When I was pregnant, everything about my spouse changed. He made fun of how I looked, didn’t care about my concerns, and made me feel worse about myself every day. Then, just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, he left me for someone else, sure that he would win. But he didn’t realize that I had my own plan. And when the time was right, I hit him back in a way that he didn’t expect.
A woman should be able to share the experience of being pregnant with someone who truly loves her. But for me, it was a lonely and awful effort to get to the top of the hill.
Adam was the perfect guy for me until things went awry. He adored me and treated me like a queen, and he constantly went out of his way to show me. He made me feel like the most loved woman in the world by bringing me flowers at work or making me breakfast in bed on lazy Sundays.
When I told Adam I was pregnant, he was extremely delighted. He held the test in his hands and smiled like a small boy. He said, “We’re going to be parents,” and his eyes lit up.
But that beautiful moment was the start of a long and agonizing finish.
As the weeks went by and my physique altered further, Adam’s behavior changed too. At first, it was just tiny comments and quiet sighs. One morning, he said, “Maybe you should try not wearing your pajamas all day.” “It wouldn’t hurt you to look better.”
At first, I didn’t care and tried to be understanding. I was always sick, had back pain, and was fatigued, but he couldn’t see or feel it. But as time went on, what he said stung more and more.
When he took off his shoes one night, he said, “You just lie around all day.” “This house is a mess.”
“I am trying,” I said in a low voice. “I feel bad.” I feel dizzy when I stand up. “I can hardly eat.”
He laughed and left.
Then the nights became late. The messages that keep flowing to his phone. When he returned home hours after work ended, his clothes smelled like perfume.
I tried to talk to him once, but I was eight months pregnant, my feet were swollen, and I could not move without leaning on furniture for support.
“Where have you been?” I asked, and my voice shook.
He didn’t look at me. He put his keys on the table and replied, “It’s not your problem.”
My heart sank. But things grew worse.
That night, he ran into the kitchen. “EMILY!” he shouted. I had to get up from the couch, and I used the armrest to keep my balance.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He looked at me with a nasty face. “Where’s the food?”
“I tried, but I got sick again.” I couldn’t finish cooking dinner.
He looked at the sink and rolled his eyes. “Could you have at least washed the dishes?”
His voice got louder with every syllable. “I work all day and then come home to this mess?” You don’t even try anymore.
Tears welled up in my eyes. “Your child is with me.” “I’m doing everything I can.”
“Don’t start,” he shouted. “My sister had a wonderful pregnancy. She cooked. She cleaned up. She was strong. She didn’t turn into this… mess.
That night, he slammed the door and ran out. I was shivering in the kitchen, and my tears fell on my lap.
Hours later, right before dawn, a text came in. It was his mom.
He will be staying with us for the night. He just wanted some space.
First, relief, then worry. I knew in my heart that he wouldn’t really come back to me. Not the same man I married.
When he came back, things didn’t get better. The remarks turned harsh. “You look awful.” “This house is disgusting.” “Why do you even bother getting dressed?”
One day, I broke down with my best friend Natalie.
“Leave him,” she said with authority.
“I can’t,” I answered in a hushed voice. “I don’t have a job or any cash.” Soon, I’m going to have a baby. “Where should I go?”
“You’ll stay with me.” With your mom. No matter what it takes. Just don’t let him injure you.
I wanted to believe in her. But the fear made it hard to move.
But one night, everything became clear.
Adam was in the shower. When his phone rang, he guarded it like a dragon would guard treasure. I took it.
A lot of messages. A dating app. Images of women. Plans for the hotel. My hands were trembling. I grabbed my tummy as if I were trying to keep my unborn daughter safe from the evil that was coming through me.
He was not being honest. All the time. With pleasure.
At that time, I felt like something inside me cracked. Maybe something powerful finally woke up.
I made a plan. One that is calm and careful. Adam came in with another woman only a few weeks before I gave birth.
I blinked since I didn’t know who she was at first. She was still a kid. Bright. She grinned like she was at home.
“Who is this?” I inquired.
Adam put his arm around her and said, “This is Tessa, my girlfriend.”
I thought I had heard him wrong. But then he put a folder on the table.
“Those are the divorce papers.” “Sign them.”
I looked at him. Then at the woman. Then back to him.
I asked, “What about our child?”
“I don’t want her.” Or you.
My hands were shaking when I signed the papers.
I said softly, “You’ll regret this.”
He laughed. “Hey, you? You don’t look good. “I have Tessa,” I said. Who’s going to want you now?
I left with just my daughter and my pride.
A few weeks later, I gave birth to Lily. She came on the day my divorce was final.
It seemed like a poem.
Lily was the greatest. Her tiny fists clasped around my finger when I held her for the first time. All the pain, betrayal, and shame went away at that moment. I had her. She belonged to me.
My mom let us move in with her. She helped me get better by feeding me, holding the baby while I slept, and telling me how much I meant to her. My heart and body both became better over time.
Months passed. I started working from home as a freelancer and building a little business. I lost the weight that I acquired when I was pregnant. I got my confidence back, which is more important. I didn’t see a broken lady in the mirror anymore; I saw someone who had been given a new life.
Then, one beautiful afternoon, someone knocked on the door.
Tessa was there.
She looked tired and worried.
She said, “It’s over” as she went in. “Your plan worked.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
She smiled shyly. “Adam gave away everything. The house. The bank’s accounts. He didn’t even read what he was signing since he was too busy with me. Everything has your name on it now.
I gazed at her for a second, and then I started to laugh. I stepped closer and hugged her quickly.
“Thanks,” I said. “Thanks for following through.”
I had met Tessa months ago, when I discovered out Adam was cheating on her. He texted her, and she was one of them. She didn’t know as much as the others, though. She was an actress and a friend of a friend. She responded yes when I informed her what I was about to do.
We put some food in the trap. Adam didn’t even think about it. And exactly like I thought he would, he handed everything away without reading the small print.
The structure. The money. All of it.
Lily and I soon moved back into the house I had to leave. But now it was all me.
I stood on the porch one night with Lily in my arms and admired how peaceful and comfortable our new existence was.
Then I heard it.
“Tessa!” Come back! I’m sorry! “Please!” Adam’s voice sounded like a terrible music that wouldn’t stop playing.
I turned back and saw him in the driveway. He looked dirty and hopeless.
Tessa was outside her car, cold and quiet.
I left the porch.
I said, “Adam,” in a polite way. “I didn’t think I’d run into you here.”
He turned around. “Are you? Why are you here?
I smiled. “Living in my home.” The one you gave away.
He blinked. “What?!”
I got closer. “You never read the news, did you? You just signed them like you always do. You didn’t even think about it.
He glanced at Tessa and then at me. “You got me.”
I turned my head. “Not Adam.” You tricked yourself. You pick what you want over loyalty. You made me feel horrible. “You left our child behind.” I only gave you the rope, and you used it to hang yourself.
His voice broke. “Come back to me.” I was dumb. I understand now. “I’m going to do better.”
I chuckled to myself. “You’re not allowed to come back.” I don’t want you. “I don’t need you.”
He said, “Nobody else will want you!”
I stared him in the eye. “Adam, look at me. I am sparkling. I have a nice daughter, a house in my name, money in the bank, and peace in my life. You, on the other hand, are standing here with nothing.
His shoulders sagged. His lips were shaking. “Please, Emily…”
I didn’t say anything else and turned around to walk back inside. I locked the door behind me.
I looked down at Lily, who was still asleep in my arms. She moved a little and hung on to my shirt with her tiny hands.
I kissed her on the forehead.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. “Everything will be fine.” Better than okay.
