Part 3I Got a Vasectomy, She Got Pregnant

"Martin," Brie suddenly raised her voice.

"We've been married seven years. We've known each other for twenty. Doesn't that bore you to death? Every day it's the same grind, the same few things over and over. I'm sick of it!"

Hearing that, my chest ached.

"Charles is different," she went on, her tone softening.

"He's young, he's full of energy, he knows how to make me happy. When I'm with him, I actually feel alive. He takes me to the movies… takes me out to watch the sunrise. And you?"

I stared at her, unable to believe what I was hearing.

"There's nothing on that list I haven't done for you. You're the one who always said you had no time."

Brie brushed her hair back, her eyes full of scorn.

"Now that I have him, why would I need you?"

The living room went dead silent.

I looked at this woman in front of me, so familiar and yet somehow a total stranger, and felt suddenly exhausted. Every sweet memory we'd shared felt like a joke now.

I took a deep breath, swallowed the lump in my throat, and tried to hold on, my voice low and rough.

"Get rid of the baby. Please. I'm begging you."

She froze.

"We can act like none of this ever happened," I said, my voice shaking.

"We can go back to how we were, can't we? Brie, all these years we've had together..."

"Are you out of your mind?"

She shot up like a cat with its tail stepped on, her face turning livid.

"Martin, are you even a man? This child is innocent!"

"Innocent?" I let out a bitter laugh. "A child that's destroying someone else's family, and you're calling that innocent?"

"Destroying what family?"

She let out a cold laugh, her eyes full of contempt.

"I stopped loving you a long time ago! Martin, is that the size of your heart, and you still think you'll amount to something? You can't even make room for one child. No wonder you're stuck drawing a dead-end salary for the rest of your life. No wonder you'll never make anything of yourself!"

I stood there, frozen for a moment.

I looked at her face, twisted with fury, and felt myself go strangely calm.

The Brie who'd thrown herself in front of a truck to protect me, who'd stayed by my bedside when I was sick, maybe she'd been gone a long time already.

"You're choosing him. Is that it?" I asked, my voice steady enough that it even surprised me.

She turned her face away, her tone hardening.

"I'm carrying his child. I don't have a choice."

With that, she walked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

After that day, Brie stopped coming home entirely.

But I saw her every single day on Charles's social media page.

He used to be considerate of me, at least keeping what he posted vague. Now he flaunted his relationship with Brie openly, without a shred of restraint.

They traveled together, took couple's photos together, even had wedding photos taken.

Watching it all, something inside me kept dying a little more each day.

Three days later, I got a message from Brie out of nowhere.

She said her company was holding its year-end gala that night and asked me to come.

I hesitated for a long time, but in the end, I went.

Maybe I was still clinging to some last shred of hope. Or maybe I just wanted a reason to finally let go of her for good.

The ballroom was lit up, glittering and bright.

The moment I reached the entrance, I caught a bit of whispering nearby.

"That's President Kerry's husband?"

"He looks so plain. Nowhere near a match for her assistant, Charles."

"I heard he basically married into her family. Even the house is hers."

"No wonder Ms. Kerry prefers Charles. Young, handsome, and a graduate from a top university. Look, there they are!"

I followed their eyes, and my heart clenched instantly.

In the corner, Brie was up on her toes, kissing Charles.

Charles had his arms wrapped around her waist, leaning down to kiss her back.

The two of them acted like no one else was in the room, wrapped up in each other like a couple deep in the throes of new love.

When Charles spotted me, instead of pulling back, he only held her tighter, his eyes challenging, as if he were staking a claim right in front of me.

In that moment, I suddenly found the whole thing almost funny.

I turned and walked out of the ballroom. The cold air outside hit my face and cleared my head a little.

Seven years of marriage, twenty years of history together, none of it could stand up against the thrill of something new.