The Wife He Lost

PART 3 — THE PRICE OF HIS BETRAYAL

Three weeks passed.

I rented a small, beautiful apartment overlooking a quiet park. Madison helped me furnish it, and for the first time in years, I made decisions without wondering whether Vincent would approve.

Every morning, I woke up without checking my phone for his messages.

Every evening, I cooked whatever I wanted and went to bed whenever I felt tired.

My life was peaceful.

And slowly, my heart began to heal.

Vincent, however, was falling apart.

He sent flowers to Madison’s office, hoping she’d deliver them to me. She returned them unopened.

He sent expensive gifts to my attorney. They were rejected.

Finally, he appeared outside the law firm’s building himself.

When I stepped onto the pavement and saw him standing beside his black SUV, I stopped.

He looked different. His expensive suit was wrinkled, and shadows darkened his eyes.

“Claire.”

I tightened my grip on my handbag.

“What are you doing here?”

“Trying to see my wife.”

“You mean your soon-to-be ex-wife?”

His jaw tightened at the words.

“Can we talk somewhere private?”

“No.”

“Please.” His voice dropped. “Just five minutes.”

I almost laughed. For five years, I’d begged him for five minutes of his time. Now he was begging me.

“Fine. Speak.”

He looked at my stomach, which had begun to show the slightest curve beneath my coat.

“Is the baby healthy?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been to the doctor? Are you taking your vitamins? Do you need anything?”

“I have a doctor. I have everything I need.”

“Claire, I’m still your husband.”

“Not for much longer.”

His face tightened.

“I made a mistake with Sophia. I admit that. But you can’t throw away five years of marriage over one terrible night.”

“One night?” I repeated quietly. “You think this is about one night?”

He fell silent.

“It was every anniversary you forgot. Every dinner I ate alone. Every time you made me feel like I was asking too much simply because I wanted my husband to notice me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You gave her the bracelet I wanted.”

“I’ll buy you another one.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“That is exactly the problem, Vincent. You still think everything can be fixed by buying something.”

He reached for my hand, but I stepped back.

“I love you, Claire.”

The words came too late.

I had dreamed of hearing them for years. Once, they would have made me forgive everything.

Now, they only made me sad.

“If you loved me the way you claim, I wouldn’t have had to leave to make you notice me.”

His eyes reddened.

“Tell me what to do. I’ll do anything.”

“Sign the divorce papers.”

He stared at me as though I’d struck him.

“Anything but that.”

“Then you haven’t changed.”

I turned to leave.

“Claire, wait!”

I stopped but didn’t look back.

“Can I at least come to the next appointment?” he asked. “I want to see our baby.”

For a moment, my heart softened. Whatever had happened between us, the child growing inside me deserved a father who wanted to be present.

“If you want to be involved, you can prove it through your actions,” I said. “But don’t mistake that for a second chance at our marriage.”

Then I walked away.

Vincent remained on the pavement long after I disappeared around the corner.

That evening, he summoned Sophia to his office.

She arrived wearing the confident smile that had once charmed him.

“Vincent, you wanted to see me?”

He pushed a folder across his desk.

Inside were photographs and reports confirming that she had deliberately encouraged his neglect of Claire. There were messages in which Sophia had mocked Claire’s devotion and bragged that Vincent would never leave her.

His expression was icy.

“Did you know Claire was allergic to chestnuts?”

Sophia hesitated.

“Yes.”

“And you still let that cake be delivered to her?”

“I didn’t think she’d actually eat it!”

Vincent rose slowly.

“You watched me destroy my marriage, and you enjoyed every minute of it.”

“Vincent, I did everything because I love you!”

“No,” he replied coldly. “You did it because you wanted to win.”

He called security.

“She’s no longer my assistant. Make sure she leaves the building.”

Sophia’s smile vanished.

“You’re choosing Claire over me?”

Vincent looked at her with utter contempt.

“Claire was my wife. You were the excuse I used to betray her.”

As the guards escorted Sophia away, Vincent returned to his desk and looked at the ultrasound photograph Claire’s attorney had included with the divorce documents.

A tiny life.

His child.

For the first time, he understood that losing Claire wasn’t merely losing the woman who had loved him.

It was losing the chance to be there when their child took its first breath, spoke its first word, and reached for its father’s hand.

He picked up his phone and began typing a message.

I won’t force you to come back. I’ll sign the papers if that’s what you want. But please let me earn the right to be a father.

He stared at the message for a long time before sending it.

Across the city, I read it while sitting beside my apartment window.

Then I placed the phone on the table and rested my hand over my stomach.

“Your father is finally learning,” I whispered.

But learning to regret losing me wasn’t the same as learning how to love me.

And I had no intention of returning to the woman I’d been just to make him feel better.

Vincent Moretti had spent five years believing his wife would never leave.

Now he would have to prove that the man who had broken her heart could become someone worthy of standing beside her child.

Whether I would ever let him stand beside me again was a different question entirely.