DEAR EX HUSBAND, YOU LOVED ME TOO LATE

ANIKA’S POV“I am sorry Madam Smith but you lost the baby”The doctor kept on saying more things but I was not listening from that point on. My hands instinctively wrapped around my stomach that now seemed empty and I felt the tears run down my eyes… still, I did not say a single word. I could not even blink.Everything inside me just hurt. Just yesterday, I still had my son in my belly, I was whispering sweet things about how I would give him the world when he was born.Then there was the incident with Bree, and in the twinkle of an eye, I had lost it all… that yesterday now seemed like a faraway dream.“I’m sorry Madam are you listening to me?”I blinked once, then twice trying to come back to reality “I’m sorry that did you say?” I asked my voice cracking at the end.The doctor shot me a look of pity. I hated that look because somehow it just seemed to solidify everything, how real it was… the fact that I had actually lost my baby.“I said that you need a family member to come and

ANIKA’S POV“What!”He said like he could not believe what I was saying, which to his credit was totally understandable, he must have never thought that in his wildest dreams would I even insist on a divorce.Unfortunately for him, I was no longer the person that I was before…now, I could care less about him.Simon was staring at me like I had just announced the sky was green, like I had just made some absurd statement.He probably thought I was insane.Besides I was the Anika who loved him so much that it was pathetic.The same girl who used to follow him around like a sick puppy.The same girl who begged him to marry her.The same girl who tolerated every insult, every humiliation, every late night he never explained.That same girl was now asking him for a divorce.I could practically see the disbelief spinning inside his head.I watched his face carefully.Just observing.Because I knew exactly what he expected.He was waiting for me to take it back.To laugh and say I was joking.

ANIKA’S POVThe doorbell rang.It was that kind of continuous ringing that always got on my nerves and made me wonder if the person on the other side had no manners.“Who is it” I said walking to the door but the ringing just continued.I pulled the door open and my eyes widened when I saw my parents.“Mum… Dad? When did you get back—?”Before I could finish, my father’s hand was across my face. The slap was so hard that it sent my head to the side. I tasted the metallic taste of my blood from my teeth biting into my cheek.“You wicked girl! How dare you push Bree down the stairs?” His voice thundered, echoing around the living room.I stumbled back, my cheek burning, shock paralyzing me for a second.It wasn’t me.It was Bree.She was the one who had shoved me, the one who had made me fall down the stairs. But no one believed me.Not my father. Not my mother.The reality of that sent an awful feeling through me.“I did not—she was the one that—” I tried to explain, my voice shaking.

ANIKA’S POVCan I not get a moment of peace?I mean seriously, that was not too much to ask for. Because tell me why at 10pm, just when I was finally falling asleep, my door banged open. My body jolted upright thinking it was some kind of actual burglar, but I only relaxed when I saw that it was just Simon.That did not stop the tick of my jaw.The nauseating smell of alcohol infiltrated my room instantly. It was clinging to him like“You didn’t come to my room tonight,” he slurred, staggering into the room. Glassy and they could not even focus on a particular thing.How much did he even have to drink?That was not even my business at this point, he was bothering me was all that I knew and I wanted him gone.I rolled my eyes and tried to push the panic down. “I want to sleep, Simon. So leave.” My voice was firm.“You’ve changed,” he said, taking an unsteady step closer. His words were low, slurred and there was something sinister laced in them. He pointed at me “you used to care about

Anika“I did not know that what you were going through all of this all this time.”I smiled softly at Felicia. She was my best friend—well, to be fair, she was my only friend. Fierce, bold, loyal to a fault. The kind of person who would burn bridges for you without a second thought. I think the only reason I never told her about everything with Simon was because I knew she would make me do something about it. Something reckless. Something final.Back then, I had still been blinded by the love I thought I had for Simon. I had believed, foolishly, that my love would be enough to make him love me back someday. I was naïve, but now, I was smarter than that.Her eyes blazed like fire, and her jaw ticked. “I knew that I never liked him—I should—”I held up a hand and stopped her. “No need. We are already divorced.”She froze for a moment, then tilted her head. “How did he take it?”I said nothing. And to be honest, I really didn’t need to. I could feel her studying me, taking in the way my