3: 3

There was nothing left in me but cold.

"I didn't do this."

Shirley Barnes lifted her head at my voice, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Dr. Mason, is it because you knew all along that Stanley had fallen for me? You couldn't stand it, so you spread rumors about me on purpose, to destroy me?"

I looked down at her, my voice level.

"I only learned about the two of you yesterday. I've been in this profession for years, and nothing matters more to me than professional integrity."

"Even facing my husband's mistress, I wouldn't stoop to smears and lies."

"But my ID photo, and the intimate pictures of me and Stanley at the hospital, in the car, all of it got leaked online."

Shirley clutched at the hem of Stanley's shirt, crying harder, more pitiful by the second.

"Apart from you, I can't think of anyone who would envy me, who would go after me."

Stanley raised a hand and smoothed her long hair, the gesture tender, lingering.

He soothed her softly.

"Don't be afraid. I'll take care of everything. I won't let you suffer the slightest bit."

Only then did he turn to me, his eyes unsteady, edged with hesitation and scrutiny.

"It really wasn't you?"

Even though I'd braced for the words, my chest still throbbed, wave after wave.

"We've known each other eighteen years. Do you honestly not know the kind of person I am?"

Stanley opened his mouth, about to speak, and Shirley cut in gently.

She nestled against his chest, her face soft with fragile unease.

"Stanley, I didn't want to read too much into it, but I'm pregnant now… I can't help worrying that Dr. Mason resents me and is deliberately going after me and the baby."

"You're pregnant?"

My mind went blank, the blood in me seeming to freeze all at once.

And on Stanley's face, wild joy welled up.

"That's wonderful! I'm going to be a father!"

The first time I got pregnant, he'd said the very same words.

Only I'd been on psychiatric medication for years, my body worn thin, so in the end I miscarried, again and again.

I'd cried until it tore me apart, until I nearly broke.

It was him, back then, red-eyed as he held me, comforting me over and over.

"It's all right, Patsy. We'll have children someday."

He hadn't lied to me. He really did have a child.

Only the child's mother wasn't me.

A bottomless bitterness and despair closed over me.

I stood where I was, an outsider who didn't belong.

Any more words in my defense would only sound hollow, absurd.

I don't know how I walked out of that office building, how I made it home.

I lifted my eyes and looked over this home we'd built side by side through years of struggle, pouring everything we had into it.

But I knew, clearly, that soon a new mistress of the house would move in here.

Everything that was mine was about to be replaced completely.

All this time I'd buried myself in work, neglecting my own life, and I'd never once noticed the little things quietly changing in this house.

On the vanity, a few bright lip glosses I didn't own had appeared at some point.

Stanley, who lived spare and never wore cologne, had lately carried a cool woody scent around him.

He'd always been disciplined, eating only diet meals, and yet lately he kept bringing home trendy cakes.

None of his tenderness, none of the exceptions he made, had ever been for me.

The shrill ring of my phone cut through my thoughts.

The caller ID was the neighbor lady from back home.

4: 4

A bad feeling rose in me all at once.

"Patsy! Come home, quick! Your mother saw the news online and her blood pressure shot up. She got so worked up she just collapsed!"

My hand shook as I opened my phone screen.

The trending topic sat right at the top of the page, my photo blurred out beside it, every word in the headline cutting straight through me.

"Renowned Psychologist's Moral Failure: Spurned Woman Cyberbullies Pregnant Rival Amid Chaotic Private Life."

The next second, a message from the hospital director popped up.

He said, with some reluctance, that the pressure from public opinion was too great and the hospital had no choice but to let me go.

I had no room left for grief. I just packed my bags, fast.

Right on its heels came Stanley's call.

"Patsy, all you have to do is kneel and apologize to Shirley, record a video admitting your mistake in public, and I'll have every trending post pulled immediately."

My throat was dry, my voice trembling.

"Those photos those thugs took back then, you deleted them yourself, one by one, until they were all gone. In the whole world, only you and I ever saw them."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then came his voice, light as air and utterly cruel.

"I kept backups."

I felt like a complete joke, from beginning to end.

The man beside my pillow, the one I'd loved with everything I had, had schemed all along just to land the killing blow.

"I'm only teaching you a lesson. You were the one who kept pushing, going after Shirley. She's pregnant now, she can't take the slightest upset, and this is the only way she'll feel better."

"Since your heart and eyes are full of her, there's no point in my explaining anything."

"I've already signed the divorce papers. My lawyer will send them to your email shortly."

I didn't wait for another word. I hung up.

Alone, I picked up my few bags and got into a cab bound for the airport.

I watched the streets slide backward past the window, saying goodbye for good to this city where I'd fought and put down roots all these years.

And the phone I'd hung up on was buzzing wildly now, in a house with no one left in it.