Chapter 9
Valerie stood up and swayed on her feet as she said, “You’ll forgive me, won’t you, Chucky? I only did it because I love you. You
should’ve been mine, anyway. Stephanie’s the shameless woman who took you away from me! I was just getting you back!”
Chuck clutched my phone and backed away. Finally, he treated Valerie with the nasty attitude he’d been giving me.
“I’ve heard enough,” he spat. “I lost my child because of you, Valerie. You killed it! How about I wheel you into that operating
theater and do the same to you? You’re so dirty that you need to be scrubbed clean!”
He gripped Valerie’s jaw tightly and looked into her eyes as tears filled his. She was so scared by his words that she tried to back
away. She was probably remembering how things had gone for me during the abortion.
“Y–You can’t do this to me. I’m going to tell your mother about this!” She broke free and ran out of the house, slamming the door
behind her.
I watched her leave before approaching Chuck. “Now that we’re done dealing with her, it’s time to talk about us.”
He held my shoulders and looked at me like a child who’d done something wrong. “Let’s not get a divorce, okay? I don’t want to
lose you, Steph. We can have another child if it’s what you want, but you can’t leave me.”
I broke free of his hold and stepped back. “It’s too late for that. I begged you to let me go in that operating theater, but did you? All
you could think of was your safety. It didn’t occur to you that I was pregnant with your child.”
“But you already know Valerie was the one who orchestrated this! She’s the one you should blame!” Chuck slumped onto the floor and kneeled at my feet while weeping.
“She’s at fault, but so are you. You trusted her and your mother blindly; you chose to believe their nonsense instead of me.
Everything everyone else says makes sense to you, but I’m wrong no matter what I do. You’ve never trusted me.
“I bet you don’t know this, but I had a high fever on the day Valerie lied to you about her stomach hurting. I almost died from that fever, but you couldn’t care less. You had Valerie in your arms–there was no space for me there.”
I wiped my tears and looked at Chuck as he sobbed. Suddenly, I felt like there was no point in talking about all of this anymore. I said, “Let’s get the divorce over and done with. I’ll wait for you tomorrow morning.”
I took my phone from him and turned to leave. He cried out my name from behind, but I only walked faster.
