Chapter 4
1080 Words
Chapter 4
Christian Whitmore
~•~
“You’re what?” Emily’s voice came out broken, and she looked at me like I’d just ripped her heart out of her chest. “Celeste is… pregnant with your baby? How? When?”
“We’ve been seeing each other for a while. And she got pregnant, so now, I have to get married to her,” I replied, settling down on the couch beside Emily.
Her lips parted, but she didn’t form any words. She just stared at me in stunned silence.
I didn’t say anything either. I reached out for the remote control on the table.
I couldn’t look at Emily.
Even though I acted tough and cold towards her, I still had a soft spot for her deep inside me.
But I couldn’t give her what she wanted.
I couldn’t love her.
She probably saw me as a terrible person, but she knew my intentions while we were still dating.
She knew that I didn’t want to get married to her.
When she’d gotten pregnant, a part of me suspected that she did it on purpose just to trap me.
Emily knew how my parents were, and she knew that they would pressure me into getting married to her as long as she was pregnant.
So I justified all my bad behavior by telling myself that she also deserved consequences for dragging me into something I wasn’t ready for.
“So you slept with her?” Emily continued, her tone hushed. “You slept with Celeste while…” Her words trailed off.
I exhaled slowly, buying myself a few seconds before answering. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Emily. You know she’s not the first person I’m sleeping with since we got married.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Then she lowered her head, covering her face with her trembling hands. “You’re a monster!”
It wasn’t the first time she was calling me a monster.
“I’m not,” I protested, my voice tight. “You knew exactly what you were getting into. You knew the type of man I would be, but you still chose to stay with me.”
Sometimes I wondered why she hadn’t given up on me. I didn’t want to be the one to end our marriage because of the promise I made to my father.
I felt like she would eventually get tired and leave. But it had been two years and she kept enduring everything.
She probably hoped that I would change one day and we would go back to how we used to be, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Celeste was my childhood friend, my first crush, my first love, my first girlfriend. And I always envisioned our lives together.
But she had to leave when we were about to get married because she got a life-changing career opportunity in another country.
I tried to convince her that we could make long-distance work. But she gave me an ultimatum—go with her or end the relationship.
I couldn’t leave my company, so I had no choice but to end the relationship.
When I met Emily, I only wanted to use her as a rebound. But things got serious too quickly, and we ended up in a relationship.
“Why didn’t you change? Didn’t you think I was worth changing for?”
I cleared my throat. “Emily, can you stop with all your questions?” I replied, my fingers tightening around the remote.
I had tried to change for Emily, tried to be the man she deserved, but no matter how hard I forced it, the resentment I felt for her never faded.
She ran a hand through her hair.
Silence stretched between us for a few minutes.
Then she finally broke it. “So what does this mean for us now? What are you going to do?”
Emily already knew the answer.
I glanced at her. “Do you really need me to say it out loud?”
She tilted her head, but she stopped halfway, then shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to say it out loud because I don’t want it to happen.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
“Why are you so desperate?” I asked, my voice filled with amusement. “I just told you that I’m expecting a baby with another woman and you’re practically telling me that you don’t want a divorce.”
Her face fell.
“Christian, I don’t want to be divorced. I don’t know how I can live without you… Please, don’t leave me.”
God. Why wouldn’t she just give up on me?
“Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that I would never love you?” I continued, the irritation palpable in my voice. “Why do you still want to be with me when I’ve made it clear that I don’t want you?”
Her lips quivered. “It’s not that simple for me, Christian,” she replied quietly. “I don’t know how you manage to do it, but I can’t forget about all the good times we shared. And I strongly believe that we can get back to that point.”
I folded my arms, shaking my head in disbelief. “So you still want to stay married to me even though I got another woman pregnant?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
I waited for a few moments for her to retract her words. But she didn’t. Her desperation made my skin crawl.
Not because I felt pity, but because I felt trapped by her devotion. Her love felt like a weight dragging me into a life I hadn’t chosen for myself.
At that moment, I knew I needed to do something about it.
“You’re pathetic, Emily,” I spat.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
She flinched as if I’d physically hit her.
“Please…”
“Celeste is coming back,” I replied flatly, ignoring her pleas. “And you might be okay sharing me with another woman, but Celeste isn’t.”
Her eyes turned pale.
“I’ve already signed my part of the divorce papers. The lawyer will send them to you soon.”
Emily stood up abruptly.
“Divorce papers?” she asked, clearly taken aback.
“Yes… and you need to sign your part, so I can stop hurting you.”
- Writer
