Page 218 of Unhinged

Simone

“Why are you moving back here?” Hadley asks as soon as she answers the door.

Barely in the house, I set down my bags and reach for Finley in Finn’s arms. Holding her, I inhale the scent of her blonde hair and fight the ache in my heart and the tears stinging my eyes. Every part of me is raw, but holding Finley makes me feel better, surprisingly. Losing my own, I thought it’d hurt me more. A tiny human was growing inside me, oblivious to the turmoil brewing outside me. And now I have to shove my pain away, so my family doesn’t see how stupid I was for believing Greg loved me as much as I obsessed over him. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d die for him. Because I essentially have now perished without him.

Finn puts his hands on his hips, resembling a pissed-off dad demanding, “Did he hurt you?”

“No.” Looking at Finley’s chubby face, I sigh. I should have gone to Val’s, but at a rest stop, I told her I wanted to be with my niece today. Or for a while. Finn and Hadley wait for answers that even I don’t have. “I changed my mind. I don’t need anything from my father.”

Hadley says, “But you married Rod. You even dated him afterward. So how fake was this relationship?” I cringe at that horrendous nickname I hated mocking him with.

She watches me like I committed a mortal sin, and I should beg for her forgiveness. “It was one date, and we had fun.” And it was one of the best moments of my life that I’ll always hold close to my heart.

Hadley makes a face like she smells a dirty diaper. “When I heard you’re moving back here, I asked Rod what happened, and he only said you changed your mind about North Carolina. But why an annulment now? Isn’t the deal for a year?” Greg didn’t cry to her and blame me? I’m the one who left.

“Um, he liked a bar customer, so I set him free.” Now he can have his damn Kleopatra. She’s the one he wanted all along.

Finn shakes his head. “I didn’t like this scheme to begin with.”

My heart knots. Marrying Greg was a dream until his demons trashed it. “Amos referred me to a lawyer friend of his to help speed things. As long as Greg doesn’t contest it, and I can prove it was a fraudulent marriage, this could be over within a month.”

Finn frowns more while wrinkling the forehead our mom gave him. “How can you prove it’s a fraud?”

“Dr. Marc S. Garrison’s contract.” Along with another reason. “My lawyer says this should be an easy annulment.” How the hell is ending the marriage I wanted since the day I met Greg easy?

“He may fight it for his half of your dad’s money.”

“He’d never do that.” I kiss Finley’s cheek and smile against her. She’s the most precious bond between my brother and Hadley. I had one with Greg for a microsecond.

Hadley shoots Finn an annoyed look. “No, Rod wouldn’t.”

Finn asks, “Where do you go now? Back to your apartment? School?”

“I emailed the hospital where I interned, and they said I could come back. I’ll finish school here, and then I’ve decided to go to graduate school in Dover.”

My brother frowns at me, crossing his arms. “You’re just now figuring out this shit?”

I mumble, “So?” Since falling for Greg last year, school slid down my priority list. I suppose I should get my ass in gear and choose a school and actual career goals.

“What will Rod do?” Hadley asks, almost like I’m making the fucking rules.

“I don’t know. He’ll probably find something to do in Durham.” I don’t want to reveal Greg’s dream to become a lawyer since I don’t know what he’s told Hadley. I want to think it’s a dream he only shared with me, but I doubt it. I shrug and smile at Finley as my heart throbs in despair I can’t show. “He’s not my problem.” Damn, that was mean.

I hand Finley back to Hadley and grab my suitcases. Hadley says, “We’re going to Val’s for dinner. She’d want you there too.”

Hiding the agony, validating my brother’s objection to my so-called marriage charade, I smile but shake my head. “She told me, but I’m tired and just want to sleep.”

Finn argues, “You have to eat, Simone.”

“Mind your business, Dad. I’ll grab something later.” I head upstairs to the guestroom and shut the door. The numbness and blasting music allowed me to drive home without losing it. But now, the ice melts, and the lonely devastation sets in. I lost fucking everything. Some I didn’t know I wanted.

I remove my shoes and climb onto the bed. Curling into a ball, I bury my face in the pillow and cry. Did I make a huge mistake? Should I have given him another chance? I love Greg so fucking much, but his horrendous reaction to my pregnancy bludgeoned me. Yes, he had a right to be angry, but he said things to me I can’t escape, just like when he called me a stupid college kid. I proved him right again, apparently.

I never want to tell anyone that I got pregnant. It’ll open up opportunities for judgment of our marriage ending afterward. It’s no one’s business how dumb I really am. That’s for me to suffer.

I clutch the bedspread as the sobs rattle me. Once again, I cry silent tears, so Finn or Hadley don’t hear me. I know Hadley is on Greg’s side, and when he tells her why I dumped him, she’ll hate me too. I’m surprised he hasn’t yet.

I cry until I can’t breathe. I cry until my eyes swell. I cry until it eases the pain in my heart somewhat. My love for him will always be with me, and I don’t know how I’ll live without him. I thought he was my best friend. I made him my husband. But the insults he hurled at me prove the titles were frauds. His best friend is Hadley, not me, and he didn’t really see me as his soulmate. Soon, he won’t even be my husband.

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