100 Days with My Ex-husband

Chapter 2: Betrayal

My heart pounded in my chest as Cross's words echoed in my mind, my mind struggling to grasp the reality of what was happening. I stared at him, desperate to find even a hint of the man I had loved so deeply, but all I saw was a stranger—cold, distant, and unyielding.

“No... no, Cross. You can’t...” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears at bay.

Cross remained silent. His eyes never left mine, his jaw clenched, his posture stiff. It was as though he had already made up his mind. As if there was no room for discussion, no space for me. He didn’t seem to care about the brokenness in my eyes, the hurt in my voice.

My hands shook as I gripped the envelope tighter, my vision blurring with unshed tears. But I refused to let them fall. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. Anger bubbled inside me, mingled with betrayal and heartbreak, but I couldn’t let him see me weak.

“This isn’t... this isn’t real, Cross. You promised me! You promised we would do this together! That we would have a child, our child,” I choked out, barely able to breathe through the storm of emotions tearing through me.

“How could you do this to me?”

I stood up suddenly, fists clenched at my sides. I wanted to hit something, break something, anything to release the raw anger, the utter despair. But as I moved toward him, desperate for answers—desperate for him to explain, to apologize—something shifted in the room.

The door to our house creaked open.

I froze.

My heart skipped a beat as I turned toward the sound. And there she was, standing in the doorway. Lia. The woman who was now carrying his child, the woman who had somehow infiltrated the space I had once thought was mine alone.

Lia stood there, her posture proud, eyes gleaming with smugness. She didn’t look the least bit apologetic or concerned about my presence. No, she was there for something else—something far worse.

“Why... why are you here?” My voice trembled with a mixture of disbelief and anger. I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing.

Lia smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m here to stay.” Her voice dripped with mockery, and it made my blood boil. “Cross and I are building a family now, you know. The baby’s growing inside me, and he’s already making plans for us.”

I could barely hear her words over the pounding of my heart. The world felt like it was spinning. No. This wasn’t happening. This can’t be happening.

“You... You can’t be serious,” I gasped, taking a step toward her, my eyes wide with disbelief. My hands were trembling uncontrollably. The air in the room felt suffocating. “You’re stealing my life, my future... my family.”

Lia stepped forward, a cruel smile spreading across her face. “I don’t think it’s your place to say, Nora. Cross and I...” She paused for effect, letting her words sink in. “We’re making real plans. It’s time you realized that.”

"You can't give him a child, can you?"

The sharp edge of her words made my blood boil. I couldn’t just stand there and let her—let them—mock me like that. I was losing everything. The dreams I had clung to with Cross, the family we’d once envisioned together. I can’t let this happen.

Without thinking, I lunged at Lia, my hand grabbing her hair, pulling it hard, desperate to hurt her, desperate to stop the destruction of my life. My heart screamed at the injustice of it all, unwilling to accept that the life I thought I had was being torn apart by the woman standing in front of me.

But before I could do anything more, Cross was there. His grip on my shoulders was strong, firm, and merciless as he yanked me away from Lia. The force of it knocked me back, and I stumbled, my hands scraping against the cold hardwood floor.

“Nora!” Cross’s voice was sharp, full of frustration, but not concern. It was as if I were the one who had done something wrong. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I gasped for breath, fury and panic surging through me. “You don’t get to do this! You don’t have to throw me away!”

He stepped back, his eyes burning with coldness I had never seen before.

“If anything happens to our baby, that's not all I'll do to you,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

My heart shattered. His words were like a slap to the face, colder than anything I had ever imagined him capable of.

“You think I would hurt the baby?!” My voice was hoarse, disbelief choking me. “I love you, Cross. I was with you every step of the way!”

But his gaze didn’t soften. He didn’t waver. He looked at me like I was an inconvenience—something he was tired of dealing with.

“I don’t want you here, Nora,” Cross said flatly. “Get out. Now.”

I couldn’t breathe. My mind screamed in disbelief. This was the man I had trusted, the man I had loved. And now, he was telling me to leave? To leave our home?

I wiped the tears away that I had fought so hard to hold back. But I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. Cross had already made his decision. He was gone.

I stood there, trembling, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might explode. The weight of betrayal crushed me, and I could barely breathe. The air felt thick and suffocating. Cross’s cold gaze never wavered, his eyes locked on mine with an unsettling detachment, and it was as if something inside me snapped in response.

No more. I wasn’t going to let him push me away without making him hear me, without letting him know how deep the wound was. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

I straightened up, taking a shaky but firm step toward him. A surge of anger and strength rushed through me, more intense than I’d ever felt. No more tears, no more begging. I couldn’t pretend everything was fine when it was so far from it.

I looked him straight in the eye, my voice trembling but resolute. “Is this what makes you happy, Cross?”

My words cut through the heavy silence between us, sharp and raw.

“Is this your plan? To betray me all this time? To promise me the world, to build a future with me, and then toss me aside for her?” I gestured toward Lia, still standing there in the doorway, her smug expression like a knife twisting deeper.

“You’ll regret that. I swear to God, you will. I’ll make sure you do.”

The weight of what I said hung in the air, thick with the fury and heartbreak that had been building up for so long. I wasn’t crying anymore. I wasn’t pleading for answers. I was finished with all of it.

But just as I finished speaking, Cross did something I never expected.