I pull away, casual. “No. Just watched a super sad movie. The heroine got a raw deal, is all.”
Jake pulls me back, relieved. “You scared me.
Don’t watch those sad movies. We’re different.
I’ll make sure you’re happy for the rest of your
life.”
Hearing that before would have made me
<
swoon, but now? It just sounds like a lie.
“Your knee is bleeding. I’ll get a bandage and some milk.” He has trouble sleeping, and I
heard warm milk helps. No matter how late he
gets home, I heat it up for him.
“You’re the best, Chloe. You need to watch
more comedies. Hearing you laugh is what
makes life worth living.”
As I get up, another tear rolls down my cheek.
He was acting all this time, and I was too stupid
to see it.
I put a little sleeping pill in his milk, and it wasn’t long before he was out like a light. As I
started to look for proof, his phone started buzzing and flashing like crazy. Jake had set it
up with an emergency alert; he said it was
because of his job. But it dawned on me then the emergency alerts were for Sarah.
I unlock his phone with his fingerprint. Sure
enough, there’s a new voice message from
Sarah. But instead of her voice, I hear a little
girl saying:
“Daddy, Mommy says she loves the diamond
–
く
necklace you got her!”
My whole body trembles. That voice… could
that be my baby? I dive deeper, going back over
old messages. The more I read, the colder I get.
Ever since Sarah and Mark humiliated me at my
wedding, I cut ties with them. I’d only heard
whispers about how Sarah got pregnant and
Mark sent her to some fancy place in Europe to
have the baby. He was always too busy,
supposedly, to go, but they were always posting
about how much they loved each other.
And all those days I was grieving my baby,
wasting away, Jake was flying to Europe to be
with Sarah. I always saw his hands as tools for
healing, not for doing chores. But in the photos
on his phone, he’s wearing an apron, clumsily
making soup for Sarah, his fingers burned but it
doesn’t seem to matter.
He was cooking for her, cleaning for her,
walking with her and the baby. Sarah’s head on
his shoulder. They looked like a happy family. And the messages! Five years worth, never an empty day, and Jake was always answering
<
right away.
No wonder he never lets his phone out of his
sight, even in the shower. He was protecting
Sarah, not me. I dreamed of watching my baby
grow up, but I was watching it on his phone
screen. Then I saw the message from Jake to
Sarah:
“Sarah, Chloe’s given birth to the baby. I’ll bring
her over right away. You can be a mom now.”
What about me? I can never be a mom again.
I dry my eyes and call my lawyer friend. “Get a
divorce agreement ready, I need it tomorrow.
And about that translation job in France you
mentioned? I’ll take it. I’ll fly out in five days.”
Jake, if you love Sarah that much, then fine, you
can have her.
The next morning, Jake wakes up, saying he
doesn’t know how he fell asleep so quickly, and
nuzzles my neck. “Sorry, Chloe, I’ve been so
tired lately. Didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“I’m going to work. We can go out to dinner
with your mom and then I’ll give you all the
attention you want, I promise.”
