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,

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

you, but

sit down on the grass, feeling as small as I did back then when I learned that

with Ava.

sleep, and I

Molly noticed this. She started pushing, and when I refused to get better, she

didn’t want you to

tough things

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

I’d fallen, she would have been ecstatic. It was

had been going through

Molly became my

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

again. It turns out we went to

assignment partner.” 2

all, we weren’t friends. I tolerated him because

any remnants of the

him. We co–existed. He stayed out of my way

hard. I wanted to stop, but now more than ever,

said, things were going well for some time. They weren’t perfect,

m alled me to let me

with his son at first sight. Everything around me crumbled, and all the

try to breathe through the pain of the memories, but it

so fucking hard.

angry. Angry at myself for turning down

Ava, angry at Ava for getting

man I loved and angry at the baby for

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

gone the way I wanted it to, then he would

2/5

*15 BONUS

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 been so hurt, I would

lost my virginity. I was saving it for Rowan and

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 out of his room, and I thought that was that.

what was to come

exist, that is, until my period was late. A cheap test. and later, a doctor’s appointment confirmed that I

Deep in my heart, I believed that one day Rowan and I would get back together. I didn’t want

of my mistake to always be in

you get an emergency pill the morning after?” mom asks,

being a complete mess, everything was new to me. To put it

so I

n’t really enough to get me pregnant. Looking back, maybe if

aused me to get one, but like I said, I was so

anyone to know.”

that during all the years you dated Rowan, you

virgin?” Travis

Rowan wasn’t. Before we started dating, which was

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

planned to wait till I was ready. My biggest regret

3/5

not talk

+15 BONUS

I was still a virgin. Anyway,”

child and I wanted to get

Mom asks, her

“Calvin threatened to tell you and