Chapter 2

I turned to see Justin standing there. I had not heard him come in. His briefcase had just fallen from his hand.

I hurried over to greet him. I was so delighted to see him that I did not think much about the identical looks of panic on their faces.

Over dinner, I suggested that Sally bring her boyfriend over so we could meet him.

“You’re pregnant, and he still won't marry you? He needs to step up!”

Justin froze. The serving spoon hovered over my plate.

Sally kept smiling. Her manner was as gentle as ever.

“Everyone’s situation is different. We can’t all be lucky enough to come from a family like yours and have such a wonderful husband. I don’t need a ring. As long as he loves me, that’s enough.”

Before I could respond, Justin abruptly rose from his chair and headed for the door.

“Something’s come up at work.”

He left in such a hurry that he forgot his briefcase.

Inside, I found a diamond bracelet.

Oddly, it did not fit my wrist, but when Sally tried it on, it fit her perfectly.

A suspicion crossed my mind.

But I could not bring myself to believe it.

After that day, things at home began to feel strange.

Justin stopped letting Sally do any heavy lifting and kept giving her raises.

Before long, he moved her older daughter into our house too. He drove her to school and picked her up every day.

When I asked why he was taking such an interest in the girl, he said he was getting some practice in before our baby arrived.

I grew more uneasy by the day.

Meanwhile, Sally put less and less effort into her work.

The floors were often dirty, the dishes were still greasy, my expensive prenatal supplements ran out far faster than they should have, and the grocery bills kept climbing.

The third time she ruined one of my wool coats in the wash, I lost my temper.

“Can you please do your job properly? If it’s too much for you, take some time off. I’ll hire someone to cover for you!”

Sally lowered her head with a wounded expression.

Justin frowned and stepped in front of her.

“All this over a coat? She’s pregnant.”

“So am I!”

After days of stress, with my pregnancy making everything feel even more overwhelming, I broke down sobbing.

Justin hurried to comfort me.

Sally suddenly let out a low groan, doubled over, and sank to her knees.

Justin looked frantic. He scooped her up and rushed out of the house without giving me another glance.

I stood frozen with tears still brimming in my eyes.

Sally’s older daughter, Peyton Mack, walked over with a smug little smile.

“Constance, if you upset my mom again, I’ll get Justin to kick you out.”

When Justin came home, I flipped the dining table over and told him, with absolute certainty, “I’m firing Sally. She’s leaving, and that’s final.”

In the end, Justin gave in.

On the day they moved out, Peyton sobbed hysterically and called for Justin over and over.

Sally slapped her. She was crying as she said, “Haven’t you upset Mrs. Cornwell enough?”

I watched their little performance without a flicker of sympathy.

Then, Peyton said something that made my blood run cold.

“But you’re having Justin’s baby too! Why do we have to leave? Why can’t you kick that nasty woman out instead?”

The girl glared at me with hatred, as if I had stolen the person who mattered most to her.

The whole house fell silent.

I turned stiffly toward Justin.

He stood with his head bowed in silence.

How could that be possible?

The blow I had been dreading had finally landed.

The woman who had destroyed me was neither young nor beautiful. She was even a little dowdy.

Yet it was her. Of all people, it was the woman I had taken in out of kindness.

That day, the shock and rage threw my pregnancy into distress.

As the paramedics lifted me into the ambulance, I grabbed Justin’s hand.

Tears streamed down my face.

“How could you do this to me?”

Why had he slept with a woman so much older?

Why did he betray me when I was at my most vulnerable? Why, for hundreds of days, did he play me for a fool?

All those days and nights, where had they been sleeping behind my back?

In our bed?

I felt suffocated and nauseated. The baby moved restlessly inside me, as though sensing my distress.

Justin waited outside the emergency room all night.

None of our friends knew what had happened.

They only noticed that the couple everyone thought had the perfect marriage no longer held hands in public.