Goodbye to You

It was 10:00 pm, and I was sitting across from Carl Larson. It was our anniversary today.

He looked exasperated when he said, "I'm just spending one night with her. That's all. She doesn't have much time left. She's been saving herself for me for the past three years. Can't you be a little understanding and let me do this for her?"

The candlelight flickered between us. The roses I had spent all afternoon picking were already starting to wilt, just like our six years together were coming to an end.

Carl disappeared for a week. When he finally came back, he didn't say a word about where he'd been or ask how I was doing. The first thing he said was that he wanted to sleep with another woman.

I didn't even know how long we sat there in silence until his phone rang on the table. It was that special ringtone he had set for Wendy Lyle.

"Carl, you're still not coming?" Wendy's voice came through the phone.

I tightened my fist so hard that my knuckles went white. "Carl Larson! We're not over yet!"

"Oh, Hailey, you're with him? The power went out at my place, and Carl said he was coming to—"

Before she could finish, I snatched his phone and hurled it against the wall with everything I had. The screen shattered into pieces, and even the frame of our wedding photo cracked.

"Hailey Sutton! Are you out of your mind?" Carl shot up, picking up the broken phone. "Calm down. You need to get it together."

I clenched my jaw and gave him a hard look. "If you walk out that door, Carl, you'll regret it."

I'd been planning to share with him the good news tonight—that I was pregnant with our baby. He'd always said he wanted a child, but now, he was nothing but rotten.

Carl didn't say a word. He stayed silent until the candle burned out completely, leaving us in the dark.

"Hailey, it's just this one time," he finally said. "I've already explained it. After this, I won't be involved with her anymore. Why can't you just let it go?"

It was the first time he ever raised his voice at me.

"Let it go? Carl, you're my husband! If you sleep with another woman, that's cheating!"

Carl paused for a second before shooting me a cold look. "It's only cheating if I hide it. I'm being honest with you, Hailey. Stop blowing this out of proportion."

His words cut right through me, and I completely lost it.

After he left, I tossed all the food on the table straight into the trash. I had woken up early to make this special meal, but he didn't even spare it a glance.

I put a hand on my belly and let out a bitter laugh. "Baby, your dad doesn't want us anymore."

Then it hit me—Carl had said he wouldn't regret anything. But what if he was the one who'd ended up killing our baby? Would he regret it then?

...

He wanted a divorce because he said he couldn't cheat while still married. I wasn't having it. I knew it wasn't really his idea—it had to be Wendy's.

If Carl cheated while we were still married, he'd lose everything. But if he divorced me first, then hooked up with Wendy, we'd split everything down the middle.

Even if I fought him on it after that, it wouldn't matter.

…

"It's just a formality, Hailey. After I sleep with her, we'll get remarried."

I stared at him, the man who once promised me forever. How could he say something so horrible? Didn't it make him sick?

I clenched my fists, trying to hold back the tears, and shot him a fiery look. "Carl, are you really sure you want a divorce?"

Carl frowned. "It's just a formality. We'll get remarried once all this blows over."