THE OTHER WOMAN
1225 Words
THE OTHER WOMAN
Her mind went blank.
She stood frozen in place staring at Luke as if she had imagined his words. Surely, she had heard him wrong. Surely, he wasn’t standing there in the home they shared confessing to this.
But the way his shoulders tensed, the way his jaw locked that told her she had heard him just fine.
Still she needed to hear it again needed to be sure.
“What did you just say?” she whispered.
He exhaled heavily, rubbing a hand down his face. “Jasmine….”
“Say it again.”
He hesitated. “There is someone else and She’s pregnant.”
A sharp ringing noise filled her ears. Her knees wobbled as she barely managed to keep herself upright.
She had been worried about their distance. She had made excuses for his coldness told herself that things would get better. That he was just dealing with the stress of the surgery.
But all along, he had been keeping this from her.
“How long?” she asked her voice shaking.
He hesitated again and that hesitation told her everything.
“Luke.”
He swallowed, avoiding her eyes. “Three months.”
Her stomach dropped.
Three months…
Her fingers curled into fists.
“That’s…” She swallowed hard. “That’s before the surgery.”
A month before. When she had been at her weakest in pain recovering from having a part of herself cut out for him and he had already betrayed her.
The betrayal burned in her chest like acid. “So while I was in a hospital bed, barely able to move, you were………”
“Jasmine, it’s not what you think.”
A hollow laugh escaped her. “Not what I think? Oh really? Then explain it to me Luke. Make it make sense.”
His hands clenched at his sides. “It was a mistake.”
She let out another laugh this one broken. “A mistake?”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“Oh so you just accidentally fell into another woman?” Her voice rose raw and sharp. “That’s what you’re telling me?”
He flinch but he provided no answer.
She took a shaky step back her chest felt too tight, like her heart was being squeezed. “And now what?” She lifted her chin, though her body trembled. “You’re bringing her here to live with us?”
He hesitated and a resolute haze flashed in his eyes.
And then the final blow came.
“She’s already outside.”
Her breath hitched and she felt the world spin round her.
Her head snapped toward the door, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Outside….. The front of their home……
The woman his mistress was already outside.
He hadn’t just confessed, He had already made up his mind, Planned it.
A cold sharp pain shot through her chest and a deep ache stole her breath.
She had given him everything.
She had given him her love.
Her kidney.
And in return what did he do?, he had brought her to their doorstep.
Her fingers twitched and for the first time in her life, she wanted to hit something.
To scream.
To act irrational.
But she swallowed it down.
Slowly she turned back to him. “Bring her in.”
His brows furrowed in surprise. “What?”
Her lips curled into a brittle smile, fragile yet so strong. “Bring. Her. In.”
Luke hesitated. “Jasmine, this doesn’t mean..”
“I said bring her in.” Her voice was eerily calm but inside, she was cracking, breaking into a million pieces.
Luke exhaled, rubbing his neck before turning toward the door.
She clenched her fists. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting someone young, maybe, someone naïve, maybe. Some random girl he had met in a moment of weakness.
But when the door opened and Belle Anderson walked in, Jasmine felt like she had been stabbed and the blunt knife was been twisted in her gut.
She knew her.
Not well, but enough to know otherwise.
Belle was beautiful, gorgeous, even. Chestnut-brown hair cascaded over her shoulders in perfect waves, and her light green eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She looked fragile, like a woman who had been wronged.
Like a victim.
And she wanted to laugh.
Belle lifted a hand to her stomach already showing the faintest swell hinting at an incoming life.
“Jasmine,” she said softly, voice laced with guilt. “I’m so sorry.”
Jasmine felt her nails bite into her palms and slowly she felt her palm wet.
She didn’t want to hear an apology, if an apology solves all issues what's the use of the police.
She wanted answers.
Belle shifted uncomfortably under Jasmine’s silent stare.
“I never meant to come between you two,” she said her voice small and hesitant. “It just… happened.”
Jasmine let out a soft pained exhale. She felt tears welling in her eyes but she will not let it fall. She will not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
But her entire world was crumbling in front of her.
“And now what?” Jasmine said coolly. “Are you here to take responsibility? To tell me how much you love Luke?”
Belle’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Luke cleared his throat. “Jasmine…….”
“No,” she cut in. “You had your turn. I want to hear it from her.”
Belle swallowed. “I…” She looked away. “I don’t know what to say.”
She let out a hollow chuckle. “How about ‘I should have stayed away from a man who was engaged’?”
Belle flinched. “I didn’t know at first…”
“At first.” Jasmine shook her head as she finished her sentence. “But you still stayed.”
Belle’s eyes watered.
And Jasmine hated that she felt even the tiniest flicker of sympathy.
Her chest ached, her throat burned but she refused to let it show.
Because she had already lost.
Luke had chosen.
And she… she was being pushed aside.
Belle wiped at her eyes, her fingers trembling. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
Jasmine exhaled. She was so tired.
Her heart was torn apart bleeding and shattered.
But she refused to break.
Instead she gave Belle a small unreadable smile.
“You don’t have to fight with me,” she said softly. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
Belle’s brows pulled together in a tight frown. “What?”
Luke stiffened.
Jasmine turned to him her expression unreadable. “You expect me to leave? Just like that?”
His jaw tightened. “Jasmine, this isn’t………”
“You owe me, Luke.”
Silence.
Complete and utter silence.
She took a step forward. “You owe me your life Luke.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
Jasmine tilted her head her voice eerily soft and sweet. “Did you forget? I gave you my kidney, You wouldn’t even be standing here if it weren’t for me.”
Belle shifted uncomfortably.
Luke looked away.
Her lips curled.
He hated it.
He hated when she reminded him.
Good.
Let him hate it.
Because she wasn’t done yet.
- Writer
