I woke up to the sound of the bedroom door closing.   "Rhys?"   The space beside me was empty.   I pushed myself up, still half-asleep, and found him near the door, dressed in a dark suit. He was adjusting his watch, his attention fixed on the small silver clasp around his wrist.   "Where are you going?"   "Work."   I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "It's barely eight."   "I have a meeting."   "Today?"   He finally looked at me. "Amelia, I really don't have time."   I stared at him, trying to understand how he could sound so indifferent.   Today was our third wedding anniversary. I had expected to wake up beside him, maybe receive a kiss or hear him wish me a happy anniversary. Instead, he was already dressed and preparing to leave as though today were no different from any other day.   "You remember what today is, right?"   His expression barely changed. "Of course I do."   "Then why are you leaving?"   "I have something important to handle."   "Can't you postpone it?"   "No."   The answer came so quickly that I forced myself to look away.   For weeks, Rhys had been distant. He spent less time at home, barely spoke to me, and whenever I asked what was wrong, he blamed the expansion of his company. There was always another meeting, another business dinner, another urgent matter that required his attention.   I had tried to believe him. I really had. But something about the way he looked at me lately made that increasingly difficult. It wasn't just the distance. It was the feeling that he was somewhere else even when he was standing right in front of me.   "Will you be back tonight?" I asked.   "I don't know."   "Rhys-"   "I said I don't know, Amelia."   The sharpness in his voice silenced me.   For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then he picked up his jacket and walked out. A moment later, I heard the front door slam.   I remained on the bed, staring at the closed bedroom door. He had left on our anniversary.   I looked down at my wedding ring and turned it around my finger. The diamond caught the morning light, shining brightly against my skin.   Three years.   Three years of marriage, and I suddenly felt as though I was standing on the outside of my own life, watching it change without my permission.   I swallowed and pushed the thought away. Maybe he really was busy. Maybe I was overthinking everything. I had to stop assuming the worst.   My phone rang before I could think about it any longer. I reached for it and answered without checking the number.   "Hello?"   "Mrs. Knight?"   "Yes?"   "This is the hospital. We're calling to remind you about your appointment today. Your pregnancy test and check-up."   I went still.   "My appointment?"   "Yes. We'll be expecting you."   "Oh. Right. Thank you. I'll be there."   After the call ended, I lowered the phone slowly. My hand moved to my stomach.   For the past few days, I'd been wondering if I was pregnant. I'd noticed changes in my body, but I hadn't wanted to get my hopes up before confirming anything. I hadn't told Rhys either. I wanted to be certain first.   And now, on our anniversary, I was finally going to find out.   A smile touched my lips.   Maybe this was what we needed. Maybe a baby would give us a reason to find our way back to each other.   The thought warmed something inside me. I imagined Rhys holding our child, his usual serious expression softening as he looked down at the tiny face. I imagined telling him the news and seeing the surprise in his eyes before he pulled me into his arms.   Maybe things would change. Maybe we'd become the couple we used to be. I glanced toward the door. I wished Rhys had stayed long enough for me to tell him.   Then I got ready and headed to the hospital.   The doctor's office smelled faintly of antiseptic. I sat across from the doctor, my hands clasped tightly in my lap while he looked through my results. The seconds seemed to stretch. I tried to read his expression, but he remained focused on the papers in front of him.   Finally, he lifted his eyes to me.   "Mrs. Knight, I have good news."   My heart began to race.   "Your pregnancy test came back positive. You're pregnant."   For a moment, I simply stared at him. The words seemed to hang in the air. Then a breathless laugh escaped me.   "I'm pregnant?"   He smiled. "Yes. Congratulations."   I covered my mouth, my eyes stinging with happy tears.   "Thank you."   I accepted the results with trembling hands and left the office smiling. I was going to have a baby. My baby.   The thought made everything else seem less important. Even Rhys's coldness. Even the way he'd walked out that morning.   I wanted to tell him immediately, but then I thought of the anniversary dinner I'd planned. Maybe I could surprise him. Maybe, when he saw the results, he'd finally smile at me the way he used to.   I stopped at a few stores on my way home, buying balloons, decorations, and some of his favorite things. I spent more time choosing the details than I probably needed to, but I wanted the evening to feel special. It wasn't just our anniversary anymore. It was the beginning of something new.   By the time I returned, it was already evening.   I instructed the cook to prepare dinner, including Rhys's favorite meal and a dessert. I chose wine for him and orange juice for myself.   No more alcohol for me until the baby arrived.   The thought made me smile again.   Upstairs, I showered and changed into the dress I'd bought earlier. Then I helped arrange the dining room, placing the decorations carefully and checking the table more than once.   Everything had to be perfect, I adjusted the candles, straightened the napkins, and glanced at the clock. Rhys wasn't usually this late. But perhaps he'd finished his meeting and decided to come home after all.   I touched the small envelope containing my pregnancy results, which I'd placed beside my plate. I couldn't wait to see his face.   I was carrying the last dish into the dining room when I heard a car pull into the driveway.   My heart lifted.   Rhys was home.   I hurried to the entrance, smoothing my dress and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I reached for the handle and opened the door.   My smile disappeared.   Rhys stood on the other side, but he wasn't alone. A woman stood beside him. I knew her face immediately.   Jasmine Cole.   My former school and college bully, The woman who had made my life miserable for years.   The woman I had never expected to see standing at my front door, let alone beside my husband. And now, she was standing there on our anniversary.   I couldn't move.   My eyes shifted from Jasmine to Rhys. He glanced at me, his expression unreadable. Jasmine, however, smiled.   It was a familiar smile, the kind that had always made me feel as though she knew something I didn't.   Something in my chest tightened.   "Rhys?" I whispered.   Neither of them answered immediately.   I looked at Jasmine again, hoping there was some explanation that would make sense. A business connection. An unexpected emergency. Anything.   But the sight of her standing so comfortably beside him made my stomach twist.   I had spent the entire day preparing to celebrate our marriage and share the happiest news of my life. Now, I couldn't even understand why she was there.   Rhys's gaze remained fixed on me. Jasmine's smile widened slightly. And as I looked between them, I knew one thing.   Whatever was happening, my carefully planned anniversary was no longer going to end the way I'd imagined.

I stood frozen at the door, staring at Jasmine Cole, my former school and college bully. I was perplexed, unable to understand what she was doing with Rhys.   She smiled at me as though she had just won the lottery. I couldn't help staring at her with hatred and disbelief.   "I want to speak with you. I have something important to tell you." Rhys glanced at me coldly.   For a brief moment, I felt relieved. Perhaps I was finally going to get an explanation for his recent cold behavior. I stepped aside, allowing them both to enter, then folded my arms across my chest.   "This sham of a marriage is over. I want nothing to do with you anymore."   His words struck me with such force that I almost forgot how to breathe.   I stared at him in shock, hoping I had heard him wrong. But his face was filled with anger, his expression as cold as though he were looking at his greatest enemy.   "I can't... I don't understand. What do you mean our marriage is over?"   "What do you mean you don't understand?"   I flinched at his tone, my shoulders tensing.   "Baby."   Jasmine stretched her hand toward Rhys. He immediately drew her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist.   My stomach twisted.   "Meet my fiancée," he said.   My hand instinctively moved to my stomach as dread settled over me. I thought about everything we had been through together. I thought about the surprise I had prepared for him, the dinner waiting inside, and the future I had imagined.   Now, all of it felt meaningless.   "We've known each other for eleven years, Rhys." My voice trembled. "How did it come to this? What did I do wrong? Why didn't you tell me our marriage was in trouble?"   Rhys looked at me without a trace of remorse.   "Knowing each other for years doesn't matter anymore. I want nothing to do with you. This marriage is over."   "There's no need to sulk. It's not as though he loved you anyway," Jasmine added, lifting her chin smugly.   I winced and turned toward Rhys, silently hoping he would deny her words.   He didn't.   His silence hurt more than anything she could have said.   "That isn't true," I whispered, staring at the man I had known for most of my life. "Tell me she's lying."   "It's true," he replied. "And the sooner you accept that reality, the better. You've always come below me in everything, even when we were in college. I was always better than you. It's no surprise that Rhys chose the better option."   Jasmine sneered at me, her words dragging old memories to the surface.   I remembered how she had made my life miserable in college, sending false reports to the management, spreading lies about me, and even arranging for me to be robbed on campus.   My jaw tightened, and my hands curled into fists.   "Leave my house!"   I finally snapped. I couldn't stand there and listen to her insult me in my own home.   But it wasn't her words that hurt the most.   It was the way Rhys stood beside her, allowing her to tear me apart without saying a word.   "You should be the one packing your bags," Jasmine retorted. "I'm not leaving my fiancé."   Her boldness only fueled my anger. I glared at Rhys, resentment burning in my chest. It was his indulgence that gave her the confidence to behave as though she owned the place.   "There's no need to glare at me. I only mean well for you," Jasmine said, wrinkling her nose.   "You mean well for me?"   I let out a bitter laugh.   Only a fool would believe her words were spoken with good intentions.   The two of them stood together like a united front, while I felt like an intruder in my own home. The distance between us seemed impossible to cross, and even standing near them made me feel like I no longer belonged.   Rhys reached into the file he was holding and pulled out a document. He handed it to me.   My eyes dropped to the heading.   For a moment, I couldn't move.   Then I looked up at him, my heart pounding violently.   "D... Divorce papers?"   My entire body shook as I fought to hold back my tears. But I couldn't stop one from falling onto the paper, staining the clean page.   "Yes. Divorce papers," he answered calmly.   "Sign them now so we can part ways peacefully."   There was almost a hint of satisfaction in his voice, as though the thought of ending our marriage made him happy.   I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and lifted my chin.   I had already lost the man I loved.   I wasn't going to surrender everything else without a fight.   "No."   Jasmine's expression hardened.   "What do you mean, no?"   "I'm not signing the papers."   I looked at Rhys, forcing myself to remain steady.   "Whatever she told you is a lie. I won't give up on our marriage without a fight. If there's something wrong, we can fix it."   The smile disappeared from Jasmine's face.   Rhys, however, only grew angrier.   "Sign the papers. Your stubbornness will get you nowhere."   "I said no."   I held his gaze, even though my heart was breaking beneath my ribs.   Jasmine stepped toward me with a smirk. I stood my ground as she leaned closer and whispered in my ear.   "Some women don't know when they've already lost."

"I honestly don't care what you think, Jasmine. I'm not signing these papers."   I stared at her, my shoulders stiffening.   "You clearly have little to no respect for yourself," she said mockingly.   She stepped away from me and returned to Rhys, wrapping an arm around his waist with a crooked smile.   My jaw tightened. Anger burned across my face as I watched her touch him so freely in my own home.   "Your refusal to sign the papers will not change my decision," Rhys said, tapping his fingers against the file in annoyance. "I've made up my mind."   "Rhys..." My voice trembled. "Do you truly intend to throw away eleven years of our lives without even giving me a chance to understand what went wrong? Don't you think I deserve a justifiable reason for what you're doing to me?"   The thought of losing everything made my stomach twist. I wiped my trembling palms against my dress.   "Eleven years is nothing if they were spent with someone like you," Jasmine inserted, looking amused.   I clenched my fists and turned toward Rhys, searching his face for any sign of the man I had loved for so long. But his expression remained cold. I knew those eyes. I had looked into them countless times, shared secrets with them, and believed they belonged to someone who loved me. Yet the man standing before me felt like a stranger.   "Refusing to sign these papers will only make you look desperate," Jasmine continued. "He chose me, and he chose correctly. Sign them so I can move on with my husband."   Her fingers tightened around Rhys's waist.   "You have no right to interfere in my marriage or decide its fate," I said, lifting my chin. "You don't get to decide what happens to something I've spent years building."   "I have every right to speak," she replied. "You were never the right choice for Rhys. Even in college, you were always failing classes and getting yourself into trouble. Rhys deserves better, and he finally chose someone better. Why should he settle for less when a better option is available?"   Her words pierced me, but Rhys's silence hurt even more.   I turned toward him. "She needs to leave. I want to speak with you privately."   "There's no need to create a scene," he said coldly. "Stop being so stubborn and accept that this marriage is over."   My heart sank. I had never imagined that the man I loved would speak to me with such indifference.   "You've always struggled to accept losing to me," Jasmine said, loosening her arm from Rhys's waist. She walked toward me, gripping her purse tightly. "You should learn to accept defeat, especially when I'm your opponent. You're no match for me."   I shook my head and turned away from her. I had no intention of arguing with her anymore. As I started toward the staircase, a sharp pain shot through my left ankle, making me wince.   "You can never be better than me," Jasmine called after me.   I stopped and turned around. "News flash, Jasmine. This is not college. Stop treating me like you can bully me!"   "Sign the papers and move on with your miserable life!" she yelled.   "Leave my house!"   "It's not your house anymore!" she snapped. "Rhys doesn't love you. Your marriage was a sham!"   Her laughter echoed through the room. My vision blurred with tears. I turned toward the staircase, desperate to get away from them, but Jasmine's voice followed me.   "Sign the papers!"   I turned back. She was already too close. Before I could react, her hands reached out and shoved me.   I lost my balance. A scream caught in my throat as I fell down the stairs, my body striking the hard steps one after another. Pain shot through me, and I struggled to protect my stomach as everything around me blurred.   "Amelia!"   Rhys's panicked voice echoed through the room.   "Please, stay awake!"   I tried to respond, but the pain overwhelmed me. His voice grew distant as darkness closed in.   When I opened my eyes, a white ceiling came into view. For a moment, I didn't understand where I was. My head throbbed, and every part of my body felt sore.   I tried to sit up but immediately winced.   "Please don't move too quickly," a woman said.   A doctor approached my bedside, followed by a nurse. The doctor checked my bandages and examined my face.   "Where am I?" I asked, my voice weak.   "You're in the hospital. You were brought in after a fall."   Memories returned in fragments: Jasmine, the argument, her hands, and the stairs. My hand immediately moved toward my stomach.   "My baby..." I whispered.   The doctor's expression changed, and the warmth in her eyes made fear spread through my chest.   "Doctor, my baby. Is my baby okay?"   She hesitated. That brief silence was enough to make my heart begin pounding.   "Please," I begged. "Tell me my baby is okay."   The doctor gently placed a hand over mine. "I'm so sorry, Amelia. We tried, but the fall caused severe complications. You lost the pregnancy."   For a moment, I couldn't understand her words.   Lost the pregnancy.   My baby.   "No..." My voice broke. "No, that's not true."   I tried to sit up, but the nurse gently held me back as tears streamed down my face.   "No, please. You have to check again. My baby was fine. I was fine this morning."   "I'm sorry," the doctor repeated softly.   A cry tore from my throat. I pressed a hand over my stomach, but there was nothing I could do. Nothing I could say. My baby was gone, and the future I had imagined that morning had disappeared with it.   After several minutes, the doctor and nurse managed to calm me down, but I felt anything but calm. I felt empty.   The sound of the door opening made me lift my head.   Rhys walked into the room with Jasmine beside him. The moment I saw them together, bitterness filled my chest.   "So, you've been sleeping around?"   Rhys's voice was cold.   I stared at him, unable to process what he had said. He reached into the file he was holding and threw the divorce papers onto my bed. I flinched.   "Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise," Jasmine said maliciously. "She was always like this in college, sleeping around with different men."   I looked at Rhys, my heart breaking all over again.   "Rhys, please believe me. I would never sleep around. You know she's lying." He said nothing.   "This was our baby," I continued, my voice trembling. "Our baby died because of her. She pushed me down the stairs."   "I refuse to believe anything you say," he replied coldly. "Sign the papers."   His words silenced me.   I stared at him, realizing that he wasn't there to comfort me. He wasn't there to ask how I was feeling or mourn the child we had lost. He was there to end our marriage.   In that moment, I understood something I had refused to accept. Rhys had never loved me. A man who loved me would not stand beside the woman who had caused me harm and accuse me of betrayal while I lay in a hospital bed grieving our child. A man who loved me would not force divorce papers into my hands when I was barely holding myself together.   The pain of that realization was worse than anything I had felt before.   I picked up the papers. Rhys watched me, his expression unreadable. With trembling hands, I signed them, then handed the papers back to him and looked up at him with eyes filled with hatred.   His hands trembled slightly as he accepted them. For the first time, I saw something flicker across his face.   Pity.   But it was too late.   He turned and walked out of the room without another word. Jasmine followed him, leaving me alone with the silence.   The following morning, a nurse came in to check my vitals.   "You're responding well to the treatment," she said gently. "The doctor has approved your discharge today."   "Thank you," I replied quietly.   After she left, I sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment. My body was still aching, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the emptiness inside me.   I had lost my baby. I had lost my marriage. And I had lost the man I once believed would always stand beside me.   I changed out of the hospital clothes, tied my hair into a neat ponytail, and gathered my belongings. Before leaving, I glanced around the room. There was nothing left for me there.   I stepped into the hallway and walked toward the exit, keeping my head held high despite the pain weighing heavily on my chest.   Outside, the fresh air brushed against my face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.   I had no idea what I was going to do next.   But I knew one thing.   I would never allow Rhys or Jasmine to break me again.