The Seventh Year

Chapter 2

James hesitated. "Ma'am, are you sure about this?"

All of Northvale knew Audrey loved Nathaniel beyond measure. The city's most dazzling woman had given up everything for him, becoming a devoted wife and mother and even abandoning her career to prepare for motherhood.

"I am," Audrey replied firmly.

As the Miller family's lawyer, James reported everything to her father, Walter Miller. Soon, Audrey received an angry call from him.

"Audrey, have you lost your mind? Divorce Nathaniel? Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be his wife?"

The voice on the other end turned sharp.

"So what if he has other women? Men like him always do. You think any marriage at that level is clean? Our family depends on the Bennetts. Without them, what do we have?"

A cold laugh followed.

"Do you even know how many women in Northvale would do anything to be in your place?"

'Guess it's true. When grief reaches its limit, no other emotions remain,' Audrey thought.

Not a single tear fell as Audrey stared at her swollen eyes in the rearview mirror, enunciating each word.

"What's wrong? I have to divorce him so that your bastard daughter can marry him. Isn't that what you planned?"

Walter choked on his words.

"Even so... I mean, who'd want you after divorcing Nathaniel? I'm trying to save you. It's for your own good."

Audrey scoffed.

"For my good? You stole my mother's inheritance, exploited your status as Nathaniel's father-in-law, and even pushed your bastard into my husband's arms. After all these vile deeds, don't insult me with your 'for your own good' nonsense."

Not waiting for his rage, she delivered her ultimatum.

"Here's your choice. Help me divorce Nathaniel, or I'll stay married to him forever. And your precious daughter will remain a bastard and a cheating b***h forever."

Without hesitation, Walter countered, "I'll get you the divorce papers on one condition. You disappear from Nathaniel's life completely. No contact. Ever."

Though everything went exactly as planned, Audrey found herself curled up in the car seat, fingers clutching her chest as if holding together a shattered heart.

Whether it was familial love or romantic love, she was always the one abandoned.

"Fine."

After the divorce, she would leave far behind and never see any of them again.

Audrey dragged her exhausted body home and entered the passcode.

But the lock emitted a series of error beeps.

[Incorrect Password!]

Nathaniel's passwords had always been their wedding anniversary date. He had once held her hand as they entered the code together.

"From now on, this is our home. Welcome, my partner in life."

With a frown, she re-entered the code.

[Incorrect Password!]

[Incorrect Password!]

With the door locked, Audrey had no choice but to knock.

"Colin, open the door."

Colin appeared on the video doorbell, making a face at her.

"I hate you, Bad Mommy! This is Colin, Daddy, and Lily's home. Bad Mommy can't come in!"

Only then did Audrey notice the villa's transformation. The walls were now covered with intimate photos of the trio, and cute new trinkets were everywhere, all silently signaling another woman's presence.

Staring at Colin's little face, she realized the child she had cherished most was growing more like Lily with each passing day.

Her heart ached, but she kept her voice gentle.

"Colin, be good and open the door for Mommy. I just need to get my things."

"You're not my mommy! My real mommy is nice. She doesn't make me study, and she plays with me, just like Lily!"

He counted on his fingers, struggling to list every memory connected to Lily.

"Lily took Daddy and me to a theme park the year before last. Last year, she took me on a small plane to see the fish. This year she was supposed to take me traveling, but you insisted on celebrating your anniversary with Daddy. So I had to eat mangoes, even though I'm allergic, and I got sick. Then you couldn't keep him tied down anymore, and he could go see the northern lights with Lily somewhere far away."

He continued, "If you would just go away, it'd be just the three of us at home, and I would be so happy!"

Every word was like a poison-tipped knife plunging into Audrey's heart.

So on every anniversary that Nathaniel missed, the three of them had been happily together somewhere she wasn't, like their own little family.

Only she had been trapped in the lie of a blissful marriage, turned into a self-deceived, laughable fool.

"Fine." Audrey spat the word out like coughing up jagged nails. "Everything will go your way."

Only after her promise did Colin reluctantly open the door, following her with small stomping steps and watching her every move.

Walking past the giant portrait of the three of them, Audrey calmly went upstairs to pack her personal belongings and documents.

'One month. Just one more month, and I'll be done with them for good,' she told herself.

"Don't take the jewelry! Those were extras Daddy got when he bought Lily's jewelry!"

"Don't take the bags! That's the style Lily chose. Daddy bought two of them!"

"Don't take anything from the safe! Those are all under Lily's name now!"

Every time Audrey picked something up, Colin would rush over and shout to stop her.

She let out a soft laugh.

A laugh at her own stupidity.

Every sweet moment of receiving a gift had been a memory she cherished in private.

Yet she had never imagined that even those moments of joy had been tainted by another woman's shadow.

'This is absolutely... disgusting.'

In the end, when Audrey walked away from the home she had lived in for seven years, she took only a small bundle with her.

At the hotel reception, she produced a slightly worn bank card.

Her fingers traced its edges. It was her mother's final act of protection, pressed into her hand as she lay dying.

"Audrey, don't trust men," her mother had said.

Audrey had been sure she would never end up like her mother, and that this card would lie unused forever.

Yet now... her mother's warning had come true.

Audrey collapsed onto the hotel bed and slept for three days straight.

In her nightmare, she returned to the moment of childbirth.

Strapped to the delivery table, the labor pains left her delirious.

This time, her spirit seemed to detach from her body. She saw Nathaniel nod at the doctor before a needle pierced her arm.

His voice cut like ice.

"Cut out her uterus. Colin will be my only heir."

She watched the surgeon slice her open, extracting her frail, kitten-sized daughter before removing the organ.

She tried to scream, to claw her way back.

"My baby! Give her back! Give her back to me!"

But her hands passed through the tiny body. Helplessly, she watched her daughter be dumped into a biohazard bag and wheeled away.

Then Nathaniel cradled a boy, wearing that same tender smile he had always used to deceive her.

"Thank you, darling. Colin is a good name, no?"

"No! No!"

Audrey bolted upright, drenched in sweat, as knocking shook the door.

Gasping, her hands trembling, she turned the knob.

Nathaniel stood outside, gripping Colin by the collar.