Chapter 4

She attacked me bit by bit, each word and gestured another jab, but unfortunately, I no longer had the strength to fight back.

When I finally got home, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I turned to him, my voice flat but sharp. “Orion, do you still have Marigold in your heart?”

His response was quick, defensive. “How could that be? It happened so long ago.”

I stared at him, my pulse steady but my heart heavy. “You can’t keep accusing me like this. Don’t make things difficult for me, or we won’t even be friends anymore.”

He flinched as if I had struck him, his usual calm demeanor cracking.

“Then why are you so worked up?” His hands spread in mock innocence. “I didn’t do anything wrong. You were the one who started this as soon as you got back. Fine, since you're pregnant, I won’t argue anymore.”

But the words felt like empty air to me. This wasn’t about the pregnancy. It was about everything else that had been building up.

I opened my mouth to speak, to say what I’d been holding back, but before I could, my words were drowned out by the ringing of his phone.

A woman’s frantic voice came through the speaker. “Orion! Someone’s following me downstairs! I’m scared, can you call the police?”

His expression immediately shifted from defensive to concerned. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there right away.”

Without a second thought, he grabbed his coat and dashed out the door, leaving me behind once more.

In the days that followed, it became a pattern. Every time Orion came home, a phone call from Marigold would pull him away. Whether it was changing light bulbs, looking for her cat, or some work-related matter, he was always gone before I could even try to speak to him.

Until one evening, after yet another phone call, Marigold finally couldn’t hold back. She sent me a message, her words dripping with uncertainty:

[Lucinda, what should I do? Orion seems to still have me in his heart.]

I smiled, the bitterness curling in my chest. I didn’t respond immediately, letting the silence hang for a moment longer. Then, with a calm I didn’t feel, I typed back:

[That’s great. As long as you can get him to sign the divorce agreement, you’ll be Mrs. Steele in the future.]

Recently, I’d heard that Marigold had become too busy, and Orion had been staying home for longer stretches. That evening, he went all out and personally cooked a whole table of dishes I didn’t even like, all to coax me into eating.

“Honey,” he said softly, setting the plate down in front of me. “Now that the months are advancing, you need to keep up your nutrition. If you’re not feeling well, I’ll hire a nanny. I might be busy during this time and won’t be able to take care of you like this every day.”

I looked at him, but my heart felt heavy. “It doesn’t matter,” I replied, my voice flat, “You don’t need to take care of me in the future.”

I wasn’t just speaking to him; I was speaking to myself.

He pulled me into his arms then, his hand sliding over my belly. “Why? Are you still upset? You’re my first wife. If I didn’t love you, why would I have married you?”

The words were smooth, practiced—a half-truth wrapped in a lie. It was the kind of thing Orion was best at.

I pushed him away slightly, my frustration bubbling over. “Is this all just to fool your mother? Does it even matter who the child’s father is?” I snapped.

At the beginning, when Marigold went abroad, I was adamant that the two of them had no further contact. My mother-in-law was always fond of me, and Orion had married me because of her approval.

Orion chuckled lightly, trying to brush it off. “What are you talking about? My mom and I are both looking forward to the baby’s arrival.”

But he didn’t finish, because his phone began vibrating again.

Guilty, he glanced at the screen before quickly slipping it into his pocket.

“Orion, can you just stay for once?” I asked, my voice faltering as I tried to hold on to him.

He rushed into the bedroom, pulling on his coat. “I’ve got an emergency at the company. I have to leave now. I probably won’t be back tonight. Don’t wait up for me.”

The door clicked shut behind him, and I sat there in the silence, the weight of his absence pressing down on me. I stood up, pulling open the closet doors, grabbing the photo albums, the keychain, the pillow with his initials printed on it—the small things that once meant so much.

I hovered over them for a long moment, before finally throwing everything into the trash can, one item at a time. What I had once cherished now felt like shards of glass piercing my heart.

In a daze, I scrolled through my phone, searching for a number I hadn’t dialed in ages. I found it. Without thinking, I called.

The phone rang, and when it connected, I couldn’t speak. My throat tightened, and all I could do was cry.

The voice on the other end was soft, almost a whisper, “Don’t cry, Lucinda. Mom will be there soon. Everything will be alright once Mom is there.”

That night, Orion didn’t come home.

Instead, I received a few photos from Marigold. Orion was slightly drunk, slumped on a couch in her house. His eyes were unfocused, and the background was unmistakably hers.

[Lucinda, thank you so much for taking care of Orion all this time.]