They Took My Uterus While She Took My Place in His Bed novel Chapter 2

Three days ago, that allergic reaction caused a miscarriage.

It had taken me ten years to conceive.

Now, I had lost my first and only child.

And worse—the doctors weren't sure if my body could ever carry another.

Liam's eyes widened, his breath hitching.

A month ago, I had told him, overjoyed, that we were finally going to be parents.

Now that dream was gone.

Liam stepped toward me, reaching out—

And then, he slapped me.

"You hate Olivia that much?" he shouted.

"You'd rather curse our child than let go of your jealousy?"

"Do you even hear yourself?"

He was still talking, but I couldn't hear a word.

The slap wasn't even that hard, but my ears rang.

The sound was distant, muffled.

Like everything else about this marriage.

Then, silence.

Liam stormed out of the house.

I sat there for a long time, then picked up the divorce papers and placed them on the coffee table.

Ten years.

Ten years of swallowing my pride, trying to make this marriage work.

But this time?

This time, I had nothing left to fight for.

We met in high school.

I was the school's infamous delinquent.

Cutting class, getting into fights—I did it all.

He never needed a reason to hit me.

Maybe I walked too slow that day.

Maybe I breathed wrong.

That night's reason?

I didn't eat the strawberries my stepmother bought.

He forgot.

Forgot that strawberries could kill me.

He pinned me down, shoving mashed fruit into my mouth.

For all my street fights, for all the kids I'd knocked out, I still wasn't strong enough to fight back against a grown man.

Then, a voice.

"Get your hands off her!"

Liam shoved my father away and took the hit meant for me.

I don't remember much after that.