MY EX HUSBAND CALLED ME FAT, HIS BOSS WANTS ME

Sarah's POV I was still holding the folder of test results as I stepped through the front door, my thumb pressed against its edge like I could keep the news trapped inside a little longer. Five years. Five years of waiting, and now the wait was finally over. I wanted to see his face when I told him. "Nathan?" My voice echoed a little in the empty living room. No answer. I scanned the space — his coat on the hook, his keys in the bowl — so he had to be home. The silence pressed against me, thicker than it should have been. Then I heard it. A sound, faint but unmistakable, drifting from down the hall. From our room. I walked toward it slowly, the folder still clutched to my chest, my pulse picking up for reasons I couldn't yet name. By the time I reached the door, the sound had sharpened into something I didn't want to recognize. I stood there a moment, hand hovering near the knob, telling myself it was nothing. I pushed the door open. "Nathan—" His name died in my throat. Nathan — my husband of five years — was in our bed with Clara. My best friend. Both of them naked, and for one suspended second neither of them noticed me standing there. Then Clara's eyes flew open and found mine, and everything stopped. Nathan scrambled off her, grabbing for his clothes. "Sarah… you're back…" His voice cracked on the words. Clara pulled the sheet up over herself and turned her face away, like that would undo what I'd already seen. The folder slipped from my fingers and hit the floor. Neither of them even looked at it. "What is going on here?" I found my voice. "It's not what you think, Sarah… I was just—" Nathan tried to explain, but my eyes were fixed on Clara, who still wouldn't look at me. "You were just what?" I yelled. He flinched, and honestly, the sound of my own voice shocked me too — I don't yell. Not at Nathan, not at anyone. But I had never been this hurt, or this angry. "What excuse could you possibly have, Nathan?" My voice cracked. "Tell me. I want to hear you try." "I know you're angry and not thinking straight right now," Nathan said, his voice suddenly firm, the stutter gone completely, "but that doesn't give you the right to yell at me." "How could you say that to me?" I stared at him like he was a stranger. "I just found you in our bed with someone else, and I'm the one who doesn't have the right?" "Clara, how could you do this to me?" I stared at her, my chest tight. "After everything I've done for you — this is how you repay me?" I had taken her in when she lost her job. Given her a home. And this was what she'd done with it. Clara sighed and stood from the bed. "I guess since the cat's out of the bag, there's no point pretending anymore," she said, and something about her tone confused me more than her words did. "What?" "Oh, please, Sarah. Stop acting like a saint." Clara crossed her arms. "You know damn well Nathan was attracted to me from the beginning. You just had the privilege of being his wife." A ringing sound filled my ears, her words echoing over and over in my head. "Clara, are you being serious right now?" My voice shook. "Is this really happening?" "Just shut up, Sarah. I'm tired of hearing your pathetic voice." Clara's eyes swept over me, cold and unbothered. "Look at yourself — ugly, unkempt. When was the last time you even looked in a mirror? You've let yourself go so bad, no wonder Nathan started looking elsewhere." Nathan let out a small chuckle, quickly covering it with his hand like that made it less cruel. That sound hurt more than anything Clara had said. "Did you just laugh?" I turned to him, my voice trembling. "At me?" He didn't answer. He didn't need to. "You used to be so pretty, Sarah, back in university," Clara went on, tilting her head like she almost pitied me. "What happened to you? You're not even trying anymore. Look at that stomach, those arms — did you think a man like Nathan was going to stay attracted to that forever?" "Clara—" I started, my voice cracking. "I'm just being honest," she said, feigning innocence, glancing at Nathan for approval. He gave her a small, guilty smile. "Someone has to be, since you clearly can't see it yourself." I turned to Nathan, expecting him to say something — anything — to defend me. But he just stood there, that same tight smile on his face, silent. "Nathan," I called for him, my voice hoarse. He looked away from me. Clara suddenly shoved me, forcing my attention back to her. "What are you calling him for, huh? You want to sweet-talk him into supporting your pathetic ass?" Clara yelled, shoving me again. "Nathan, say something!" I yelled at him, my voice breaking. "Are you just going to stand there and laugh while she does this?" But Nathan wasn't saying anything. "You stupid girl, Sarah — for five years you couldn't even give Nathan an heir, and now you come here with your pathetic tears, looking like this." Clara gestured up and down at me, her lip curling. "Honestly, I don't know how he put up with it for so long." My eyes fell to the folder still in my hand. I walked toward Nathan and held it out. "Look, Nathan." I met his eyes. "I went to the doctor today. It's confirmed — we're having a child together." He took the report from me, and for a moment his eyes lit up. "Really?" he said, and despite everything, my heart lifted at the sound of it. Then Clara started clapping, slow and mocking. "How pathetic, Sarah. You couldn't stand being barren your whole life, so you went and forged a pregnancy test? That's pathetic." "I would never do that," I said, my voice shaking. "I'm actually pregnant." "Enough, Sarah." Clara's voice cut through the room. She stormed to the counter, pulled out a slip of paper, and threw it at me. I caught it, staring down at a pregnancy test — positive. "I'm pregnant," Clara said. "And the baby belongs to Nathan." My heart stopped. I looked at Nathan, searching his face — but there was no shock there. No surprise. Like this wasn't news to him at all. "You knew." My voice came out barely above a whisper. "You knew, and you let me stand here and tell you about ourbaby like it meant something to you." I looked between them, my whole body trembling. "Where did it all go wrong? What is even happening right now?" "You—" My voice broke. "Both of you betrayed me. After everything… you did this to me?" Tears spilled down my face as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. "Sarah, please just stop, okay? Clara is right — I've always been attracted to her. I was just… managing you," Nathan said. "What did you just say to me?" My throat burned, tears coming faster now. "Managing me? Is that what our marriage was to you?" "She's also carrying my child, so please be gracious to her," he added. "You want me to be gracious?" I couldn't take it anymore. "You two betrayed me, and you have the guts to stand there and tell me to be gracious?" "Look, this doesn't have to be an issue," Nathan said. "As you can see, Clara is pregnant, so stop being selfish and just understand." "Selfish?" I echoed. "I'm the selfish one?" "Nathan, tell Sarah she doesn't have to be mean," Clara cooed, wrapping herself around him in a sickly-sweet voice. "When our baby comes, she can even be the godmother." "Are you actually insane right now?" I stared at her, my voice rising. "Godmother? Have either of you even heardyourselves?" "Yes, Sarah — stop being selfish. We can all stay together, and you can be Clara's baby's nanny." That was it. I slapped Nathan hard across the face. "Nathan, are you okay?" Clara shrieked. "Sarah, how dare you—" "You two will regret this," I said, before storming out and leaving them both behind. I walked without knowing where I was going, tears pouring down my face, my chest aching. Thunder rolled overhead. Rain began to fall, hard and cold. I stood there in the downpour. "Why me?" I screamed into the storm. "What did I do to deserve this? Somebody tell me what I did so wrong!" I caught my reflection in a puddle on the ground, distorted by the rain. "Maybe they're right," I said out loud, my voice hollow, barely mine. "Maybe I really am too useless for this world." I pressed a hand to my stomach. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you a better start than this." Headlights cut through the rain. A bike, speeding, its horn blaring. I wanted to move — I told my legs to move — but nothing happened. I just stood there. The impact threw my body from the road. I landed hard, the rain mixing with blood around me. So this is where it ends. My eyes slid shut as the world went black.