiden came back reeking of perfume.

He saw the anti-miscarriage meds and the diagnosis paperwork on the table and gave a bitter little laugh.

"Selene. Your acting is getting really impressive."

"The baby's fine, isn't it? You had me over at Lena's place worrying about you all night."

"And here you are, putting on a whole show over nothing."

I didn't respond. I picked up my phone and typed out an iMessage.

【Vanessa. Send me that divorce attorney of yours. The one who's never lost a case.】