I was still lightheaded from the transfusion when I overheard the nurses at the hospital. “That Rachel, she’s Jerry Wilson’s wife, right? ”
“The new chairman of the hospital? Sure.
Why else would Mr. Wilson call in every specialist for just a few scratches? ”
I held my breath. Jerry had been my husband for five years.
I’d spent five years loving him, believing that eventually he’d see me, really see me. And now I was standing in a hospital hallway, listening to strangers explain that the woman he’d been hovering over all night was his *real* wife. No. Not his wife.
His mistress. His pregnant mistress. I had been in the car with her. She was his secretary, or so I thought.
We were on our way to my prenatal appointment when she grabbed the steering wheel. I still didn’t understand why. But the crash happened, and I was hemorrhaging, and my baby—our baby—was dying inside me. I screamed for a doctor.
I screamed for my husband. “They won’t let the doctor come,” a nurse whispered. “Mr. Wilson won’t let him.
”
He was with Rachel. He’d called every specialist in the city for her few scratches while I bled out on a table, begging someone to save my child. They couldn’t. Our baby was gone.
And then the doctor came back with more news. Lung cancer. Advanced. I lay in that hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, and I thought about the deal we’d made.
Jerry never wanted to marry me. He married me because I had the rare blood type Rachel needed. I gave him a condition—marry me, and I’ll save your precious mistress’s life. He agreed.
I’d known it was a contract, not a romance. But I was young and foolish, and I loved him. I’d loved him since we were kids, since the day my father died and he put a little ring on my finger and promised to give me a family. I thought if I gave him everything—my career, my health, my dreams—he’d finally love me back.
Instead, he stole my doctors for her. He forced me to give blood after my miscarriage. When I collapsed, he didn’t ask if I was okay. He asked if Rachel had enough.
“Take her blood,” he said. “No matter what, nothing can happen to Rachel’s baby. ”
I tried to tell him about our child. “When you chose to save Rachel first, you killed our child,” I said.
He laughed. He called me a liar. He said, “You’d come up with any lie just to get out of helping Rachel. ”
He didn’t remember that night.
He’d come home drunk, and he’d held me, and we’d been together. But who could blame him for forgetting? I was just his contract wife. I was just there.
Rachel didn’t waste any time making her victory clear. She came to my hospital room to thank me for the blood. “I won’t be your blood donor anymore,” I told her. “You don’t have a choice,” she said.
“The only reason Jerry married you is for you to be my personal blood bank. ”
She was right. And worse, she was carrying his child. “As long as we’re still married,” she said, “that baby is nothing but a bastard.
”
I pushed her. I honestly did. She fell, and then she pretended I pushed her while she was pregnant, and Jerry believed her. He hit me.
“Jerry, I didn’t do anything. Why won’t you believe me? ”
He slapped me in front of everyone. For her.
For his mistress and her unborn child. That’s when I stopped loving him. The love didn’t fade slowly; it died in that instant, on the floor, at his feet. I gave him our child’s ultrasound photo.
I had kept a copy. “You were a terrible father,” I said. “But I thought you at least deserved to know that they existed. ”
“Jerry Wilson, I want a divorce.
”
He refused. He said it was my duty to give blood to Rachel. He said I couldn’t divorce him. Then my mother-in-law, Claire, collapsed.
Rachel had told her that Jerry and I were already divorced and that she’d be marrying him soon. Claire had a heart condition, and Jerry’s father was gone, so Claire had been running the Wilson Group alone. Her biggest wish was an heir. Jerry begged me to hold off on the divorce.
“Just pretend for her sake. At least until she gets better. ”
I agreed, but only for Claire. She’d always treated me like a daughter.
“I’m going to tell you the truth, but are you and Jerry getting divorced? ” Claire asked me. I lied. “We’re not getting divorced.
”
“Thank goodness. You two have been married for five years. It’s time to have a baby. ”
“I went to the baby doctor,” I said.
“There was once a baby. ”
She didn’t understand at first. Then she did. “It’s okay.
You’re still young. ”
She didn’t know I was dying. She didn’t know the cancer was spreading and that I had six months at most. Jerry came home full of excitement.
He told me about the partnership he was finalizing between Wilson Group and X Corporation. “X Corp is the global authority on genetics technology. I’ve been working on this for years. ”
“The founder values loyalty and family above all,” he said.
“You two must stay strong together. ”
I almost laughed. He had no idea that I was Dr. X.
The famous researcher he was trying to impress. The genius who’d given up her career to become the perfect supportive wife for him. I gave up everything for you, and you don’t even know who I am. Rachel moved in with us.
Jerry told me she was pregnant and needed looking after. I was to cook for her. I was to avoid seafood because he was allergic. I was to apologize when she played the victim.
I cooked, and Rachel poisoned the dinner by adding sesame and shellfish. She knew he was allergic. She did it to make me look bad. Jerry blamed me.
Later, Rachel wore my clothes and told me my taste was awful. Jerry made her a peanut butter sandwich because she said it was her favorite. When I pointed out he’d never made me a meal in five years of marriage, he just shrugged. “You never paid attention to me anyway,” I said.
And I walked out and called Alex, my old colleague. Alex was the one who truly knew me. He knew about the cancer. He knew about X Corp.
He came to pick me up. “Alex, Megan is my wife,” Jerry said, confused. “Who told you that? ” Alex asked.
“Isn’t it obvious you’re getting a divorce? ”
Jerry’s own suspicions were eating him alive. When he realized I might leave with Alex, he turned possessive. He demanded to know what Alex was doing.
He demanded I stay. “You don’t deserve to be her husband,” Alex said. “She’s mine, even if I don’t want her anymore,” Jerry replied. That said everything.
But Alex had told me the truth about my condition. “Without treatment, six months at most,” he said. “Please come to Switzerland with me. I’ll put together the world’s top medical team.
I’ll find a cure. ”
I told him I was tired. I told him maybe letting go would be a relief. “If I had a choice, I wish I’d never met him,” I said.
Rachel was still scheming. She tried to fake a pregnancy emergency to get Jerry away from me. She tried to make me look violent. She planted birth control pills in my bag to make Jerry think I didn’t want his child.
When Jerry found the pills, he was furious. “You’ve been taking birth control pills? Don’t you want my child? ”
“They’re not birth control pills,” I said.
“They’re my cancer medication. ”
He didn’t believe me. “She doesn’t even look sick,” Rachel said. “And isn’t this Megan’s lover?
Of course he’s going to defend her. ”
“I’m done with the lies and the suspicion,” Jerry said. “Megan, I want a divorce. I’ll send over the papers tomorrow.
”
I collapsed that night. My heart stopped. When I woke up, Alex was beside me. “Take me away,” I said.
“Please. ”
He did. He took me to Switzerland. The day of the X Group gene therapy launch ceremony, I stood on stage.
I was Dr. X. I was Megan Jackson. And everyone was shocked—including Jerry.
“Megan? You’re actually Dr. X? ”
I addressed the crowd.
“I was once a girl who loved recklessly,” I said. “And I was afraid my title of Dr. X would pressure the one I loved. But I’ve just realized the one who truly loves you will embrace every part of you.
”
Rachel stormed in. She was supposed to be in prison—she had faked her miscarriage to frame me, and a security camera caught her pushing herself down the stairs. But Jerry hadn’t sent her to prison. He’d sent her abroad.
“You really think Jerry would have sent me to prison? ” she laughed. “No. He couldn’t do it.
He just sent me abroad. See? He still loves me. ”
Rachel started screaming.
She blamed me for her lost baby. She blamed me for losing Jerry. She pulled out a knife. “YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME.
MY CHILD, MY HUSBAND. ”
She lunged at me. Jerry stepped in front of me. The knife went into him.
“JERRY, NO. WHY would you take a knife for me? ” I screamed. “Because I owed you,” he said.
“I’ve ruined so much. I just want you to be happy. I’m glad I was able to do this one thing for you. ”
He went into surgery.
He survived. I sat beside his unconscious body for days. I didn’t know if I could forgive him. But I couldn’t watch him waste away either.
“Jerry, Alex and I got married,” I said one day, trying to provoke a reaction. “Oh, and one more thing. I’m pregnant. When you wake up, you get to be the godfather, okay?
”
There was no response. I looked at his face, so still and pale. I didn’t know if he could hear me. I didn’t know if he’d ever wake up.
But I knew one thing: I was done waiting for his love. I had to live for myself now.
