Chapter 2

"You have no idea what you' re doing," Angel warned, his voice low and menacing. He waved the divorce papers in my face. "Have you thought about the consequences?"

I stared back at him, my expression unreadable.

"You' re just emotional right now," he continued, his tone shifting to one of condescending patience. "You' re not thinking clearly."

"I' m thinking more clearly than I have in years," I shot back, my voice sharp. "Especially since the drugs you gave me wore off."

A flicker of annoyance crossed his face. He hated being reminded of his less-than-perfect actions.

"Don' t bring that up again," he snapped. "I told you, it was a complicated situation."

He sighed, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair, playing the part of the long-suffering husband.

"Faith... she has serious problems, Alicia. Psychological issues. She' s not stable."

I remained silent, waiting for the rest of his pathetic excuse.

"She threatened to kill herself if I didn' t go through with the ceremony," he said, his voice dropping to a confidential whisper. "She said it was the only thing that would make her feel secure. I was saving a life. Can' t you understand that?"

The absurdity of it was breathtaking. He was framing his grand betrayal as a heroic act of compassion.

I just stared at him, my silence more damning than any accusation.

He seemed to take my silence as a sign of weakening. "Look, I know you were hurt," he said, his voice softening into a placating purr. "I admit, you were wronged. But it was for the greater good."

He stepped closer, trying to reclaim our old intimacy. "Once Faith is stable, we' ll do it again. A real ceremony, just for you. I promise."

He reached out to touch my cheek, his fingers tracing a line down my skin. He used to do that when he wanted something from me.

He whispered my old pet name, a word that now sounded like a curse. "Everything will be fine, Ally-cat."

I flinched away from his touch as if I' d been burned. "Don' t touch me."

The thought of his hands on me, after they had been all over her, made me physically ill.

His hand froze in mid-air. The mask of concern fell away, replaced by raw anger.

"What is wrong with you?" he hissed, his face contorting in a snarl.

He grabbed my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw, forcing me to look at him. "Your little disappearing act, it pushed her over the edge. She saw you file for divorce online. She tried to slit her wrists."

I gasped, a flicker of shock cutting through my anger.

He saw it and pressed his advantage. His eyes were wide with a convincing display of remembered terror. "I found her just in time. The doctors said she almost didn' t make it."

He leaned in closer, his voice a venomous whisper. "You almost killed her, Alicia. You almost had a death on your conscience. Is that what you want?"

He wanted to pin his mistress' s instability on me. To make me responsible for the consequences of his own affair.

"So we' re just supposed to forget about it?" I asked, my voice trembling with suppressed rage.

"Yes," he said, without a hint of hesitation. "We move on."

"Not unless you agree to never see her again," I said, laying down my one condition.

He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "That' s not possible."

He let go of my chin and took a step back, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "There' s something else you should know."

My heart hammered against my ribs.

"She' s pregnant," he said, his smile widening. "And the baby is mine."

The world tilted on its axis. The air rushed out of my lungs, leaving a cold, hollow void where my heart used to be.

He saw the devastation on my face and mistook it for leverage.

"We can raise it together," he suggested, as if it were a perfectly reasonable solution. "You always wanted a child."

I looked at him, at this monster who had shattered my life, and I felt nothing but a vast, icy emptiness.

"No," I said, the word barely a whisper.