Once and Never Again

After I passed out, my husband, Charles Lewis, had the staff take me to a private hospital and then went back to walking the red carpet while holding hands with his girlfriend, Julia Chapman.

When I came to, the first thing I did was touch my belly.

The doctor saw what I was doing and said sadly, "I'm sorry. We tried everything we could. You lost a lot of blood, so we had to take out your uterus..."

I forced a smile, feeling totally hopeless. I whispered, "I get it."

I checked my phone, but there were no messages or missed calls.

There were just a bunch of headlines:

[Rich Girl Julia and Business Big Shot Charles Go Public With Their Love.]

[Charles Says They've Been in Love for Six Months.]

[Julia’s Best Friend Spills That They Plan to Get Engaged in Half a Year.]

[Charles Gives Julie a Ten-Carat Diamond Ring.]

Each headline was a reminder of Charles and Julia's love, but Charles was supposed to be my husband.

The doctor, seeing me glued to my phone, seemed to guess what was up and let out a sigh. "You should call the baby's dad to come here. You're still very weak and need to stay in the hospital for a few days."

"The baby's dad... He's too busy." I said.

"Work matters, but it's not more important than family."

Charles was busy being the big boss of Freyluxe Group, and he had a fancy dinner to go to tonight.

It was not until midnight, just as I was about to fall asleep, that the loud sound of the door opening jolted me awake. I rubbed my eyes and saw who it was—Charles and Julia.

They just stared at me quietly for a bit until Julia could not help but laugh. "See, I told you she was okay. She's just looking for attention. We're both women. I totally get it."

Charles gave Julia a loving kiss. "You're so pretty and smart."

As the kiss grew deeper, Julia gently pushed Charles away, nodding toward me in the bed. "Stop. She's still here."

Charles finally noticed me. He walked over, his breath heavy with the smell of alcohol. It made me cough.

"Why are you pretending to be weak? Don't think you can relax and be a rich lady just because you're pregnant with my baby."

Too tired to fight, I handed him the doctor's report. "Do you think our baby is still okay?"

Without a glance, Charles ripped it up. "Be careful next time. If you mess up things with me and Julia in public again, I won't help you. I've already removed the mean comments online about you, just for the baby's sake."

I could not help but laugh at how serious Charles was.

"What's so funny?" he snapped, his expression turning sour.

"I'm laughing at how you're twisting the truth. You worked me so hard that I passed out, and then you told everyone I did it for attention. You're the cause of all this, but you act like you're the innocent one."

"How dare you talk to me like that? You tricked me into marrying you—"

"Sweetheart." Julia snuggled up to Charles, stroking his quivering lips. "Let's head to the Rose Suite and not waste any more time here."

His anger melted into a smile, and he tenderly held Julia's finger. "Let's go. Tonight's going to be special. I'll make you cry for more."