Chapter 3

When I got to work the next morning, everyone kept giving me strange looks. Wherever I went, conversations stopped the second I appeared. People who had been chatting a moment earlier would fall silent together and suddenly pretend to be busy.

By the end of the day, the low buzz of whispering behind me still hadn't let up. I finally couldn't take it anymore and turned around.

"If you have a problem with me, say it to my face. There's no reason to gossip behind my back."

No one answered at first.

Then someone muttered, just loud enough for me to hear, "She's all over the trending page, and she's still pretending she doesn't know."

I immediately pulled out my phone.

One of the top trending topics was:

"While You Were Loving Me, You Were Building a Life With Someone Else"

The first post under it was Quentin and Lena's video, followed by a post from an account called Jen's Little World.

It was my private account.

I'd made it years ago to keep track of all the little moments Quentin and I shared. But every time I wanted to post something that showed him, he told me to wait a little longer, so his face had never appeared there.

That hadn't stopped anyone from finding me.

People had picked through every detail in my photos until they uncovered my name, my job, and even my address.

I kept scrolling, my fingers growing colder with every page.

Only after going through everything did I discover that Lena had an account too. She had started hers around the same time I'd started mine.

The difference was that mine had stopped updating.

Hers hadn't.

Her latest post was the ultrasound.

By then, everyone online had decided Lena was the one who deserved sympathy, and I was the other woman.

Someone even dug up my main account and found out Lena and I were best friends.

After that, my social media was completely overrun. Messages kept pouring in faster than I could clear them.

When I got home, my landlord was waiting outside the apartment.

The moment she saw me, she frowned impatiently.

"You need to move out. I'm not renting to you anymore. I've already refunded the rent for the months you won't be staying, so pack your things and go."

"Why..."

"You seriously have to ask?"

She cut me off, her voice rising.

"This whole mess is hurting my business. People keep commenting on my rental listings asking why I'd rent to a homewrecker."

"I'm not one."

"I don't care whether you are or not. You're already affecting me. My other tenants are asking to move out too."

She let out an irritated sigh.

"I'm just a regular person trying to get by. I have kids to support. Please, just do me a favor and leave."

I stood there for a moment and looked past her at the rain pouring down outside.

Then I lowered my eyes.

"Fine."

It wasn't until I started packing that I noticed all of Quentin's clothes were gone.

I looked at the empty side of the closet, then turned back to my own things.

I was leaving sooner or later anyway.

Before I stepped out, I stopped at the door and took one last look at the apartment Quentin and I had shared for five years.

I'd chosen everything in it myself, from the bedside lamps to the mattress, adding each piece little by little until it felt like ours.

Back then, Quentin would hold me and talk about the future with so much certainty.

"Jen, I promise I'll work hard. One day, this place will really be our home."

In the end, he was the first to leave.

Now I was leaving too.

I dragged two suitcases through the pouring rain and tried three hotels before I finally found one with a room left.

Water dripped from my hair and gathered in a small puddle on the floor. Looking at it reminded me of the grease that had congealed in the skillet back at the apartment.

I sat on the edge of the bed with my phone in my hand, shivering so hard I couldn't stop.

Then my phone rang.

It was the HR manager.

"Jenna, the situation online has started to affect the company, so senior management has decided to place you on temporary suspension. Your transfer to Norvale has also been put on hold for the time being. We’ll contact you once a final decision has been made."

The call ended before I had a chance to respond.

I sat there staring at the floor for a long time.

Eventually, I called Quentin.

An automated hospital pharmacy announcement was playing in the background when he picked up.

"So you finally caved and called me?"

He gave a quiet laugh.

"I'll let what you said about breaking up slide. You were angry. But don't do it again."

I dug my nails into my fingertips as my throat tightened.

"Clear up what's happening online."

"What?"

He went silent for a beat, obviously caught off guard.

"Jenna, you didn't call because you wanted to patch things up?"

"Patch things up with you?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"You hid me for five years, then went public with another woman and announced that the two of you were having a baby. You left me looking like I was the one who came between you."

My voice sharpened.

"And you really think I'm calling to get back together with you? Quentin, do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?"

He didn't answer.

After a long silence, Lena's voice came through on his end.

"Quentin, come on. It's my turn."

"Okay, I'm coming," Quentin called back.

Then he spoke to me again, his words coming noticeably faster.

"I'm here with Lena for her prenatal checkup. I'll talk to you when we're done. Stop making a fuss, okay? Be good."