Chapter 3

Borrowed Time

Emilia 

I had no idea why I had stayed at the party until it ended. Maybe I was hoping that Julian would walk up to me and explain everything. Maybe I was hoping that he would look at me and see that I was hurting. I stood there for a long time, watching him move around the hall with Cassandra. He stood close to her, adjusted her chair and asked her softly, “Are you tired?” and “Do you need water?” I heard him say, “Be careful,” when she stepped down from the stage. I had never heard that tone directed at me. Not once in five years.

My heart hurt so bad that I could barely breathe. It was one thing for him to cheat. But it was another thing for him to take my hard work—the project I stayed up nights for—and hand my dream job to her. To the woman carrying his child. I felt so small. So invisible.

I kept telling myself, that he will come to me. That he will say something. Even if it is small. “Are you okay?” But he never did. When the lights started to dim, I stood up quietly, turned and walked out. 

The driver opened the car door for me when I got outside. 

“Madam, are you alright?” he asked carefully.

“I’m fine,” I replied, even though my voice sounded weak.

The ride home felt long as I stared out of the window and pressed my fingers together. When I got home, the house was silent. I walked slowly to our bedroom and closed the door. I stood for a moment before my body gave up. I sat on the floor and cried. I cried without holding back. 

“I waited for you,” I whispered into the empty room. “I waited for you to love me.”

For five years, I worked harder than everyone around me. I studied business not just for myself but to become the kind of wife anyone would be proud of. I told myself that if I proved that I was useful, if I proved that I was capable, he would see me. He would choose me. But he never noticed.

“I did everything right,” I said softly. “Why was it not enough?”

I wiped my tears and lay on the bed. At some point, I fell asleep with my face still wet.

The next morning, I woke up to loud voices downstairs.

“Where is she?” a sharp voice shouted. “Where is that girl?”

I froze as I recognized the voice immediately. Julian’s mother.

I quickly washed my face and walked downstairs. She was standing in the living room with her handbag clutched tightly.

“There you are,” she snapped when she saw me. “You didn’t even bother to come down and greet me?”

“Good morning, Mother,” I said quietly.

She looked me up and down. “Good morning? Is that all you have to say after embarrassing this family?”

“I don’t understand,” I replied.

“Oh, don’t pretend,” she said coldly. “The whole company knows now. Cassandra is pregnant. She will give my son a child. What have you given him in five years?”

Her words stung, but I kept my face calm.

“I have supported the company,” I answered softly.

She laughed harshly. “Support? Can support give him an heir? A woman’s main duty is to give her husband a child.”

I lowered my eyes. She did not know the truth. She did not know that Julian and I had never shared a bed as husband and wife. And I had no intention of telling her. It would only humiliate me further.

“You were a gold digger from the start,” she continued. “Julian paid off your debts. We accepted you out of kindness. And this is how you repay us?”

“I have worked hard,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “I’ve earned more than what he spent.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Money should marry money. Wealth should stay with wealth. Cassandra comes from a respectable background. She will give this family what you could not.”

I swallowed the pain in my throat.

“You should be grateful,” she added. “If you have any pride left, step aside quietly.”

With that, she turned and walked out without another word.

I stood there alone in the living room. My hands were trembling. I had been called a gold digger many times when I first married Julian. People said I married him for money. They ignored the fact that I worked day and night after that. They ignored the projects I completed. They ignored how I doubled the amount he paid for my debts through company growth.

His mother never saw that. She only saw a poor girl who married into wealth.

When I got to work later that day, the whispers followed me.

“I heard she was just a contracted wife.”

“Cassandra has always been the real one.”

“No wonder she got promoted.”

They did not even lower their voices. I heard everything clearly. Before the pregnancy announcement, they all respected me. But now they either looked at me with pity or mockery.

By afternoon, I could not take it anymore. I packed my things and left early. I needed air and silence.

I got into my car and started driving home. My eyes burned, but I forced myself to focus on the road when my phone rang. I did not check the screen. I just pressed the answer button and placed it to my ear.

“Hello?” I said.

“Mrs. Aldridge?” a familiar female voice responded.

“Yes.”

“This is Dr. Lawson from the hospital. How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine,” I lied automatically.

There was a brief pause on the line.

“We’ve received your test results,” she continued gently. “I think you should come in so we can discuss them.”

My fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel. “You can tell me,” I said.

There was another pause.

“Your reports show signs of cervical cancer,” she said carefully. “It is advanced. I’m very sorry.”

The world went quiet all of a sudden. 

“What?” I whispered.

“It has progressed further than we expected. We will discuss treatment options, but I must be honest. It will be difficult.”

“How long?” I asked, my voice barely steady.

She hesitated. “You are living on limited time, Mrs. Aldridge. One year.”

The phone slipped from my hand as my fingers went loose. The steering wheel turned on its own and the car started to drift.