Chapter 5
650 Words
I went to the hospital. The head of my department found out what had happened and pulled me into her office to talk.
"Wendy, I heard about what happened on Christmas Eve. Look, marriage takes a little blind eye to work. He treats you well, he spends on you, and you've got a baby on the way. Don't be too hard on him. Nobody's perfect."
I closed my eyes. A hundred memories flashed through my mind like a broken film reel.
"Thank you, Dr. Reeves, but I'd rather rip the bandage off. I've already decided to terminate the pregnancy and get a divorce."
Admitting I'd picked the wrong man was a hundred times better than keeping up appearances.
Seeing I'd made up my mind, she didn't push any further. She just sighed and told me to take a few days off.
I stayed at the hospital until evening before heading home.
The second I opened the door, I saw Alex sitting on the living room couch, radiating cold anger.
I didn't say a word. I just walked toward the bedroom.
He blocked my way, his eyes sharp as ice.
"Wendy, why are you trying to ruin Claire?"
I stared at him, confused. He shoved his phone in my face.
I looked down. Photos of Claire and Alex together at the track and the club were all over the racing community's social media feeds.
Intimate. Cozy. Every single one made my eyes burn.
"I've never seen these before."
My voice came out raw, my breath catching in my chest.
But Alex didn't believe me.
"Cut the act, Wendy. Who else would it be?
"Do you have any idea how much Claire has sacrificed for you? Her love never saw the light of day. Her career is in the gutter. And now people are doxxing her, showing up at her front door like she's some kind of criminal.
"Meanwhile, you've lost nothing. And now you want to destroy her completely."
The blood drained from my face. It felt like I'd been hit over the head with a sledgehammer.
I couldn't even process that this man was my husband.
"Alex, who exactly do you think you are to come at me like this?"
He faltered when he heard the edge in my voice. A flicker of regret crossed his face.
"I didn't mean it like that. Don't read too much into it. I've got my PR team handling the posts already. All you have to do is apologize to Claire, and we can put this behind us."
I almost laughed.
"Apologize? For what?"
Alex said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's your best friend. You're not really going to push her over the edge, are you?"
My shoulders were shaking. My voice was barely a whisper.
"The night you two slept together seven years ago? That's when she stopped being my friend."
Alex went completely still. He hadn't expected that skeleton to come flying out of the closet.
"Wendy... that was an accident."
I was done lying to myself. Done arguing about accidents and truths.
I turned to go to the bedroom.
But he grabbed my wrist. "I don't care what happened between Claire and me in the past. You're apologizing to her. End of story."
He dragged me to the car and drove straight to Claire's place.
Sunshine Apartments.
Claire opened the door. When she saw the two of us standing there, her face went pale.
"Alex, I told you there's no way Wendy posted those photos. What are you doing?!"
She tried to shut the door, but Alex shoved his foot against the frame.
"You're not taking the fall for this. She owes you an explanation."
At that, Claire's eyes welled up. She looked like she was about to break.
"Even if Wendy did it, I'd take it. We're the ones who wronged her first..."
- Writer
