Chapter 2

There was a short silence on the other end of the line.

Then, Cassidy's voice came through, calm and steady.

"Always, Jewel. Where are you?"

No questions. No surprise. Just a simple, solid promise. It was the first real thing I had felt all day.

"I'm at St. Mary's Hospital," I whispered.

"Stay there. A car will be there in fifteen minutes. Don't talk to anyone. Don't answer any calls from him."

He knew exactly who "him" was.

"Okay," I said, the word barely audible.

"Jewel," he said, his voice softening. "You're going to be okay."

The line went dead. I felt a small, fragile sense of relief. Cassidy was a self-made tech mogul now. He had the power and resources to make someone vanish. He could get me away from Andreas.

I didn't reply to any of Andreas's frantic texts or calls. I just sat on the bench, waiting. The black car that pulled up was discreet. The driver opened the door for me and said nothing, just drove me to a luxury hotel suite that Cassidy had already arranged.

I didn't sleep that night. I just stared at the ceiling, replaying every lie, every touch, every promise from Andreas. It all felt tainted, dirty.

The next morning, Andreas was waiting for me when I returned to our house. He must have tracked my phone. He looked exhausted, his eyes red-rimmed.

He rushed to me, pulling me into a hug.

"Jewel, my God, where were you? I was so worried. I thought something happened to you."

The smell of his cologne, a scent I used to love, now made my stomach churn. I remembered what he was. His love wasn't just for me.

I wanted to scream, to claw at his face, to demand answers. But I knew I couldn't. Not yet. I had to play along. My escape depended on it.

I gently pushed him away.

"I'm fine, Andy. I just... felt overwhelmed with work. I needed some space."

He searched my face, looking for a crack in my story. I kept my expression neutral.

"You should have told me," he said, his voice a mix of relief and hurt. "I would have taken care of you."

He cupped my face in his hands, his touch now feeling like a brand. "Don't ever do that again. I can't live without you."

I felt a bitter laugh rise in my throat. He was living just fine without me, with a whole other family.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice flat. "I'm just tired. I'm going to take a shower."

I spent the next few days in a fog, moving through our house like a ghost. Andreas was overly attentive, trying to win me back from a distance he couldn't understand. He bought me flowers, cooked my favorite meals, left little notes professing his love.

Each gesture was a fresh wave of pain.

One evening, he suggested we go out to our favorite restaurant. The one where he proposed.

"Let's just have a nice dinner, just the two of us," he pleaded.

I agreed. It was part of the act.

The restaurant was just as I remembered. Soft lighting, quiet music. Andreas held my hand across the table, his eyes full of what looked like adoration.

"I love you, Jewel," he said. "More than anything."

His phone buzzed on the table. The screen lit up.

Annabelle D.

I saw it. He saw me see it.

He quickly flipped the phone over.

"Just work," he said, a little too quickly. "I'll be right back."

He got up and walked outside to take the call. I sat there, a perfect statue of a loving wife, while my world crumbled around me.

He came back a few minutes later, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry about that. A client emergency. It's handled. Now, where were we?"

I knew the truth. I knew he was talking to her, his real wife. He was probably soothing her, telling her he loved her, just as he had told me moments before.

He left early that night, claiming he had an early meeting he'd forgotten about. I knew where he was going.

I was in bed, staring at the ceiling, when my phone lit up. A video call request. From an unknown number.

I rejected it. It came again. I rejected it again.

On the third try, I answered.

Annabelle's smiling face filled the screen. She was in what looked like a nursery, a crib visible behind her.

"Hello, Jewel," she said, her voice sickly sweet.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice cold.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought you should know that Andreas is with his real family tonight. He feels so guilty for leaving his son."

She was trying to provoke me. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"I'm hanging up," I said.

"Wait," she said, her smile widening. "There's someone who wants to say goodnight."

She turned the camera. Andreas walked into the frame, looking tired. He didn't see the phone. Annabelle wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close.

"Andy," she cooed. "I was just thinking... all those years ago, when your family was against us... do you ever regret it? Marrying me?"

Andreas looked annoyed. "Annabelle, don't start."

"I'm just asking," she said, pouting. "Tell me you don't regret it."

He was silent for a long moment. He looked down at the floor, then back at her.

"No," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "I don't regret it."

Annabelle's triumphant smile was the last thing I saw before I ended the call.

I don't regret it.

The words echoed in my head. He didn't regret marrying her. Which meant he regretted... me.

Our wedding day flashed in my mind. The promises he made.

"I will love you, Jewel Reid, for all of my days. You are my only one, my true north."

Lies. All of it. I was never his only one. I was just a detour. A game he played while his real life continued somewhere else.

A tear slid down my cheek, hot and sharp. Then another. I curled into a ball, a silent, guttural sob shaking my entire body. He wasn't coming home tonight. He was with his wife and child.

The pain was so immense it became a strange, cold calm. The last piece of hope, the tiny, foolish part of me that thought maybe he was trapped, that maybe he loved me more, was gone. He had made his choice, and it wasn't me. It was never going to be me.

The love was gone. The hope was gone. All that was left was a hollow space where my heart used to be.

I picked up my phone and found a new contact Cassidy had sent me. The best divorce lawyer in the state.

It was time to end this.