There Won't Be a Next Time

My grip tightened around my phone until my knuckles went white. The sight of them together nearly shattered what little composure I had left.

For a moment, their words rang inside my head so loudly that I couldn't think.

Then, strangely, the pressure that had been sitting on my chest for years suddenly disappeared.

I should have realized it long ago. From the day Julian and I got together, a path meant for two had always been shared by three.

It never felt crowded, though. I was always the one left behind.

Hotel staff mistook Julian and Nora for a couple. Restaurant servers did the same. After Nora's son, Charlie Hayes, was born, even our neighbors assumed the three of them were a family.

Julian never corrected anyone. Later, when we were alone, he would pull me into his arms and reassure me with that gentle voice of his. "Lena, ignore what they say. You'll always be my only wife."

His only wife? Then what was Nora? His true love?

"Lena? What are you doing here? When did you get here? It's not what you think. I wasn't feeling well, but you're already in your third trimester, so I didn't want to worry you. I just happened to run into Julian." Nora's flustered voice pulled me back to reality.

She hurried over and slipped her arm through mine, pretending everything was normal. I immediately pulled away.

Nora stumbled back a few steps, her face crumpling into a picture of hurt.

I instinctively cradled my belly, my voice icy. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

Before Nora could answer, Charlie rushed at me and began hitting my swollen stomach with his little fists. "Don't you bully my mommy! You're a bad lady!"

I barely reacted. Maybe I had already gone numb.

I looked down at the boy I'd practically raised myself.

Nora was always busy with work, and I'd felt sorry for her. So whenever she needed help with Charlie, I'd stepped in without hesitation. Somewhere along the way, I'd begun treating him as if he were my own. But raising someone else's child didn't make him mine.

Charlie looked exactly like Julian.

I smiled bitterly. I'd noticed it a long time ago. Every time I mentioned it, Julian and Nora laughed. "Of course, kids look like whoever raises them! Charlie grew up in your house, so naturally he looks like Julian."

Before I could collect myself, Julian stepped in front of Nora and Charlie, shielding them from me. His expression remained gentle, but his tone left no room for argument. "Elena, enough. You're pregnant and upset. Whatever this is, we can discuss it at home."

I looked at him calmly. "I wasn't planning to make a scene."

I had made scenes before. They had never changed anything.

When my mother, Helen Crawford, was badly injured in a car accident, Julian had been the surgeon with the best chance of saving her leg. I begged him to operate. I even threatened him with divorce.

"I already promised Nora I'd take the kitten to the emergency vet for its diarrhea. She's busy with Charlie and can't handle it alone. A man should keep his word. A cat's life matters too. Besides, Charlie already lost his father. He can't lose his kitten on top of that."

So my mother lost a leg and was left disabled for life. Julian gave a barely noticeable scoff, but his expression remained gentle. He stroked my hair affectionately, his voice soft and soothing even as every word pulled me deeper into a nightmare. "Be good and do as I said. I love you so much. Nora is your only friend. I didn't want you to worry."

The nurses nearby cooed with envy.

"Dr. Ashford is so good to his wife. He even takes care of her best friend."

"Mrs. Ashford really is the luckiest woman alive. A devoted husband and a doting best friend. I'm so jealous."

Devoted, all right. Devoted enough to climb into her bed.

I kept my voice flat. "I want a divorce."

Without waiting for Julian to respond, I turned and walked away.