During the later months of my pregnancy, my husband, James Worthington, drove me and his sister-in-law, Wendy Wallis, back to the Worthington Family’s mansion for dinner.

But we had a car accident on the way. I was sitting in the front seat and was hit hard. Suddenly, my water broke right there in the car.

“James! Call 120 now, my water just broke!”

I shouted in panic, but James didn’t answer me. I looked up and saw him holding Wendy tightly and running away from the car. As the warm fluid kept running down the seat, I felt like my heart had stopped beating.

After three years of marriage, in the most dangerous moment of my life, I finally saw the truth. James only cared about the wife of his dead brother. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in the hospital. The baby had died due to lack of oxygen after my water broke.

James stood beside my bed and said, “Bianca, don’t be too sad. We can still have another baby in the future.”

I stared at him silently and shook my head.

“There’s no need, James. Let’s get a divorce.”

——

For a few seconds, James froze but he then looked at me with colder eyes. He took an apple from the cabinet, sat in the chair next to me and started peeling it. While doing that, he asked, “Are you really this angry? You’re talking about divorce already?”

His tone was calm, without any emotion.

I had just lost our child, yet to him, it felt like I had only slipped and fallen. It meant nothing.

“You know, I owe my older brother a lot. Before he died, he asked me to take care of Wendy. I can’t go against his last wish.”

“I know I ignored you in the car. I’m sorry for that. I promise it won’t happen again.”

I looked at the man I had loved for five years, but he now felt like a stranger. Deep down, I understood that people show their true feelings in moments of crisis. James didn’t even think before choosing Wendy over me and our unborn child. That showed me everything I needed to know.

Because of that choice, our baby died. How could I listen to his words and feel nothing? His explanations sounded distant, like this was a small issue. I could still picture him holding Wendy and running away from the car.

That memory kept repeating in my mind like a sharp knife in my chest.

“There’s no need to promise anything, James.”

I held back my emotions and answered softly, “I just want a divorce.”

I pulled my hand away from his and turned my head. Tears slid down my cheeks without me even noticing.

James looked like he wanted to say more, but then the door opened and a nurse came in.

“Who’s the family of Wendy Wallis in bed number 2 next door? She’s fine now and can go home once she wakes up.”

“I’m her family,” James replied quickly. He walked over and asked, “Is she really okay?”

“She only fainted from shock,” the nurse answered.

Then, she left the room.

James let out a breath of relief and turned back to me.

“Bianca …” he said with a tired voice.

“I’ll go check on Wendy, take her home and come back to stay with you later.”

Even though I had just asked for a divorce, his voice still sounded soft and he even reached out to fix my blanket.

“Bianca, wait for me. I’ll be back soon.”

After he left and closed the door, I closed my eyes and wiped the dried tears off my face. The clock on the wall showed nearly seven, but James still hadn’t come back. I slowly lifted the blanket. Even turning over caused sharp pain in my lower body.

The nurse saw me trying to get up and quickly came over to stop me.

“You can’t move on your own! Where are your family members?”

“I don’t have any family.”

I gave a small, bitter smile and let her help me to the bathroom.

After struggling several times, the bandage on my lower stomach had already started bleeding. When the nurse changed my medicine and I lay back down, I saw a new post from Wendy on her social media, shared about thirty minutes earlier.

[I was fine, but my brother-in-law insisted on making a big table of dishes to help me recover. I even thought it was too much work for him. LOL!]

The photo showed a table full of delicious food. Every dish was something Wendy liked. I remembered that when I first got married, I had made Pad Thai for the first time, trying hard to please James. But he said something hurtful that day

“Wendy can’t eat spicy food. Why did you make this?”

Both James and I loved spicy food. But ever since we got married, we never had Thai food or anything spicy at home because he always considered Wendy’s taste instead of mine. Looking back, everything made sense now. True feelings could never be completely hidden.

It felt like something heavy was pressing against my chest. My heart ached deeply.

I continued scrolling through the comments.

Someone asked.

[Is Matthew back?]

Wendy replied.

[No, it was James. I just got out of the hospital and he said he wanted to make me something tasty to help me recover.]

[Whoa, James is so kind to you.]

All the praise on the screen felt like sharp knives stabbing me one after another. I couldn’t breathe properly. My hands were shaking as I picked up the phone and called the lawyer.

“Please help me write a divorce agreement.”

It was almost eight o'clock when James finally returned. He was holding an insulated box and sweat was running down his forehead.

“Did you wait long? There was a traffic jam. I made some soup for you. Sit up and have some.”

He gently helped me adjust the bed and handed me the box. Inside was the noodle chicken soup. the same one Wendy had just posted online. My heart dropped. I felt sick to my stomach and turned to the side, throwing up dryly.

“Bianca, what’s wrong?”

James rushed over and rubbed my back. He looked worried and it didn’t seem fake.

“Are you feeling bad? Should I call a doctor?”

Tears blurred my vision as I looked at the bowl. I frowned.

“I don’t want this soup. You take it.”

He didn’t ask for a reason. Instead, he quietly went downstairs, then brought back a bowl of warm porridge.

“I’ll feed you.”

James took a spoonful, blew on it to cool it down and brought it to my lips. His eyes still looked gentle and full of care. I had fallen for those eyes so many times before. But now, those same eyes only made me feel worse.

“Is it fun for you to act like you care now?”

I looked at him calmly.

“I want to divorce you.”

“After the divorce, whoever you care about won’t matter to me anymore.”

James’s face changed and I saw panic flash in his eyes, although he tried to hide it quickly.

“Bianca, what are you saying? You’re my wife. Of course, I worry about you. You’re the only one in my heart. You shouldn’t say things like that.”

James reached out to hold me, but I moved away. His face froze for a second, but he still tried to comfort me.

“I know I made a mistake and hurt your feelings. But I promise I won’t do it again, okay?”

When I stayed silent, his face darkened. We were stuck in silence when the door to the hospital room suddenly opened.

“Bianca, how are you feeling? I came to see you.”

Wendy walked in carrying several bags of fruit. Her eyes moved back and forth between me and James. There was guilt on her face.

"It's all my fault. The baby in your belly ... I'm sorry. This happened because of me. You and James must not fight over this. If you need someone to blame, blame me."

Her gentle voice sounded caring, but her words felt like they were carved into my heart. They hurt deeply, leaving wounds that would not heal.

Looking at her acting so kind while standing over my pain, I felt something boil inside me.

"How can I blame you? Can you bring my baby back as compensation?"

"I … "

Wendy bit her lip and her eyes filled with tears.

"Bianca, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to kneel and say sorry?"

She began to bend her knees, but James quickly stopped her.

"Bianca!"

He stared at me angrily.

"I made a mistake, but what does that have to do with Wendy? I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?"

James stood in front of Wendy to protect her, shielding her with his body. Seeing his face filled with concern for her made my heart sink to its lowest point. I gave a small, bitter smile.

"I don't want anything. Can't I just get a divorce?"

James's face froze and for a moment, he had nothing to say. Later, he said he would send Wendy away. Then, James’s parents, the older Mr. Worthington and his wife, Mrs. Worthington, arrived at the hospital.

As soon as she saw me, Mrs. Worthington’s eyes turned red.

"Bianca, why do you look so pale? How did you get into a car accident?"

She sat beside me and asked Mr. Worthington to put down the things they brought.

"I knew the hospital quilts wouldn’t be as comfortable as the ones at home, so I brought some for you. We also brought your toiletries and other things. Let me know if you need anything else."

When she noticed my flat belly, her hands trembled as she touched it gently.

"It’s okay, Bianca. You and James are still young. You’ll have another child."

Mrs. Worthington had always been kind to me. She and my mother were good friends and even after I married James, she never treated me badly. Looking into her warm and caring eyes, my heart softened a little.

I wiped my nose and tried to stop my tears, but they kept falling.

"Mom, I want to divorce James."

"I can’t spend the rest of my life with someone who would leave me behind."

"James loves someone else and I won’t force him anymore."

"What are you talking about? Leave you behind?"

Both Mr. Worthington and his wife looked confused. Mrs. Worthington quickly grabbed my hand.

"Bianca, what happened? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

Before I could answer, the woman in the next hospital bed, who had been silent, sat up and spoke coldly.

"Mom, when your son had the accident, he left his pregnant wife behind and carried another woman away. Do you really expect her to stay with him after that?"

My words were indeed like a knife. The pain in my heart became even sharper. I struggled to speak as tears ran down my cheeks.

"I’m serious. I’ve thought it through. I want a divorce."

"This is unbelievable! How could this happen!"

"How could he be so heartless? How could he leave his wife and baby like that?"

Mrs. Worthington stomped her foot angrily and turned to Mr. Worthington.

"Call James and tell him to come back right now!"

As Mr. Worthington made the call, Mrs. Worthington turned back to me and tried to calm me down.

"Bianca, we’ll talk to James and make sure he never does this again. Please think about the divorce again … for my sake, alright?"

I held her hand and shook my head while crying.

"James already came back to the hospital. Let’s go find him."

Mr. Worthington comforted me while leading Mrs. Worthington out of the room.