Chapter 3

Mia had scooped up a piece of red velvet cake and fed it to Zachary.

Zachary didn't lean back. He smiled warmly and ate it right from her fork.

Under the soft yellow lights of the shop, they looked like the ones who were married.

Zachary didn't come home that night, and his phone was off.

When he finally walked through the door the next morning, he uncharacteristically handed me a gift—a designer necklace.

It felt like the cheap guilt of a cheating man.

I didn't call him out. Instead, I kept playing the role of the quiet, compliant wife.

I walked up to him, gently touching his arm, my voice laced with desperate pleading.

"Zachary, I really feel like I'm losing my mind. Can you please come with me to see a doctor? Just this once?"

He frowned instantly, cold-shouldering me and shaking my hand off his arm.

"You know how busy I am. I don't have time for your emotional episodes."

"We lost the baby, and I didn't even complain, yet you're the one having a psychological breakdown? Maybe I've spoiled you too much. You can't even handle a minor setback."

That was the last straw. The thread holding my sanity snapped.

That afternoon, unable to carry the weight anymore, I threw myself into the local river.

Zachary had been standing by the bank, watching from a distance. There was no panic in his eyes, no urge to save me.

He even joked to a friend standing nearby, "Let me tell you, you can't spoil women too much. She’s just throwing a tantrum to get my attention."

But he forgot that after my miscarriage, my body was extremely weak, and I was terrified of cold water.

When Abby rushed to the scene, she screamed curses at Zachary, calling him a spineless coward, and leaped into the rushing river to drag me out.

Because of the freezing water and physical exhaustion, she miscarried her baby the very next day.

Back in the hospital room, Abby looked at me. She had obviously heard every word of my phone call with Zachary.

Tears streamed down her pale face as she spoke.

"Those bastards. They've gone too far. Not a single man in that Miller family is human."

She wrapped her arms around me, gently patting my back.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand. She pulled away and answered it.

Immediately, Ethan's furious voice boomed through the speaker.

"What is wrong with you two? You're pregnant, Abby! How dare you jump into a river to save someone? If your friend wants to die so badly, let her! Why did you have to risk my baby’s life?"

"I'm warning you, if anything happens to my child, you will pay for this!"

Ethan clearly didn't even know Abby had already miscarried. He had never cared enough to ask.

"Ethan!" Abby yelled, her voice shaking with rage.

"You absolute piece of trash! Your brother's wife almost died, and all you can do is spit poison? Every word out of your mouth is about 'your baby.' What about me? Have you asked about me even once?!"

Ethan, shocked by her sudden outburst, only got angrier.

"I think I've pampered you too much! You're a grown woman, stop being so pathetic!"

"Besides, who pays for your food, your clothes, and your car? Me! Carrying my child is your job. If you keep acting this crazy, you can pack your bags as soon as you give birth!"

"If it weren't for the baby, I would have divorced you a long time ago. Who else would want a dramatic wreck like you?!"

He slammed the phone down before she could reply.

Abby threw her phone onto the mattress, screaming, "Ethan, you motherfucker! I am divorcing you!"

After the anger subsided, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

I held her close, my own tears falling silently.

I couldn't understand how years of love could turn into this overnight.

Abby and I had moved across the country, leaving our families behind, just to build a life with these men.

And what did we get?

In our darkest hour, not a single soul cared if we lived or died.

We only had each other.

Zachary had become so sharp, so hostile. His attitude, his voice, his silence—they had eroded every bit of my confidence.

Giving up on him felt like the only way to survive.