BAILEE

“Bailee!” Caleb yelled as I threw open the door and rushed down the hall.

I needed fresh air. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I could hear my blood pumping in my ears.

“Bailee, would you stop for a minute?”

The sound of my name on his lips as he zipped his pants made me feel queasy, but I held it down.

A hand wrapped around my forearm, and I was yanked to a stop just before the elevator.

“No!” My scream came out in a hoarse sob. “No! Get off of me, you lying piece of garbage!”

The rage and venom behind my words made him release me immediately, but he stayed close as he glared down at me. I took a step back, shaking my head at him.

“You don’t get to touch me. You don’t get to ever touch me again!” The elevator dinged behind me, and the doors opened, but I didn’t pay any attention to the people getting off until I heard them speak.

“Bailee! Lower your voice! That is no way to speak to your husband!”

“Mom?” Caleb asked, and I turned to face Helen and George Johnson. My in-laws. “What are you doing here?”

“The nanny called. She said that Bailee was acting more irrational and unstable than normal. She told us she would be heading this way.” Helen looked at my tear-streaked face and then down to my clothes in disgust.

“The nanny called you?” I asked, scoffing in disbelief. Even the woman watching my child was working against me. Either she knew Caleb would be here, or she had seen the messages, too.

I had thought we were friends. At the very least, I thought we had bonded from spending so much time together. Yet, I had know one I could trust in that house.

I should have known better. At the end of the day, he signed her checks.

“Of course, she did. Why wouldn’t she? Look at yourself. You’re a mess. She was right to call. The last thing this family needs is for you to make one of your scenes, especially looking like that. Ugh! Can you imagine how much it would have cost to clean up your mess if your tantrum was leaked to the press?” Helen looked down the hallway behind me to ensure it was empty before shaking her head. “Just disgraceful.”

“My tantrum?” I repeated in shock. This was not a tantrum. This was the end of my six-year marriage. I had every right to be hurt and angry by what I had just witnessed.

“How did you know I was here, Bailee? Were you following me?” Caleb asked, his eyes narrowed accusingly as he buttoned up his shirt.

“What? No! I saw your messages on your laptop,” I began to say, but Helen cut me off, gasping in horror. For a moment, I thought she was as appalled as I was about her son’s affair, but then she spoke.

“You were going through his computer? What kind of wife betrays her husband’s trust like that?”

The accusation seemed to feed Caleb’s anger, and he stepped closer to me almost threateningly.

I felt the need to step back, but with his father standing between me and the elevator, I had nowhere to go.

“His trust?” I balked, “He is the one who…”

“How dare you invade my privacy?! You had no right to go through my things, Bailee! No freaking right!” Caleb yelled, cutting me off, and I laughed coldly as I shook my head.

“I have no right to look at my husband’s open laptop screen? I didn’t even touch it! You left it open!”

“What I do on my computer or phone is none of your business! Why were you looking through my computer?” Caleb raised his voice as he stood in my face. A speck of saliva flew from his lips and landed on my cheek, making me flinch. “You think it’s okay to go through my things while living in the house, wearing the clothes, and eating the food I paid for? I didn’t give you permission to touch my computer, Bailee. How dare you violate my privacy like that!”

“Is it the meds the doctor gave you?” George asked from behind me, and my eyes widened in humiliation. I should have assumed Caleb would tell them about the antidepressants the doctor had given me. After looking at the side effects, I had refused to take them, but Caleb didn’t know that. “I’ve heard they can make people act irrationally.”

“What? No! I didn’t go through… This isn’t about his computer!” I screamed, my hands moving up in front of my face, palms facing each other in frustration. How was I the bad guy here? “You!” I said as I turned to Helen, “Your son has been cheating on me! How the heck am I the one who betrays in the first place?”

“That’s an absurd accusation,” Lorna said as she stepped out of the hotel room and walked toward us. My vision went red, and I wanted to throttle her. “We were just in there working. These stories you make up for attention really need to stop, Bailee. It’s not healthy. Maybe you should talk to the doctor about increasing your dosage.”

I should have pushed her over the balcony when I had the chance.

“Oh, Dear. What a pleasant surprise! I can’t believe my son had you working so late. You always were reliable, and you look beautiful! Did he pull you away from a party? You really do work too hard.” Helen exclaimed as Lorna stopped only a few feet away, placing her hand on Caleb’s arm. He stepped back from me, moving closer to her and allowing me to finally take in a deep breath.

“Absolutely stunning. It’s like that dress was made just for you. I don’t think anyone else could pull it off.”

“That’s MY dress,” I yelled, feeling defeated as they surrounded me. Helen rolled her eyes.

“For Heaven’s sake, Bailee. Enough with the stories! Did you hear what you said? You wouldn’t be able to fit into that dress even if you starved yourself to do it.” Helen snapped before placing her hand between my shoulder blades and pushing me toward the elevator. “Lorna, can you schedule Bailee an appointment for tomorrow with her psychiatrist? Let them know it's urgent. We can’t have this kind of unhinged behavior. It’s not fitting for someone with the Johnson name.”

“Of course,” Lorna smiled sweetly.

“What? No! I’m not going anywhere!” I said, shaking my head and turning to shove her hand off me.

“Bailee! That’s enough!” Caleb snapped, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the elevator as it opened.

“Where are you taking me?” I glanced around, praying someone had come out of their suite from all the yelling and would help me, but no one had.

“We are going to deal with this at home.” He hissed, his hot breath hitting my ear.

“Don’t bother,” I said, looking up to see the security camera above the elevator. Caleb followed my gaze and released my arm when I yanked it away and backed up toward his parents, not wanting to get into the elevator alone with him. “I’m done.”

“Excuse me?” His eyes darkened, and I regretted saying anything since there weren’t any witnesses around besides his parents and Lorna. They would side with him, and his father would probably use his authority as a senator to have the security footage wiped.

I had been swallowed it down all the time. I did it for our daughter, to keep our family together for her sake. Every time we had a fight, he would wake up the following day and claim he hadn’t meant it. That he had just been angry and that he loved me.

Now, I knew he was nothing but a liar and a cheater.

“You win. Let's get a divorce.” I said.

BAILEE

“You must be out of your mind!” Helen yelled, but I didn’t spare her a glance. This wasn’t between her and me…even though she wanted it to be.

She thought the world revolved around her, the perfect senator’s wife. She loved putting on her over-priced, costume-looking jewelry and acting like she was the queen.

Yet, her favorite pastime was picking fights, throwing little digs at me, and insisting everything I did was wrong.

Much to her dismay, this was between Caleb and me, and I refused to let her be involved this time. He had dragged her into everything else. Mommy’s little boy.

Only, he looked stunned as he stared at me, dumbfounded that I would be so bold as to bring up divorce myself, especially in front of his parents.

“Don’t be foolish, Bailee!” Helen spat. “You have a child together! Divorce is not an option! That’s just lazy. You are lazy!”

I stared at her unbelieving what she said. Since the day he introduced me to his family, Helen Johnson had hated me. She threw little digs at me every chance she could, even referring to me as ‘Fatass’ behind my back when she was telling the rest of the family just how horrible I was.

One could only be civil for so long.

“Says the mother whose son can’t even bother to spend time on his own daughter!” I snapped back before pointedly making eye contact with my husband. He had been neglectful since the day she was born, refusing to cook for her, bathe her, or help me with her when she was sick.

As she got older, he would yell in her face for her to leave him alone when she wanted to play with him. He would shake her little hands off him when she tried to get his attention and go back to whatever he was doing on his phone… probably texting Lorna, now that I think about it.

“You worthless tramp!” Helen said, stepping forward, but George touched her shoulder to stop her. “I knew from the moment he brought you home to meet us that you would be trouble. I said it! I told you back then that she wasn’t worth it!”

Helen had turned to face a stunned Caleb, who continued to stare at me, but my gaze was glued to Lorna, who was wrapped around his arm like a victim.

He hadn’t even pulled away. She smirked at me knowingly. It was a smirk of victory.

Caleb cleared his throat, shaking his head back and forth. I wasn’t sure why I expected him to defend me for a moment. He never had before.

“Bailee,” Caleb let out an uncomfortable laugh. “You can’t be serious. This isn’t time to be dramatic.”

“Oh, I am very serious. Almost as serious as you were about leaving me and your daughter home so you could come here to sleep with your assistant.” I raised my eyebrows at him challengingly.

“Watch your words!” George Johnson snapped, his voice low and deep as he moved to step in front of his wife. He became a senator because he was good with his words in front of the camera and made the people love him, but in private, he was never a loving man. “You shall never defame my son’s image like that again.”

“You’ll see the doctor first thing tomorrow, and then you will come over, and we will put an end to this behavior. You need to learn how to act like a Johnson. You are a disgrace to the Johnson name, and I won’t allow you to damage it anymore than you already have.” Helen said through her teeth.

“I won’t be going to see anyone tomorrow, not the shrink you’re paying to try to manipulate and control me, and certainly not you! Besides, I think your son is a big enough disgrace to the Johnson name on his own. I’m just doing you a favor and giving you one less ‘Johnson’ to worry about.” I said, knowing I was just digging my grave further.

“Enough of this!” George’s eyes darkened, and he gestured with his head for me to follow him down the hallway. “We will have this conversation in private. Send your wife home, Caleb. Now.”

“Everyone,” Caleb said, brushing Lorna off of his arm. “Just calm down. Bailee, I know you wouldn’t be so stupd as to file for divorce. We will work through this together in private. Come on, Bailee.” Caleb moved toward me. I stepped back.

The elevator dinged, and two security guards stepped out as the door opened.

“Senator Johnson,” One of the men said with surprise as he looked around at the five people blocking the hallway. “We didn’t realize you were here. We got a call about a disturbance from Ms. Nichols.”

Lorna gave them an innocent smile, shaking her head. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I thought it would be best to call before coming out here. I was just looking out for Caleb.”

“You called security?” I said, feeling humiliated.

“Ma’am, are you a guest here?” The guard asked me. I shook my head, prepared to tell him that I was just leaving, when he cut me off. “I will have to ask you to leave the premises.”

“I would love to!” I said with exasperation, knowing they could see the tear streaks on my cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

“Now.” He snapped, and my head snapped back as I stared at the angry man with confusion.

“I’m going,” I said before looking back at Caleb once more. Only that second of eye contact was too much for the guard, and he grabbed my arm tightly and yanked me back. “What are you doing? Get off me!”

“If you won’t leave on your own, we will have to remove you by force! We can’t have you harassing our guests.”

“We don’t want any trouble! It was terrifying, having her break into our hotel room, but we don’t want to press charges!” Lorna cried with fake concern, covering her mouth with one hand as she watched them drag me away.

“Let go of me!” I said, trying to pull my arm away from the security guard, but he tightened his hold. “You’re hurting me!”

Helen, George, Lorna, and Caleb all stood together, coupled off like a picture-perfect family, and it made my chest burn with humiliation and anger.

“We will discuss this in the morning,” Caleb said.

I was flooded with disbelief that not only had he just dismissed me and was letting security throw me out of the hotel, but he was going to go back to his evening plans with Lorna?

“You’re going back in the room with her?!”

“Don’t make me call the police for breaking and entering! I said, be quiet!” The guard yelled in my face as I watched Caleb turn his back on me through the closing elevator doors.

BAILEE

I went home alone that night. The backstabbing nanny was already fast asleep like she was deliberately avoiding me, and as much as I wanted to confront her for what she had done, I moved past her room and into mine.

I was hurt, angry, and exhausted.

After a long, hot shower, I had curled up in my empty bed and muffled my sobs with my pillow, so I wouldn’t wake Brinley, until I fell asleep.

The cold sheets sent a chill through me as I rolled over in bed, my head pounding from crying myself to sleep.

I was so angry at myself for letting it get this far, so angry at him for not even trying to make this work, and for throwing away our family like it meant nothing to him. There had been signs and red flags throughout our relationship that should have had me packing up and leaving.

But I was stubborn, refusing to give up on the years we had spent together. I fought to make things better, over and over again, ignoring all the ways Caleb had mistreated me and ran straight toward that woman like a bull.

Suddenly, I heard the floor creak, and then the door opened. Standing before me was the was the very man who was responsible for tonight's farce. Had he really come home like nothing happened after what he had done?

“You have got to be kidding me right now,” I said, my breathing coming out faster as he walked towards our bed.

Before I could stop myself, I grabbed my pillow with both hands and threw it against his face.

“What the heck?” He shouted and threw the pillow aside. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You have some nerve coming back here!” I shouted before lowering my voice. Our daughter didn’t need to hear us fighting, and she definitely didn’t need to wake up to it.

“Oh, get off it already, Bailee,” Caleb said, rolling his eyes. “We’ve all done and said things we aren’t proud of. Let’s just move on. I don’t have the energy to deal with you today.” He sat on his side of the bed, almost making me jump.

“Then why did you come back here?”

“Because I’m an adult, Bailee! This is what people do in relationships. They come back and keep working on it.” Caleb reached up and stretched, but I just stood there with my hands tightly clutching the pillow as I panted, trying to catch my breath.

“This is a joke. What part of I want a divorce, do you not understand?” I hissed, my anger growing as he relaxed and moved to get a pair of shorts, pulling them on as he spoke.

“Oh, please. Don’t be so dramatic. You’ve changed, yet I’m still willing to stay.”

“I’ve changed? That doesn’t give you the right to cheat on me! I’m still your wife!” .

“Well, just look at you. Your hips are wider, your stomach isn’t flat anymore, and your breasts aren’t what they used to be. Heck, Bailee, you don’t even do your hair anymore. You always just throw it up in a bun. It’s like you don’t even care what you look like. I don’t recognize you anymore.”

“I HAD A BABY, CALEB! I grew a human being and then literally tore myself apart, bringing her into this world! Of course, my body has changed!”

“Not just your body, Bailee! You used to be home. Now you’re always either working in your dumb little sketchbook or saying you’re too busy with the kid for anything else!” His upper lip curled in disgust as he looked over and spotted my design book on my nightstand.

“The kid?” I asked, appalled, but he just nodded. “Maybe if I had some help around here, I wouldn’t be so busy! I’ve asked you so many times to help me cook, clean, or help me with Brinley, but you refuse!”

“That’s your job! You’re my wife! ”

I shook my head in disbelief. “No. It’s not. A wife is not a private chef or a maid. I’m not here to serve you, Caleb! I was here because I loved you! We were supposed to build a life together.”

“I am a Johnson, and I think I deserve the good thing. A good wife who dresses well and does her job. Is that too much to ask?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. All the time I went to couples counseling thinking that we could get things right for us, for our kid, turned out to be a joke. How could I have married to such a selfish prick?

“You know what? You are absolutely right. Now go to that good looking, considerate assistant you slept with, won’t you? I quit. Let’s sign the divorce paper already!”

“So, you’re just going to blow up our lives because of one night? Bailee, don’t be such a baby.”

“I don’t care what you call me anymore. I’m not going to keep doing this with you. When I said I was done, Caleb. I meant it.”

“You’ll be left with nothing! Do you really think I'll let you get away with dragging my name through the press in a divorce? I'll make sure you aren't left with a penny to your name!" He shouted after me.

“As long as I’m not stuck with you, I don’t care.” I threw over my shoulder, walking out of our room with my chin held high as tears silently slid down my cheeks.

I had let him bend and break me throughout our relationship, but that was the old me. Never again would I let a man treat me this way.

Caleb had hurt and humiliated me for years, and he didn't even care that he had done it.

“If you do this, I will ruin you, Bailee!”

“You already have. What could be worse?”