THE NIGHT HE LEFT ME WITH NOTHING BUT A PROMISE

The rain was pouring hard over Seattle that night. It wasn't a gentle rain. It was an angry, heavy rain that hammered against the windows of the small, one-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor. Inside, the apartment was quiet, too quiet, except for the frantic typing sound coming from the bedroom. Hana stood frozen in front of their bedroom door. Her long black hair was still damp from the shower, her oversized white t-shirt hanging loosely on her thin, fragile body. She had been standing there for ten minutes, unable to move, her heart beating so loud she thought he could hear it. In her right palm, she was holding a small white plastic stick so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Two pink lines. Two very clear, very bright, unmistakable pink lines. Pregnant. She was pregnant. After two years of marriage, after twenty-four months of negative tests, of crying alone in the bathroom while her husband slept soundly beside her, after being told by her mother-in-law that she was a barren, boring woman who was not good enough for her son, finally, God had heard her prayer. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks before she even realized she was crying. Her other hand instinctively moved to her still-flat stomach, caressing it gently with so much love she didn't know she had. "Ethan?" her voice was small, barely a whisper, drowned out by the sound of the rain and his aggressive typing on his laptop keyboard. Ethan Carter didn't look up. He was sitting on the edge of their unmade bed, his expensive laptop on his lap, his jaw clenched tight. He was wearing his signature expensive black suit even at 10 PM. The blue light from the screen made his handsome, sharp face look cold and distant, like a stranger. He had been like that for the last year. A stranger who just happened to share her bed and her last name. "Hana, not now. I'm busy. Can't you see I'm on a call with the investors from Singapore? This is a billion-dollar deal. Don't bother me with nonsense," he said, his voice clipped and annoyed without even glancing at her. Hana took a deep, shaky breath. She gathered all her courage, all the love she had for him, and walked closer, her bare feet silent on the cold wooden floor. She held out the pregnancy test, her hand shaking violently now, but her eyes were full of hope. "Ethan, please. I really need to tell you something. It's important. It's about us. About our future. Please look at me." He finally let out a loud, frustrated sigh and slammed his laptop shut with a loud bang that made Hana flinch. He looked at her, his dark blue eyes scanning her up and down with an impatience that cut deeper than any knife ever could. "What is it now, Hana? Another poem? Another one of your sad little stories from that dusty bookstore you love so much? I have told you a thousand times, I don't have time for your childish hobbies. Grow up." She tried to smile. Even though her heart was beating so fast it hurt, even though she was terrified of his reaction, she tried to smile for their baby. She thought this news would change everything. She thought this would bring her husband back to her. "We are going to have a baby, Ethan," she whispered, her voice full of tears and hope. "You and me... we are going to be parents. You are going to be a father." For a second, the entire world stopped. The rain outside, the clock ticking on the wall, her breathing, his typing. Everything stopped. The air became so thin, Hana couldn't breathe. Ethan's handsome face froze. His eyes went from her hopeful, tearful face down to the small white stick in her trembling hand. Hana waited, holding her breath, expecting him to smile, to hug her, to cry with her, to pick her up and spin her around and say he was sorry for being distant. But then, he laughed. It was not a happy laugh. It was not a shocked laugh. It was a cold, short, cruel, and heartless laugh she had never heard in the two years they had been married. A laugh that made her blood run cold and her soul shatter into a million pieces. "A baby?" he repeated, as if it was the most ridiculous joke he had ever heard in his life. "Are you kidding me, Hana? Are you out of your mind? We talked about this. I told you, not now. Not ever. My company is about to go public next month. I am about to become the youngest billionaire in Seattle. I don't need a baby ruining my life, ruining my career. I don't need extra baggage tying me down. I need a partner, not a burden." Baggage. Burden. He called their unborn baby, their own flesh and blood, baggage and a burden. Hana's hand started to tremble so hard the pregnancy test almost fell. The tears she had been holding back now streamed down freely, hot on her cold skin. "But... Ethan, it's already here. It's a miracle. God gave it to us. This is our flesh and blood. I thought... I thought you would be happy. I thought you would love it." Before Ethan could answer with more cruel words that would break her even more, his phone, which was lying on the bed next to him, rang loudly, breaking the tense, painful silence in the room. Hana's eyes, blurry with tears, fell on the bright screen. A name appeared with a big red heart emoji next to it, glowing in the dark room: Maya. Maya. Maya Jenkins. Her best friend since college. The girl who was her bridesmaid at their wedding. The girl who held her hair when she was sick. Her only friend in this cold, big city. Ethan didn't even hesitate for a second. He didn't even look guilty. He picked up the phone and answered it right in front of his pregnant wife, who was standing there holding his child, crying. "Hey baby..." his voice changed instantly. It became soft, warm, sweet, and loving. The voice Hana hadn't heard in over a year. The voice she used to fall in love with every single day. "Yes, I'm coming over in ten minutes... No, she's not here. Don't worry, she is sleeping. I miss you too, so much, baby. Wait for me." Baby. He called another woman "baby", right in front of her, while she was carrying his baby. The small white pregnancy test finally slipped from Hana's numb, cold fingers and fell to the wooden floor with a soft, hollow clatter that sounded like her heartbreaking. That small sound made Ethan look up and end the call with a quick "Love you." He stood up, towering over her small, shaking figure. There was not a single ounce of guilt or regret in his cold blue eyes. Only disgust and annoyance, as if she was trash. "Hana, listen to me and listen carefully because I will only say this once," he said, his voice now as cold as ice, each word stabbing her. "You are a good woman. You really are. You are kind, you are innocent, you are sweet. But you are too... boring. Too quiet. Too innocent and too naive for my world. All you ever understand is your sad books and your sad poems. You have no ambition. You have no power. Maya... Maya understands business. She understands power, she understands pressure, she understands ME. You never did. You never even tried to understand me." That night, Hana watched the man she loved with all her heart, the man she had given her entire life, her youth, and her soul to, pack one single black suitcase. He moved quickly, efficiently, like he had been planning this for a long time. He took his expensive laptop, his expensive Swiss watch, his expensive suits, and all his big, billion-dollar dreams. He didn't take a single photo of them. Not one. He left their wedding photo face down on the table. He walked to the front door of the apartment that had once been their home, their sanctuary, then stopped for a second. He didn't turn around to look at her one last time. On their wedding day, in a small church filled with flowers, he had held her hands so tight and whispered a promise with tears in his eyes, "I will love you forever, Hana. No matter what happens." Now, with his hand on the cold doorknob, he said his last words to her without any emotion, "Don't call me. Don't text me. Don't ever look for me. My lawyer will call you for the divorce papers tomorrow." And then he was gone. The door slammed shut with a final, deafening sound that shook the whole apartment. Hana collapsed onto the cold, hard wooden floor, right next to the positive pregnancy test that was now lying on the floor. The rain was still pouring outside, even harder now, as if the sky was crying for her, screaming for her. She held her flat stomach with both of her hands, sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe, so hard her whole body shook and her throat burned. "It's okay, baby. It's just you and me now," she whispered to the tiny, invisible life inside her, her voice completely broken and hoarse. "Mommy will never, ever leave you. Mommy promises. Even if the whole world leaves us, Mom will stay." That night was the longest night of her life. But she survived. ---