I walked in holding a pregnancy test—then heard my husband laugh into his phone: “Yeah, I’m leaving her tonight. She’s done.” He turned, eyes cold. “Pack your stuff. I want freedom… and someone prettier.” My throat burned, but I smiled through the tears. “Okay,” I whispered, “but don’t come back when you realize what you lost.” Because the next time he saw me… I was on a CEO’s arm—and the truth behind my “glow-up” was darker than anyone imagined.
I stood in the hallway gripping the pregnancy test so hard my knuckles turned white. Two pink lines. After three years of trying, after doctors and vitamins and prayers I didn’t even believe in anymore, it finally happened. I was smiling before I even reached the living room.

Then I heard my husband’s voice—low, amused—coming from behind the half-closed office door.

“Yeah,” Tyler chuckled into his phone, “I’m leaving her tonight. She’s done.”

My smile collapsed like paper in rain.

He kept talking, careless. “She’s always tired, always worrying about bills, always… not fun. I want freedom. And someone prettier.” A pause. Another laugh. “No, she doesn’t know yet. But she will.”

My stomach clenched so hard I thought I might throw up. I pushed the door open.

Tyler turned in his chair. His expression didn’t even change when he saw my face—only annoyance, like I’d interrupted a game. He ended the call with one tap and leaned back. “What?”

I lifted the test with shaking hands. “Tyler… I’m pregnant.”

For one second, something flickered in his eyes—panic, maybe. Then it hardened into calculation. “Not my problem,” he said, standing up. “Actually, this makes it easier.”

“Easier?” My voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.

He walked past me, already pulling a suitcase from the closet. “Pack your stuff, Ava. I’m done. I’m moving in with someone who doesn’t drag me down.”

I felt heat crawl up my throat. “Who?”

He didn’t deny it. “Her name’s Madison. She’s young. She takes care of herself. She doesn’t nag.” He zipped the suitcase with a brutal finality. “And before you do the whole crying thing—don’t. You can’t afford a lawyer, and you can’t afford this house. It’s in my name.”

I stared at him, trying to find the man who once kissed my forehead when I fell asleep on the couch. “You’re leaving your pregnant wife.”

Tyler shrugged. “I didn’t sign up for a boring life.”

The words hit like a slap. But something inside me—something tired of begging—went still.

“Okay,” I whispered.

He blinked, surprised. “Okay?”

I wiped a tear with the back of my hand and forced a smile that felt sharp at the edges. “Go. Just don’t come back when you realize what you lost.”

Tyler scoffed. “Trust me, Ava. That won’t happen.”

He slammed the door behind him.

I stood in the silence, the pregnancy test still in my hand… and my phone lit up with a text from an unknown number:

You don’t know me. But if you stay with Tyler, you and that baby won’t be safe. I have proof. Meet me tonight—alone.

My breath caught. Outside, Tyler’s car engine roared away, and I realized my life had just split into two paths—one of them terrifying…