Chapter 2

When I returned to the hospital for a follow-up, my parents called.

Their first concern wasn't how I was doing. They immediately started defending Natasha.

"Callum, why are you two fighting again? You have to make a marriage work. Don't be so stubborn. You can't keep bringing up divorce all the time. How awful would that look?"

I was exhausted. I didn't even have the energy to argue with them anymore.

I couldn't understand why they were so determined to cling to a marriage that was already dying. I'd already ended up in the hospital. I'd nearly died, with one foot in the grave. None of it mattered to me anymore.

Hence, I calmly said, "I want a divorce. I nearly died, and Natasha agreed."

A long silence followed before they finally hung up.

…

That afternoon, my in-laws, who lived nearby, came over right away.

They took one look at my haggard face, and even they couldn't bring themselves to criticize me. All they could do was promise to talk things over with Natasha.

"My daughter has always had a bad temper. How could she not even show up when her own husband is sick?

"Don't worry, Callum. I'll make sure I teach her a lesson this time. I won't let her come home until you've calmed down."

It was the same old routine. They acted as if they were taking my side, but in reality, they always found a way to cover for their daughter and excuse what she'd done. As if anything she did could be forgiven.

A profound sense of weariness settled over me.

I wasn't angry. I simply didn't love her anymore. I wanted nothing more to do with her.

"I want a divorce." My voice was cold and firm.

My in-laws' expressions changed immediately.

"Callum, don't keep thinking like this. You two just need time to adjust to each other. She's still young and immature. Of course she didn't handle things properly. I'll make her change," my father-in-law, Tobias Simpson, claimed.

My mother-in-law, Cindy Miller, muttered under her breath, "A man who can't keep his own woman just isn't capable enough."

Not capable enough?

I gripped my hospital gown until my knuckles turned white. My voice grew colder than ever. "I'm getting a divorce no matter what you say. Natasha agreed to it. If you have a problem with that, go ask her."

My in-laws didn't believe me, so they called Natasha.

She was still angry. As soon as she heard what I'd said, she went along with it. "That's right. Let's get a divorce. I can't take it anymore. Do you know how miserable I've been? I cheated, but I changed. I even fired my secretary.

"What else do you want me to do? Do you expect me to die and go back in time so I can undo it?

"I told you, I was drunk and didn't know what I was doing. What's done is done. We have to move forward. We have a child now. All of that happened a long time ago."

She hung up without even asking why I was in the hospital.

Just like that, she dismissed all my pain.

Had she ever thought about this day when she cheated?

People who cheated were shameless. They deserved to be miserable. What right did she have to call herself the victim?

For five months, ever since she first got pregnant, everyone had expected me to consider everyone and everything except myself.

I couldn't even take medication for my depression and insomnia. Yet she slept peacefully without a care in the world while I lay awake, terrified that the baby in her womb wasn't mine.

I felt like a balloon filled to the breaking point with nothing but misery and despair. Every moment was agony, and all I wanted was to die.

I was a person too. Who ever stopped to think about me? What right did she have to stand there and complain about how miserable and low she'd been made to feel? What right did she have to call herself the victim?

…

My parents arrived too. Just as they had pressured me to get married in the first place, they now pressured me to hold on to the marriage.

"Listen to me. You're not getting a divorce. Would your mother and I ever hurt you?"

Their daughter-in-law gave them plenty to brag about. She had a successful career, made good money, and gave them something to boast about in front of their relatives.

But I didn't want her!

I stared at their faces, grabbed the glass beside me, and smashed it against the floor. "Enough. From now on, I'll be responsible for my own life."