The nurse looked terrified.
く
phone rang.
He answered it, and his face turned white.
Then, he slapped me.
“What did you do to Ashley? If something
happens to her, I’ll kill you!”
I almost fell over and hit the railing.
The nurse caught me.
“Mr. Thompson, she just gave birth! You’re
going to kill her!”
Mark didn’t care.
He ran off to Ashley.
The nurse was giving me a sad look.
I didn’t feel anything.
It all burned away over the past ten years.
After the check–up, the doctor told me to
rest.
I finally found out why Mark lost it.
After the baby died, the old man got angry
and had Ashley blacklisted.
Ashley thought I did it and ran to Mark.
That’s why he hit me.
He even made Ashley a shareholder at his
company.
To make her happy, he bought twenty stars
and named them after Ashley.
She showed off her ring during an interview.
“I’m not a homewrecker. If a woman can’t
hold her man, she deserves to be alone. Mrs.
Thompson just married him for money. I love
him for him.”
People were taking sides.
A bunch of brainless fans tagged me.
They told me to let Ashley have her turn.
It was all so predictable.
Mark had been using the same playbook for
When he found out I was poor and didn’t have
birthdays, he gave me twenty gifts on my
twentieth birthday.
From a gold locket to a house.
He said he wanted to make up for twenty
years of being broke.
He held my hand under the stars.
“Jenny, my parents are gone. I’ll treat your
mom like she’s my own. We’ll have a great
family.”
I fell for it.
I thought I found my forever partner.
Then, he got bored.
<
He started seeing other people.
Once, he forgot me on a mountain because
he had to deliver flowers to his other women.
I walked hundreds of miles home.
My feet were bloody, and I had a scar on my
leg.
I should’ve known then.
He was selfish.
That contract was just an excuse.
I thought about it and left a comment under
Ashley’s video.
“Congrats on the wedding and I hope you
<
Ashley deleted the video.
Then Mark called.
I blocked him, like he did to me all the time.
Then, I remembered it was the day to cremate
Mom.
I told the doctor why and filed the papers.
He wouldn’t let me do it alone.
When the worker handed me Mom’s ashes, I
didn’t feel anything.
The chains snapped.
I said goodbye to the doctor and went back
to the house to pack.
Г
Mark and Ashley were on the couch.
When they saw me, Ashley zipped up her
dress.
The hickeys told me all I needed to know.
I acted like I didn’t see anything and walked
into the bedroom.
