Leaving.

She wanted to cry but then reminded herself that she had not signed the divorce paper and as long as she had not signed, she was still his wife. That was what she told herself at 4am.

That was the only reason she was standing here, she'd endure and Edward would come to his senses soon.

“Good morning”. Liya said quietly, but nobody answered her. They sat down, Edward at the head of the table while Megan on his right.

Liya lifted the jug and poured juice into Edward’s glass. She placed his plate in front of him with his fork and napkin. She did everything the way she had done it for three years like nothing had changed.

She did not look at Megan’s empty plate because she did not serve her and she was about to step back when a hand caught hers…Edward's hand.

Her breath got caught in her throat, and her heart skipped. ‘Maybe he wants to apologise’. Liya thought, ‘I stayed, despite how badly he hurt me. Maybe he finally sees it’. She lifted her eyes to his.

“Liya”. Edward said softly.

“Yes?”.

“I'm not the only one here, you know”. He tilted his head towards the woman beside him. “Serve my Megan too”.

It felt like a thousand thorns pricked Liya’s heart at the same time. Her hand was still in his, but it felt like nothing was holding her at all.

Across the table, Megan smirked deeply. She was enjoying every second of it. But the moment Edward turned to her, the smirk was gone, and a soft, gentle expression took its place. “Baby, don't worry...I should also assist her”. Megan said sweetly and stood up. “Let me help bring out the rest of the trays”.

“You are too kind”. Edward said to her. Then he let go of Liya’s hand and reached for his fork to continue eating like nothing had happened.

Liya stood still for a second or two…silent. Then she turned and followed Megan into the kitchen, because the food was not going to carry itself. The maid was nowhere in sight, so she must have gone to the store room.

Megan was standing at the counter, lifting a tray of fruits. Liya stopped at the door and looked at her.

For a moment, a very foolish moment, she thought to herself, ‘She looks like a nice person and she looked really sad when Edward was telling me to leave at the villa. Maybe she is not as bad as I think. Maybe we can live in this house in peace. For the sake of everyone’.

“Megan, I…”Liya did not even get to finish when Megan put the tray down and walked up to her, until they were so close that Liya could smell her perfume. She leaned in, and her voice dropped to a whisper. A very cold one.

“Listen to me, bitch”. Liya froze.

“This is my house...that is my man and you...are unwanted. I'd advise you to leave, because it's my promise to make life unbearable for you here”. Megan said, with the same sweet smile she had worn at the table. “Or maybe you'd love to stay as our maid, while taking care of the babies I'll make with Edward? Hmm? Lowlife!”. Megan smirked, picked up the tray again, and walked out of the kitchen, humming.

Liya’s eyes could not stop blinking. Again and again, as if blinking would change what she had just heard. Shock would be an understatement for how she was feeling.

Her hand found the edge of the counter and held on. ‘Babies’. She thought. ‘She said babies’.

Megan was out to get her.

And Edward? Edward did not care.

…

(Hours later)

Edward and Megan had left in the black car right after breakfast, and the maid had gone about her chores like a shadow. Liya sat in the living room, with the TV on and the remote in her hand.

Her eyes were on the screen, but her mind was still in that kitchen.

‘Lowlife’.

‘The babies I'll make with Edward’.

Megan's voice kept resounding as she changed the channel without even looking at it. From the News, to cartoons, to cooking shows and back to the News again but she froze there.

It was a business event. A big one. Although it was not about Edward, and it was not about Megan, somehow, the cameras kept finding them.

Edward was in a black suit and Megan who was beside him wore a red dress that hugged her body, her hand was wrapped around his arm…smiling, waving and standing so close to him that anyone who saw them would think they had been together for years. Like a couple.

“He'll soon announce who she is to him at this rate”. Liya said sadly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Then her mind wandered back to the night she met Edward. They were two broken people in a bar, both unloved, both pretending to be fine and he had looked at her like she was a miracle. Now she knew why.

Back then, his business was on the verge of crumbling. Failed investments, creditors at the door, staff waiting for salaries that were not coming. And who had saved it?

She did.

It was anonymously but she was still the one who saved him. She had sat beside him on those late nights, reading figures, fixing plans, helping him with tasks that kept him balanced while he climbed higher. She gave him her ideas, She gave him her sleep, she gave him everything and asked for nothing. But now, he was standing under the lights, sharing the glory with another woman.

Liya’s fingers tightened around the remote. She felt a slow burning anger that she had never felt before.

Then, out of nowhere, another memory pushed itself in. The pills.

She had not taken them after that night they were intimate because she was distracted and that wasn't all… she had stopped taking them a long time ago because of Sarah's hurtful words. She planned to first get pregnant and then convince Edward that they were capable of raising a kid. But that was when there was no Megan in the picture.

‘Megan!” She thought, her eyes widened and she rose from the sofa so fast the remote fell to the floor.

“No. No, no”. Liya muttered. She ran upstairs to the guest room, to her bag, where she had hidden the pregnancy test kit she had bought. It was there to double check herself if she eventually starts seeing signs of being pregnant but Edward didn't know about it.

She locked herself in the bathroom with a cup on her left hand and the test stick on the other hand. Time moved slowly, one minute, two minutes…her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure the whole house could hear it.

Three minutes and she looked down…two lines.

POSITIVE.

“Ha...”. A broken laugh escaped her lips and she slid down the wall to the floor, with the test in her trembling hand.

“Barren,” That was what Sarah had called her for three years. ‘Barren, Jinx, Wretched.’ And here she was.

Her free hand moved slowly to her stomach, and tears streamed down her cheeks before she could stop them. She did not know if she was crying out of happiness or out of pain. It was both.

It was too much of both.

Edward did not want a child with her and he had made that very clear. He had tricked her into taking those pills for three years, while he waited for another woman.

A while later, she washed her face, walked back downstairs and sat in front of the TV again. The screen had not changed. Edward and Megan still stood there, smiling for the cameras.

Liya’s eyes were fixed on them, red and swollen, but now, something else lived inside them.

“He doesn't want me to have his child, right?”. She said, as her hand rested on her stomach.“Fine. I'll make him pay”.

“I'll make Edward pay”

…

(Few hours later)

Liya sat in front of a desk with her back straight and her purse on her lap.

The lawyer across from her, a middle-aged man with tired eyes behind his glasses, looked at her for a long moment. “You want to file for a divorce”. He repeated.

“Yes”. Liya said.

“Are you sure about this? Sometimes people come here in a moment of anger…”

“Sir, i have never been more sure of anything in my life”. She interrupted. He nodded slowly and slid the papers across the desk.

Liya stared at them. Three years of her life, reduced to a few pages and a dotted line at the bottom.

‘I am not going to sign it! I don't agree to the divorce!’. That was what she had screamed at the villa, only days ago.

The girl who said that was gone.

The pen felt heavy in her hand. Her other hand rested on her stomach, under the table and then she signed.

She placed the pen down. Then she slid the ring off her finger as she set it on top of the signed paper.

Her phone buzzed on her lap. It was a reminder from the airline.

“My flight is in thirty minutes, I'm leaving the country. Can you please send it to my ex-husband on my behalf?”.

“Sure, no problem”.