4

Her words shattered the last piece of me.

The sound they made was sharp. Like glass cracking inside my chest.

“Without me, you wouldn’t have met him” I said.

The words slipped out before I could stop them. I didn’t know why I said them. 

Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the last weak attempt to remind her that the lie she was so proud of had begun through me.

The moment the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back.

Exchanging words with Hailey felt beneath me. Talking to her felt like stepping into filth barefoot. But it was too late now.

She laughed.

Not nervously. Not awkwardly.

She laughed like she had won.

“Things happen for a reason” she said calmly. “Yes, you brought him into our lives. And then he saw me. And we fell in love.”

Her words sank into me like poison.

“I kept quiet out of respect for him” she continued. “But now that you’ve found out? I’m done giving a fuck.”

My mother shot to her feet.

“Hailey!” she snapped. “She is still your sister at the end of the day.”

Hailey turned to her, eyes blazing, not with guilt, but with disbelief.

“Don’t bail on me now" she said sharply. “We’ve been in this for far too long for you to suddenly grow a conscience.”

Her gaze flicked between my mother and Joanne.

“Asher has been paying you for your loyalty all these years. Is this how you repay him now?”

Joanne’s lips trembled.

“My only regret" she said quietly, her voice heavy with remorse, “was not telling her when I found out.”

Hailey scoffed.

“I don’t care what either of you thinks” she said. “At the end of the day, Theodore is here. That’s irreversible.”

She stepped closer, deliberately slow, deliberately cruel.

“And not once” she added, locking eyes with me, “have I regretted having him for Asher.”

There was something in her eyes then, pride, arrogance and something else I couldn't fully understand.

“At the end of the day" she said softly, “I’m the better mother.”

That was it.

That was where something inside me completely gave way.

I burst into tears.

An uncontrollable sobs that tore through my body. Hailey could have said anything else. Anything. But she chose Jake. She chose to use my dead son as her weapon.

And that hurt more than being stabbed ever could.

I turned and ran.

I didn’t remember the door opening or the sound of my own footsteps. All I knew was that I needed to escape.

I rushed into my car and drove off.

Asher had shamed me.

Desecrated me.

In front of my own family.

The road blurred. Cars sped past. Houses melted into nothingness. My hands shook violently on the steering wheel as tears streamed down my face.

I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

I kept speeding, as if outrunning the truth might dull the pain. As if distance could undo betrayal.

But pain doesn’t stay behind.

It follows.

I didn’t realize where I was headed until I arrived.

Jake’s tomb.

The car came to a stop, and suddenly, everything went quiet.

He was the only one who could calm me now.

I stepped out and walked toward him, my legs weak beneath me. The world felt heavy.

The moment I stood before his grave, I broke.

I collapsed onto my knees and cried like I had never cried before. Loud. Raw. Unrestrained.

“I lost him” I whispered through sobs. “I lost you… and now I’ve lost everything else too.”

Within a month, the two most important parts of my life had been ripped away from me.

But I couldn’t tell Jake what was happening.

He was too young to understand betrayal. Too innocent to carry this weight.

I didn’t want to stain his memory of his father. I wanted him to remember Asher as the man who kissed his forehead and carried him on his shoulders not the man who destroyed his mother.

He didn’t need to know why I was hurting.

He just needed to know that Mommy loved him.

The ringing of my phone pulled me back to consciousness.

I reached into my bag and pulled it out.

'My anchor'

That was Asher.

Just seeing his name made my blood boil.

He rarely called unless it was urgent. We were never the clingy type. But now, I didn’t want to hear his voice.

Angrily, I switched off my phone and lay down beside my baby’s grave.

He was the only one who had ever been truly loyal to me.

And now, all I had left were memories.

When I finally returned home, food was impossible. The smell of it made me nauseous. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall as reality crept back in.

Late that night, I heard it.

Asher’s car pulling into the garage.

My heart skipped.

He wasn’t supposed to be back for another two days.

That was how they had fooled me for so long.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t rush to greet him like I used to.

I had no strength left for that.

His presence filled the room moments later, familiar and foreign all at once. I turned my face away, my body stiff.

“Scarlett” he called.

His voice was calm. Gentle. The same voice that had once soothed me.

But I was past illusions now.

Just last night, while I lay here mourning our son, he had been lying with my own sister.

Nothing could erase that image.

“I know you can hear me" he said softly. “Can we talk?”

“About what?” I asked coldly.

“About Theodore.”

My heart sank.

He wasn’t here to deny it.

I sat up instantly, rage fueling my movement.

“What about him?” My voice was sharp, my eyes icy.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Of course you have” I replied bitterly.

“I’m sorry.”

I laughed

“Sorry?” I whispered. “This wasn’t a mistake, Asher.”

He looked down, avoiding my eyes.

“You’ve been with her for a whole week” I said. “God knows how many times you’ve been with her before that. You came home to me with love on your lips, promises in your mouth. I trusted you.”

My voice cracked.

“I trusted you so much.”

“I love her” he said quietly. “And… Theodore.”

My chest burned.

“I know this isn’t the right time” he added, “but I want a divorce.”

The room spun.

So Hailey hadn’t lied.

I had been the only one in love all these years.

I swallowed hard.

“Fine” I said without thinking it through. “But I want my share of the company and the properties.”

He looked at me like I was foolish.

“You signed over your rights months ago, Scarlett.”