<nelt beside me, his expression soft and protective.
“I don’t want him upsetting you or stressing you out, especially with the baby on the way. Let’s agree not to answer calls from unknown numbers, okay?”
I nodded, smiling faintly.
It wasn’t long before Carter found us.
He looked terrible–pale, unshaven, and hollow–eyed.
“Skylar, I’ve really sent Brielle away this time. She won’t come between us anymore.”
“Come back home with me. Let’s forget the past and start over, okay?”
His tone carried a desperation I’d never seen before, a pitiful, pleading quality.
Hayden stepped in front of me, shielding me as he shoved Carter backward.
“Skylar is my wife now. Get lost!”
Hayden could be intimidating when he wanted to, and for a moment, Carter faltered.
But then his eyes turned toward me, rimmed with red.
“Skylar, I know you’re just trying to punish me by being with him. This isn’t real!”
“We’ve been together nine years. You can’t just forget that, can you?”
I laughed coldly.
“Nine years? You really think that’s worth holding onto?”
“I moved on in six months. I have a husband, a family, and a child now.”
“And you? You’ve always been alone–no parents, no home. What family do have?”
There was a time when I felt sorry for Carter, losing his parents so young = iness from nothing. That pity had tied me to him, kept me by his side thro erything.
you even
‘ding his
But looking back, it was all one–sided. My loyalty had only ever moved me, never him.
He shook his head, an almost crazed expression on his face as he stumbled toward me.
“No, Skylar. You’re my family. We’ll get married. I bought the wedding dress you loved so much.”
“Give it to Brielle. You two are perfect for each other.”
Carter had always believed I couldn’t live without him.
He thought I’d invested too many years in him to walk away, that the sunk cost would keep me tethered.
Even when I caught him and Brielle being openly affectionate, Thad to pretend not to notice–because otherwise, I’d be the unreasonable, jealous girlfriend.
Every time I tried to leave, all he had to do was crook his finger, and I’d crawl back to him.
His friends joked that I was like his loyal dog, incapable of leaving no matter how badly he treated me.
But that version of me no longer existed.
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18:05 Thu, Nov 28
65
Now, I found even looking at him revolting.
“Skylar! I mean it this time–I really want to marry you!”
“I’ve planned everything–the dress, the ring, the venue. Let me make it up to you for the
last nine times!”
“Our nine years together can’t be undone by a few months with this guy!”
Hayden and I ignored him completely.
“Sweetheart, Hayden said, his tone light, “how about yam and pork ribs sr
ight?”
‘Sounds perfect,” I replied.
Hayden and I moved shortly after, making it impossible for Carter to find us.
He still tried, though, calling from different numbers, sending texts, and even transferring money to my account, as if it could buy my forgiveness.
I accepted every penny without hesitation.
“Consider it compensation for nine years of emotional damage.”
His texts became increasingly frantic:
“Skylar, I can’t live without you.”
“Our nine years together are part of my very soul. I’m in so much pain!”
“Please get rid of his child and come back to me. I don’t care about anything else I just
want you back.”
I handed my phone to Hayden.
“Can you get me a new phone? This one keeps getting calls from trash.”
He chuckled, “Sure thing.”
Thu, Nov 28
♡ A
With a new phone, peace returned.
When our daughter was born, she was perfect–a little bundle of joy.
On the day we left the hospital, I heard the news: Carter’s company had gone bankrupt.
He’d lost everything and was wandering the city, muttering my name and begging for
forgiveness.
Brielle’s story was equally pathetic.
When she realized Carter was a lost cause, she quickly latched onto anoth hod
“dy.”
But her old tricks backfired. She seduced a married man whose wife nearly beat her to
death.
It turned out the man was only a kept husband. When the affair came to light, his wealthy
wife threw him out.
“Go shack up with your ‘buddies, but stay the hell out of my sight!”
Angry and humiliated, the man took it out on Brielle, slashing her face with a knife and ruining her looks forever.
He was arrested, and Brielle became a pariah, forced to live with her disfigurement.
Meanwhile, Carter lost his mind, roaming the streets like a ghost.
Neither of them had a home–neither ever did.
It was true what they say: what goes around, comes around.
I knew those chapters of my life were gone, swallowed by time, never to return.
With Hayden by my side and our beautiful daughter, the future stretched out before us.
It would be a long, happy life.
