Thanks for Taking Out the Trash

"Moira, Risa's family was pressuring her like crazy. She had no choice but to ask me to pretend to be her boyfriend. We just needed to get through Thanksgiving, it's not like we're actually dating. "But then you had to leave that passive-aggressive comment on her post. Who else did you think she was gonna take it out on?"Elmer Fuller had called me not long after I commented, trying to explain why he had ditched me at the hotel.But I couldn't calm down."I'm not joking, Elmer. You gave her the scarf my mom left me before she died. I want a divorce."Then I heard Larissa Marrow crying on the other end of the line."Moira, I'm sorry. It was thoughtless of me. I'll replace the scarf. I didn't mean to upset you. Please don't fight with Elmer."Every time Larissa cried, Elmer forgot everything else. And sure enough, his voice turned sharp with impatience."Moira Stephenson! It's just a stupid scarf. Are you gonna keep harping on this? You've ruined Thanksgiving for everyone. Are y

When I woke up in the hospital and heard the doctor talking, I still felt a little dazed."It was caused by emotional distress. Have you been going through something lately? Ma'am, are you listening?"The nurse's voice sounded far away, like it was drifting from above the clouds.I closed my eyes, and tears flowed silently down my cheeks.My baby had left me before I even had the chance to feel him.Suddenly, I remembered the night Elmer and I got married. He held me tightly and said, "Let's have a baby. I know you've always wanted one."He was right.Before my mom passed, her last wish was to see me settled down, with a family of my own. But she was in too much of a hurry.She finished knitting the scarf, and then she left.All these years, I kept blaming myself. If only I had brought Elmer to meet her sooner… If only we had gotten married earlier… Maybe she could've seen her grandchild before she died.Maybe it would've made it a little easier for her to go.My phone buzze

We all knew it was already impossible.…After two days of recovery, I finally got out of bed.The moment my foot touched the ground, the door slammed open.Elmer stormed in, face twisted with rage, and slapped me hard across the face. "What the hell did you tell my parents this time?"The side of my face burned. I stumbled back a few steps and caught myself on the table. "What are you talking about?"He sneered, his mouth curled with disgust. "Don't play dumb. You're the one who pushed my parents to go after Risa, right? You're the reason she got dragged to the hospital for a forced prenatal checkup, aren't you?""What?"I froze, stunned.I hadn't expected my in-laws to make another move.Elmer kept coming at me. "My parents acted like that because they didn't want the baby! Risa's a wreck, and she cries every day because of what you did. I'm telling you right now, if anything happens to her, I'll make you pay."He grabbed my wrist, squeezing painfully. "Get up. You're

I pulled out my phone and called Elmer.He picked up almost immediately. "Moey, did you change your mind? Are we not getting divorced?""Come pick up your first love and her baby."My voice was cold.He hesitated, then asked, "Baby?""Yeah. Larissa's pregnancy report was real."Silence on the other end.I said "Hello?" twice, but he hung up without a word.…Not long after, Elmer's car pulled up in front of the building. He came straight inside, helped Larissa up from the floor, and didn't even spare me a glance."Elmer."I called out to him just as he was about to leave.He turned back, and I glared at him. "Everyone here thinks I'm the homewrecker. Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"He paused, finally noticing the crowd gathered around us, whispering and watching.He looked down at Larissa, who clung to him with red-rimmed eyes. "Elmer… I never said it like that. I don't know why everyone misunderstood…""Oh, really?"I laughed coldly."If you hadn't been