After Five Miscarriages, I Divorced Him

Chapter 5

I spent a week in the hospital recovering from the miscarriage.

Sebastian, as punishment for what he believed I had done, made no contact and did not come home. It was, in the end, exactly the time I needed.

I found an agency that specialized in erasing records and arranged for both my mother's records and mine to be wiped. I booked two plane tickets out of the country. I was taking my mother away from this man, and I was never coming back.

During that week, Vivienne sent a steady stream of photos and messages, each one designed to land like a blow. Sebastian feeding her at the table. Sebastian spending a small fortune on a luxury piece just to make her smile. The two of them pressed cheek to cheek over a French dinner. I looked at every one of them and felt nothing. It no longer mattered.

Back at the apartment, I stood in front of their wedding portrait hanging on the wall and let myself remember the moment he had gone down on one knee before me. He had promised me a love that would last a lifetime, his and mine alone. Those words felt like splinters now, working their way deeper the longer I stood there.

He had come for me with a purpose from the very beginning. There had never been anything else.

I took a pair of scissors to the portrait and cut it apart. Then I packed everything that belonged to me, went to the hospital, and wheeled my mother in a wheelchair to the international airport.

What I left behind for Sebastian was divorce papers, the termination record, and a flash drive.

His call came just before boarding. Old habit made me answer before I had thought to stop myself.

His voice was cold and clipped. "Well? Have you come to your senses? If you have, go apologize to Viv. She's generous enough to say she won't hold it against you. But you're my wife, and I won't tolerate you acting out of jealousy like this. Do you understand me?"

Over the airport intercom, the announcement came through. Flight M311 was now boarding.

Something shifted in his voice. "Clara, where are you? Are you at the airport? Where are you going?" A beat of silence. "Answer me. Where are you going?"

I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky, and I let myself smile, just once.

"Congratulations, Sebastian. You'll never have to put up with a wife who acts out of jealousy again. Because I'm done with you."

I ended the call, turned around, and boarded the flight to Valdren with my mother beside me.