My husband divorced me while I was 9 months pregnant and married his lover… “I can’t be with a woman who looks like that,” he said. He had no idea my father owned a $40 million company.

No apology.
No explanation.
Just instructions.

As if I were one more task he needed to clear off his afternoon list.

The courthouse smelled like old carpet and industrial cleaner. Grant was already there when I arrived.

He looked rested.

Refreshed.

Sharp navy suit. Perfect hair. The loose confidence of a man who believed the outcome had already been decided in his favor.

Standing beside him was a woman in a cream dress and heels, her manicured hand resting on his arm like she had every right to be there.

Tessa Monroe.

I knew her instantly.

She worked in Grant’s office. The same coworker he once told me not to worry about. The same woman whose holiday party invitation I never used because Grant had insisted I was “too tired” to come.

Grant glanced at my stomach and made a face.

Not concern.
Not guilt.
Disgust.

“I couldn’t stay with a woman who looked like that,” he said flatly. “A huge belly like yours? It’s depressing. I want my life back.”

His voice carried farther than he probably meant it to. A few people nearby turned their heads.

The baby kicked hard inside me, as if he could hear the cruelty in his father’s voice.

Tessa gave a soft, almost amused laugh.