Chapter 1 - The Accidental Eavesdropping
The digital timer on the bottle warmer beside the kitchen counter blinked a soft, steady orange. I stood motionless in the quiet evening light, looking down at the glowing screen of my smartphone. The call was supposed to have ended nearly a minute ago. My husband, Liam, had snapped at me for checking in on him during his late hours at the office, his voice clipped and freezing cold. He had told me he wouldn't be home for dinner, commanded me to stop calling him, and hung up—or so I thought.
Instead, the connection remained active. Forty-three seconds. Forty-four. Forty-five.
Before my thumb could hit the red end button, a woman’s light, musical laugh drifted through the speaker. I froze, the breath catching in my lungs. Then Liam spoke again, but the tired, stressed-out executive tone he always used with me was entirely gone. This version of Liam sounded warm, relaxed, and intimately happy.
"She’s driving me insane," he chuckled softly, referring to me.
My hand tightened around the plastic casing of my phone until my knuckles turned white. A woman murmured something indistinguishable in the background, and Liam laughed again, a sound that made my stomach violently churn.
"She keeps sending me pictures of the baby and asking when I’m coming home," Liam said, his voice dripping with casual disdain. "I swear, I just want her to leave me alone."
My eyes drifted toward Hailey’s bassinet tucked quietly in the corner of the living room. My newborn daughter was sleeping peacefully, a tiny, fragile fist resting gently against her flushed cheek. She had no idea her father was casually discarding us over a speakerphone.
Then came the sentence that permanently fractured my world.
"Of course I hate her," Liam said smoothly. "Just wait. I’ll divorce her, and then I’ll marry you."
May you like
A wet, sickening kissing sound echoed through the earpiece.
I didn't scream. I didn't burst into frantic tears. A cold, heavy numbness washed over me, numbing my limbs as I finally reached out and pressed the end call button. I placed the phone gently back on the granite counter and finished warming my daughter's milk. Because even when your entire life shatters into a million jagged pieces, your baby still needs to eat.
