Ex-Husband's Regret

Her side of the story
Mom collapses in the chair after my admission. The heartbroken look in her eyes was undoing

me. The disappointed look she gave me nearly made me crumble on the spot.
Travis, who had been holding me, lets go as if I had burned him. He backs away from me slowly

until he’s a few feet away.

I know the rest had varying degrees of shock, but they didn’t matter to me right now. Not when

my family was looking at me like they didn’t know me. Like I was a stranger.

“Please tell me you’re playing a sick joke on me,” Mom pleads. “Tell me you didn’t have a child and

kept him hidden from us all these years.”

I want to lie to them just so the heartbroken and disappointed look in their eyes will disappear. I

know that I can no longer do that. There was no hiding from this. There was no more running from

the truth.

“I’m sorry. So sorry,” I cry as I stumble towards her. “I wanted to tell you, but I was so ashamed.”

I go to take her hand, but she flinches and pulls it away.

This is what I’ve been so afraid of. Ava was right. I was the perfect daughter. The one who never

made any mistakes.

The one that thought things through before, except for that one time. Now their image of me is

tarnished. Now they know that I am just like them. Human. The Ace card I had over Ava was gone. 2

I was in the same boat as Ava. I made mistakes that are now hunting me. Sleeping with Calvin

remains the greatest mistak

y life.

“H–How did this happen? When did it happen…did dad now?” Travis asks as he paces, frustration

clear in his steps.

“Dad didn’t know. No one except Calvin and Molly knew.” I look at the ground, unable to face the

look on my mom’s face.

“Start from the beginning and don’t leave a single thing out. I want to know why the hell you’ve

kept my grandson a secret from his family,” Mom growls, her eyes turning fierce.

I didn’t want to rehash the past, but at this point, I don’t think I had any choice. If I didn’t want

them to be even madder than they were right now, then I had to spill it.

1/5

+15 BONUS

“When Rowan married Ava, I was broken I tried not to let it show. Tried to make you, dad, and

Travis believe I was okay because you were all so worried about me. I felt like I was drowning,

world had exploded, and I’d been left with nothing. When I went back to school,

any of you, but I fell

feeling as small as I did back then

with Ava.

didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, and I didn’t attend

She started pushing, and when I refused

guys to let you know. I didn’t want you to

tough things were for

lost in memory. I had so much bitterness and resentment towards Ava back then. I

fallen, she would

been going through her

well after that. Molly became my anchor. My

cry or think about Rowan every second.” I take a deep breath “It

that I met Calvin again. It turns out we went to the same Uni

assignment partner.” 2

we weren’t friends. I tolerated him because

of the obsession he

stayed out of my way and I stayed out of

This was hard. I wanted to stop, but now more than ever, I knew they wouldn’t

things were going well for some time.

alled me to let me know that Ava had

Rowan fell in love with his son at first sight. Everything around me crumbled, and

I try to breathe

so fucking hard.

angry. Angry at myself

getting drunk and sleeping with Ava, angry at Ava for getting

loved and angry at the baby

of air. I don’t need to turn to know that it is from Rowan.

around Noah because if everything had gone the way I wanted it to,

2/5

*15 BONUS

To hurt him like he hurt me I knew he always disliked Calvin for the way he crushed on me, so that night I approached Calvin and seduced him I knew word would probably get back to Rowan, and that would have hurt him. That’s why I slept with Calvin that night, because I counted on Rowan’s friend telling him. He would have

I was saving it for Rowan and in the end I gave it to the guy who kept fighting for me

it the next morning. It had been foolish of me to sleep with a guy I didn’t even like just to get back at the man I loved. I told Calvin that it was a mistake and that he should forget about what happened between us. I snuck

had I been wrong. I hadn’t planned for what was to come

exist, that is, until my period was late.

day Rowan and I would get back together. I didn’t want an unwanted baby to hinder that.

to always be in

pill the morning after?” mom

new to me. To put it plainly,

I didn’t really know

assumed tha‘ n’t really enough to get

get one, but like I said, I was so

anyone to know.”

to tell me that during all the years you dated Rowan, you

still a virgin?”

Before we started dating, which was at seventeen, he’d previously

anything that walked and had a vagina. When I’d told him I wasn’t ready,

wait till I was ready. My biggest

3/5

releases a groan uncomfortably “Can we not talk about this? It was

+15 BONUS

still a virgin.

didn’t want the child and I wanted to get rid of it, but he wouldn’t let

Mom asks, her

head. “Calvin threatened to tell you and dad if I went