His ex wife

Chapter four

Three days passed in a blur.

Elena stayed at Mira’s apartment, ignoring the constant stream of calls and texts from Julian. Her sister had taken time off work to stay with her, bringing food she couldn’t eat and making tea she barely touched.

The morning sickness had started. Or maybe it was just stress. Either way, Elena spent most mornings hunched over the toilet, throwing up until there was nothing left.

“You need to eat something,” Mira said, appearing in the bathroom doorway with crackers.

Elena took them without arguing. She nibbled on one slowly, her stomach churning.

“Julian’s mother called me,” Mira said carefully.

Elena’s head snapped up. “What?”

“This morning, she wants to talk to you.”

“How did she even know I was here?”

“Julian told her, I guess.” Mira sat on the edge of the bathtub. “She’s pretty upset.”

“I bet she is.”

Catherine Blackwood had never approved of Elena. Not from the beginning. She’d made it clear at every family dinner, every holiday gathering, that Elena wasn’t good enough for her precious son. Not educated enough, not from the right family, not polished enough to be a Blackwood wife.

“What did she say?” Elena asked.

“That you’re being dramatic, all marriages go through rough patches, running away won’t solve anything.” Mira’s expression darkened. “And that a good wife would work on fixing her marriage instead of throwing it away.”

Elena laughed bitterly. “Of course she said that.”

“There’s more, she knows about the baby.”

Elena’s hand went to her stomach instinctively. “Julian told her.”

“Apparently. And she has some opinions about that too.”

“Let me guess. I got pregnant on purpose to trap her son?”

“Close. She thinks you’re using the baby as leverage in the divorce. That you’re trying to get more money out of Julian.”

The accusation should have shocked her. It didn’t. This was typical Catherine. Everything always came down to money and status and what people would think.

“I don’t want his money,” Elena said quietly.

“I know that, but you should still get a lawyer. A good one.”

Elena nodded. She’d been putting it off, not wanting to make the divorce feel real, it was real. Julian had made sure of that.

Her phone buzzed from where she’d left it on the bathroom counter. Another text from Julian.

Please talk to me. My mother wants to see you. Just give her ten minutes.

Elena deleted it without responding.

Her phone buzzed again. This time it was a text from an unknown number.

*Hi Elena. This is Vanessa. I heard you had a visit from Julian’s mother. I’m sure that was difficult. I wanted to reach out because I think we got off on the wrong foot. Can we meet for coffee? I’d like to explain some things. I think you deserve to know the whole truth about Julian. About us. About what’s really been going on. Tomorrow at 2pm at Rosewood Cafe? I’ll be there whether you come or not.*

Elena stared at the message.

“What is it?” Mira asked.

“Vanessa wants to meet me. She says she wants to tell me the whole truth.”

“Don’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s playing games. She wants to mess with your head.”

“Or maybe she actually has something to say. Something I need to hear.”

“Like what? How she stole your husband? How she’s so much better for him than you? Elena, this is a trap.”

Maybe it was. But Elena needed answers. Needed to understand what had happened to her marriage. Why Julian had chosen Vanessa. What made her so special.

“I’m going,” Elena said.

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“No. This is something I need to do alone.”

Mira looked like she wanted to argue. But finally, she just nodded. “Fine. But if she says anything, anything at all that upsets you, you walk out. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Elena spent the rest of the day trying not to think about the meeting. But it was impossible. She kept imagining what Vanessa would say. What truths she might reveal. What Elena might learn about her husband that she didn’t already know.

That night, she barely slept. She lay awake in Mira’s guest bed, one hand on her stomach, feeling the flutter of anxiety in her chest.

The baby was the size of a lentil now. Small and fragile and completely dependent on Elena to make the right choices.

Was meeting Vanessa the right choice? Or was she walking into exactly the kind of trap Mira warned her about?

Elena didn’t know. But she had to go anyway. Had to hear whatever Vanessa had to say, even if it destroyed her.

Because not knowing felt worse than any truth could be.