Chapter 3: The Truth Hurts

Reason?

The clack of Lillian’s keys picked up, impatient and sharp. She didn’t look up, just stared at her screen, jaw set.

She shot me a look and asked, “Reason?”

Her voice was cool, edged with annoyance, like I’d interrupted a Zoom meeting with a fire alarm.

Too many. So many that I’ve lost count.

I stared at the blinds, searching for an answer I could actually say. I just grabbed for the easiest excuse.

Lillian slammed her laptop shut, finally facing me. For a split second, I saw something raw—fear, anger, maybe regret—but she hid it fast.

“Are you seriously pulling this on me right now?”

She pressed, “Why are you picking a fight? Haven’t we had enough for one night?”

She’d said this so many times it was practically a script. Usually it made my chest ache, but today, I felt weirdly calm.

I smiled at her, cold and polite. “Since you’re annoyed, let’s just get a divorce.”

“I’m tired too. I don’t want to keep chasing after you, or trying to make you happy.”

Lillian’s face flickered—hurt, then anger, then back to blank.

She tried to cover, mumbling, “I didn’t mean you were annoying. I just… Never mind. I’ll watch what I say next time.”

*Oh my god, the heroine is too kind. Even after being jerked around, she still tries to smooth things over.*

*Side guy takes advantage and acts like the victim. Ugh.*

*Backstory drama: main guy lost his chance, side guy swooped in. Now he’s bored and wants out. Typical.*

*He played with her until he got tired—now he’s done. Gross.*

Those imaginary comments felt like a thousand little stings. I clenched my phone, scrolling faster, just trying to drown them out.

I’m disgusting.

Heh, what a load to carry…

On our wedding night, she refused to sleep with me. I said nothing, pretended it didn’t matter, that she just needed time.

On our anniversary, she bailed with some emergency. I found her at the mall, shopping for men’s clothes that weren’t my size. No gift—just silence.

Even on her birthday, someone sent flowers with a card that read *To our undying love.* She said it was a prank. I bought it.

No matter what I did, it never seemed enough. Not for her, not for anyone.

“Actually, you don’t have to hide it from me.” I looked at Lillian, voice flat. “I know all about the baby.”

She flinched, hands clenched, eyes searching my face. Her lips trembled, and for a long moment, she couldn’t speak.

Finally, she stammered: “Jason and I—it was just an accident. No one wanted this to happen.”

She couldn’t meet my eyes, hands shaking as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She sounded desperate, like she was pleading with both of us to believe it.

“But it’s already happened. We have to accept it, right?”

She’d never explained herself to me before—always so guarded. Now, her voice cracked with guilt, her shoulders hunched.

Seeing my blank stare, a flash of annoyance crossed her face.

“The baby will call you dad too. Didn’t you always want a kid?”

She said it like she’d practiced, but her voice was thin and brittle. She still couldn’t look at me.

“Blood isn’t everything. I don’t get why you’re making such a big deal.”

“Five years together, and just because of this, you want to divorce me?”

Her voice rose, incredulous, as if I was the one being unreasonable.

*Side guy’s love is shallow. He only wants his own kid. If he really loved her, he’d raise her child as his own. What a loser.*

*If you’re so obsessed with bloodlines, go have your own! Can’t do it, so you act all pitiful. Not the Maury "you are NOT the father" moment.*

*The main couple will get back together soon. Side guy will regret it, but it’ll be too late.*

Those voices in my head got louder. It felt like I was being erased from my own story, a footnote in someone else’s drama.