002

Jasmine's Pov 

My head scrambled for ignore and move on or go find out—

Well scratch that, because my curiosity won and now, I was already standing right outside the doctor's office window, staring a hole into the back of the man who looked so much like… 

“Really? Oh, poor lady…” the lady's voice that just walked in with the man dripped with pity. 

The doctor must have said something about me coming alone for prenatal checkups. 

“...but not with my Enoch. He's such a caring, devoted husband…” she continued proudly, but I couldn't hear the rest anymore. 

The words settled like a stone in my stomach, heavy enough to steal the air from my lungs. 

Caring.

Devoted. 

Husband. 

Wait, husband? Enoch my husband, is her husband? And here with her? No, that's impossible. I mean, there are like a hundred Enochs in San Francisco, right? This… this has to be some sort of coincidence.

It was, until the man spoke. “Yes, doctor. How's our baby? Please, I don't want anything to happen to her.” His tone was filled with a rare tenderness that would make any woman melt. 

The doctor laughed heartily. “Oh my. Look at you. First glance, and I already knew you're a first time father. But don't worry, your baby is okay, and so is Mrs Melody.”

That was it. Lightening bolt followed by Thunderstruck. It was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been emptied on my head, pouring down and making my spine go rigid. 

Melody, Enoch's childhood sweetheart is back in the country and is now pregnant with Enoch's child? 

Scenes from two two years ago started flashing across my eyes as if it was just yesterday. How I found Enoch crying in one of the church's cubicles like a lost child and how I moved to wipe it for him by helping him in that situation, and this is how he repaid me? 

By getting back together with his ex? Only when I felt the taste of liquid salt that had slid down my eyes did I realize I was crying. 

I shouldn't be seen crying like a crybaby. I should just go and maybe when he returns… 

Yeah, damn that too. I shoved the door open and, step after step, my feet carried me inside until I stood face to face with the man who once vowed to love me at that altar. 

Love? I nearly scoffed. No—he’d already spelt it out that he would never love me barely minutes after the wedding when he slammed a contract in my face. When he'd told me I'll be out of his life two years after we got married. 

But I had stubbornly vowed to make him fall for me. I'd been there for him, done everything for him. Shouldn't that count for something?

“Enoch?” I called, voice trembling. 

“Jasmine?” He jolted, eyes widening in shock.

Good. At least, he has a bit of conscience. But his next words sent me straight to hell. “What are you doing here?” 

What was I doing here? “You told me you were at the office when I called a few minutes ago. You… you told me you were busy… but you forgot to mention how it's in a doctor's office.”

“Just go home and wait for me okay? I'll be back soon.”

“But I waited all night for you and you were nowhere to be found,” I wanted to yell, but I turned around and walked away instead. I didn't want to sound like a desperate and attention seeking wife. 

Behind me, I heard Melody whine about how she wanted to use the restroom and Enoch indulged her. 

His indulgence, like a needle, stung the hardest. I moved quickly, careful not to stumble and harm the tiny life growing inside me, and didn't stop until the air scorched my lungs and left me breathless. I paused, fingers trembling as I fished out the ultrasound sheet, its edges ruffled from how many times I'd held it.

I thought that with this, our marriage would take another dimension. It did, but not how I'd envisioned it. 

“What, do you regret what you've done now?” I demanded when I heard footsteps, whirling around—only to freeze at the sight before me. 

Melody stood there, a vicious smirk curling her perfect lips. She was infuriatingly beautiful, every strand of hair in place, every inch of her gleaming. She was everything I'd given up on, a cruel reminder of how I'd reduced myself to nothing more than a servant in my marital home. 

“Oh, you thought it was Enoch?” Her voice was honey laced with poison, the kind that burned going down. “Sweetheart, he's not coming. Didn't you see it? The way he looks at me? He practically worships me!”

Each word was a dagger, sharpened to slice whatever pieces of me that were left. But I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. 

“And if what you said is true, if he loved you that much, then why did he get married to me?” I made sure my shoulders were squared and chin high. 

Melody's face darkened like a storm cloud, and through gritted teeth she hissed, “You should be on your knees thanking me for leaving on that day, or you'd never have even sniffed his attention. Oh, you think I don't know you've loved him since college days? I'm the reason you got the smallest chance to play wife!”

“That's not true.” My head jerked in a hard shake, even though my voice barely made it past my throat. 

“What's not true?” Her smile slashed wider, dazzlingly cruel and knowing. She knew she got me right where she needed and I hated myself for that. “That he skipped his anniversary night because he was busy riding me to the moon and back? Or that while you were calling his ‘office,’ he was actually freaking out while driving me to the hospital because I casually mentioned feeling dizzy? Which one, Jasmine? Face it bitch, I'm back and it's time for you to pack your pathetic things and crawl back to whatever orphanage spat you out!”

For a heartbeat, my world tilted. The air suddenly tasted like rust and bile and the ultrasound print in my hand crumpled under the weight of my grip. 

How could Enoch betray me like this? How could—

“What the hell is that in your hand?” Melody's eyes caught the slip of paper before I could hide it. In a blink, she snatched it from my grasp, her nails scraping my skin.