After Your Betrayal, I’ll Let You Go

The hundred-day banquet for Megan's son had just wrapped up, when her husband of seven years suddenly smiled and asked her a question out of the blue. "What do you think of me having two wives?" "What?" Megan blinked, certain she'd misheard. The very next second, her stepsister walked through the door, holding the hand of three-year-old Johan. Megan was still frozen, too stunned to process what was happening, when Liam drawled lazily, "I invited them here." He reached out and slipped his hand gently around the boy's, a soft smile on his face. "Let me introduce you. This is my son with Sandra." Boom! Megan's brain exploded. It felt like a bomb had just gone off inside her skull. Then Liam's voice drifted to her again, calm as anything, as he explained he'd been with Sandra for four years already. "I know you blame Sandra for your mother's death. That's why I gave you space. I made her and our son stay in the shadows for four years. Now I just want them by my side, out in the open where they belong." Megan forced her shaking legs to hold her upright, her voice coming out raw and trembling. "What the hell are you talking about?" Liam lifted a hand and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye, his touch light as a feather. "I just want you to be the bigger person here. Don't stop me from staying with them every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of every week." He paused for a beat. "Or you can divorce me, and leave our son with me. I just... don't care about you anymore, so I can't promise I'll take good care of the kid you gave birth to, you know?" He didn't even flinch at the sight of Megan's face draining of all colors. "So, have you made your choice yet?" He just leaned back and asked like it was no big deal. Megan's throat tightened so bad it ached. She stood there stiff as a board, the words tumbling out of her mouth mechanically. "Why tell me today of all days?" Just hours earlier at the hundred-day banquet, he'd kissed her so happily, thanked her for giving him such a sweet little boy. Liam let out a heavy sigh. "I was actually going to keep this from you forever, but... the day you went into labor with complications, I was with Sandra and Johan picking out a pet dog." Megan blinked hard, her stinging eyes burning with unshed tears. Oh, right. She remembered now. That day, Megan laid on the delivery bed, being torn apart by contraction after agonizing contraction, like she was dying a slow, painful death. The nurses called him dozens of times, and never got through. She'd told herself he must be stuck dealing with some impossible client that he couldn't pick up. Even though terror was gnawing at her insides, Megan clung to her last shred of strength and signed the paperwork herself. His voice dropped to a soft murmur, just as gentle as the soft whispers he used to breathe in her ear. "You know what? When I finally came back to the hospital to see you, hovering between life and death just to have my baby... all I could feel was heartache for Sandra." Megan stared at him in utter disbelief, half-convinced her ears had started playing tricks on her. "I was dying right there, and you... you feel heartache for her?" Liam nodded, calm as anything. "I feel bad that she gave birth to Johan for me, and she's been with me for four whole years with no legal claim, no title. I owed her that. That day when I held you and cried, when I was comforting you out loud, I was only thinking about how I could make it up to her." Megan's nails dug so deep into her palm they broke her skin. She fought desperately to hold back the flood of tears threatening to spill over, and demanded through a tight throat, "You know full well my mother was driven to jump off a building by Sandra and her mother. Why her? Why did you have to cheat on me with her?" Liam glanced over at Sandra, his face twisting into a look of helpless resignation. "What else could I do? My mom never liked you, and you never could get along with her. I was stuck right in the middle, torn both ways. Only when I'm with Sandra can I forget all my problems." He wasn't lying. Megan's mother-in-law never did like her. For the first six years of their marriage, Megan couldn't carry a baby no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't do a single thing to please her mother-in-law. Every time they visited the family estate, she found fault with everything Megan did and occasionally punished her by making her kneel for hours. Every single time, Liam would hold her and comfort her, saying he felt bad for what she went through. But Megan had pushed through six whole rounds of IVF for him. She'd gotten hundreds of injections, her belly was covered in purple and blue bruises, and she never once complained. She'd risked her own life just to have his baby, for God's sake. How could Megan have known that while he watched her suffer through all of it, helpless to do anything... he was off living a happy family life with Sandra and their son, completely hidden from her? An iron fist clamped down around Megan's heart, squeezing so tight she could barely drag air into her lungs, pain splitting her open from the inside out. Liam's eyes tightened, and he stepped forward, arms out like he was going to wrap her in a hug. "Megan, if you accept the arrangement of me having two wives, we don't have to get a divorce. Everything's going to be just fine." That was the last straw. Every last bit of control Megan had clinging together shattered completely. She shoved him away hard, and slapped him right across the face. "Did you forget what you promised me all those years ago?" The words were barely out of her mouth when Liam shoved her hard. Megan went tumbling down onto the floor, and a burst of searing pain made her vision go black. Then she heard Sandra's tearful voice in her ear. "Megan, Liam has swallowed his pride for four whole years just for you! He loves you so much, why can't you just cut him some slack and be understanding? Or is it that you only ever love yourself, and you never actually care about what Liam needs?" This was the man who'd sworn to protect Megan her whole life. And he'd cheated on her with her own father's illegitimate daughter. They'd had a secret child behind her back, forced her into the same impossible choice her mother had faced, and now they expected her to be understanding? This was the cruelest mind game imaginable! Megan laughed until tears streamed down her face. Liam froze for a second, reached out to pull her up, then a flash of irritation crossed his face. "Think it over first. Let me know when you've made your choice." He led Sandra and their boy out, and the door shut behind him so hard the walls rattled. Megan's newborn son, who'd been sleeping soundly, jolted awake and screamed his little lungs out. That shrill, agonizing cry, paired with the ice-cold agony twisting through her chest, felt like a knife stabbing straight through her heart. Megan clutched her son to her chest and sobbed, completely helpless. After that whole chaotic mess, she'd barely caught her breath when Liam's call came through. His voice was low, rough with unmasked anger. "Megan, who told you to tell my mother about Sandra and Johan right now?"