He Used My Money, I Left Him

Chapter 2

"Vivian, what is wrong with you? You're pregnant, and you can't even be careful? You should just quit that job of yours. If anything happens to my grandson, how are you going to make up for that?"

Damian's mother, Beatrice Calloway, stormed into the room, already shouting.

Her voice startled me. And then it hit me. I remembered that day before the wedding, when we'd gone to visit them to talk things over. Back then, Beatrice had been so warm to me, almost fawning at times. I never imagined she could flip like this the moment we were married.

Damian's parents lectured me as if I'd committed some unforgivable crime.

People always say a husband's family treats his wife based largely on the man standing between them.

Damian stood off to the side and said absolutely nothing. A wave of hurt rose up inside me.

Eventually, his parents stormed out of the hospital room, still furious.

Damian stayed behind. He watched me cry, tears splashing down my face one after another.

He walked over, pulled me into his arms, and murmured softly, "Vivian, don't be upset. My parents were just worried about you."

I looked up at him with red eyes. "Do you want me to quit too?"

He let out a sigh. "I've been thinking about it, and honestly, they have a point. This baby means a lot to our family. And after the baby's born, someone needs to be there to take care of it. If you go back to work, there won't be anyone around."

My head snapped up. "Quit my job? And what do we live on?"

Something in my words must have struck a nerve. He frowned. "My company is just getting started. I'm confident this time. In a few months, we'll be turning a profit. You don't need to worry about money."

I stared at him. "But I don't want to. I need this job."

I work in financial investment. Getting into my current firm took some serious qualifications, and the access to information there is much faster. The returns are significantly higher than what I could get in most other industries.

Giving up this career had never crossed my mind.

Damian's face darkened. I could see it plain as day.

Once he realized he wasn't going to persuade me, he let the subject drop. He told me to rest up and take care of myself, then he left the hospital.

I stayed in that hospital for a month. Damian barely came to see me the whole time.

Natalie grew angrier and angrier until she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to go find him and give him a piece of her mind.

"What is going on with Damian? He was so perfect before the wedding, wasn't he? And now you're pregnant, you've been in the hospital for a month, and he's shown up exactly once. That first day. How many days has it been since? No sign of him. Is this how a husband acts? A father?"

I knew what he was doing. He was waiting for me to break first and fall in line with what he wanted.

Over that month, the nurses and doctors asked more than a few times about the baby's father. Why he never came around.

I told them he was busy with work.

He was busy with work, that much was true. Our entire connection had dwindled down to matters concerning his company. Whenever he couldn't make a decision on his own, he'd send me a text and ask.

Once he got his answer, the man would vanish all over again.

It got to the point where I started to wonder if my only real purpose, in his mind, was to serve a function. A tool to be used when needed.

Sometimes I'd overhear people talking in the next room. They assumed I'd gotten pregnant before marriage, tried to pressure the guy into marrying me, and ended up abandoned. That was why the baby's father couldn't be bothered to show up at the hospital.

The whole thing weighed on me more and more. Natalie saw how miserable I was. She went looking for Damian several times. She never managed to drag him back.

One day, Natalie walked into my room looking absolutely grim.

She stood there for a long moment without saying a word. My stomach dropped. "What is it? Just tell me."

She opened her mouth and closed it again. Finally, she walked up to me, struggling with herself, before she spoke.

"Vivian, promise me something first. After I tell you, you have to keep yourself under control. No matter what, you need to stay calm."

A deep, cold unease spread through me.

I took a long breath and nodded. "Okay. Tell me."

"I saw Damian today." She paused. "He took some woman into your apartment."