Page 15 of The Homewrecker's Fate

Unbelievable.

I was labeled these things even though I never knew about Rich’s family, and he would probably be able to walk around here like the top cock in the hen house. I wanted to rage on every single person here, but I knew that my job would be in jeopardy if it happened. That made me determined to start searching for a new job as soon as I was able. Being a mom-to-be didn’t exactly endear me to prospective employers and there was no way I could go without medical benefits and insurance while pregnant, so it looked like I would have to suck it up for a while.

The universe was a cruel bitch. I didn’t deserve this. I was positive that Mel and her children also didn’t deserve the fallout that Rich had caused. Yet here we were – all of us weighed down by his selfishness. Love like what my mom and dad shared once upon a time was starting to seem like something that no longer existed.

Maybe, we made it too easy for people to be unfaithful, to give up on what was important to them, to lie, cheat, and hide their dirty little secrets 600 miles away. That’s what Rich had done after all. His only downfall had been that I was a loyal person to my family, not blindly loyal to him, otherwise I might have moved across the state to my own detriment. All the while, he would enjoy being crowned King of his new territory without the old mistress there to show he wasn’t worthy of the adoration.

As it turned out, there weren’t awful words spewed at him in the hallways. They were all saved up for me, as if I had purposely set out to trap a married man. He lied and attempted to set me up, yet I was the one to suffer the fallout and the name calling.

It was not easy to keep the bitterness toward my situation at bay. I had to, though. I had a job to do, and now there was no option other than to give it even more effort than I ever had before. I was the one under scrutiny and also the one with the most to lose considering I had a baby on the way to provide for.

The end of the day was closing in when I got a text from the last person who should ever be talking to me.

Mel: You’re still coming for dinner on Friday, right?

Aviva: Are you sure about that?

Mel: I’ve already explained things to the kids.

Aviva: Won’t they hate me?

Mel: I think their hatred is reserved for their father right now. They know that he lied to you. I refused to hide that from them because I didn’t want my children to treat their sibling’s mother with anything other than respect.

I honestly didn’t know what to say to that as tears stung the backs of my eyes and my throat tightened. How was it possible for this woman to have so much class, so much integrity, that she didn’t hold the affair I had with her husband against me, especially when everyone else did?

Mel: Are you at work?

Aviva: About to pack it in for the day.

Mel: How did it go?

Aviva: Besides being called into the principal’s office first thing and then being called names by the mean girls? It felt very much like the worst days of high school all over again. Except that I never had those kinds of bad days in high school, so this is a new experience for me.

Mel: Of course, that asshole wouldn’t set anyone straight about what he’s done. That would mean taking responsibility for something.

What more could I add to that? She wasn’t wrong. Rich proved to me with every one of his actions, and his inactions, that he was not the man I once thought him to be.

Chapter 8

I stared in the mirror at myself. My blue, polka dot dress hung to my knees and hugged my curves in a way that refused to hide my growing baby bump or larger breasts. I threw a cream-colored sweater overtop, so that I could hide my cleavage, something that was becoming increasingly necessary as I grew with the pregnancy.

“You need to do this,” I reminded myself. It was important for me to be able to meet Rich’s other children. Mel had been right about that. They were going to be my child’s siblings and I wanted my daughter to be able to have that moving forward. If, God forbid, anything ever happened to me, they were her only family that would be left. Those children and their father. I found myself wondering if Mel would be willing to take on the responsibility of my child if anything should happen to me.

It felt like a huge ask to make of someone who I was still getting to know, but Mel had shown what a wonderful person she was when she never once placed the blame on my shoulders for what her husband had put us both through. She never saw me as the homewrecker that most of my coworkers accused me of being. Like she had mentioned that day in my condo, we had the misfortune of knowing how it felt, to an extent. The biggest difference is that Mel wouldn’t be villainized in the same ways. She was seen, for the most part, as the victim while I was seen as the problem. I didn’t think there were support groups for women in my circumstance, but maybe there should be.

When I finally got myself in gear and on my way to Mel’s house, I wondered exactly what I would be walking into. I was going to her house. There were sure to be signs of their life together - other than the children they’d made. Pictures, the furniture they chose as a couple, and all those little things that make a house a home would be constant reminders of the life they’d made together before Rich dragged me into the middle of it. The only saving grace was that they hadn’t been living there long. It wasn’t like I’d be walking into the marital home they’d shared all along. I don’t know why that distinction mattered in my mind, but for some reason it did.

I knocked on the door when I got there and shifted the cupcakes I’d brought with me. I would have brought wine for the adults and cookies for the kids, but since the two adults were pregnant, I figured cupcakes would be perfect for everyone. I’d baked them myself, and tested enough of them to know that they were absolutely delicious.

“Aviva, welcome,” Mel called out to me as she opened the door and held her hand out in a welcoming gesture. “Come on in and we can go put that down in the kitchen,” she said while eyeing the cupcake holder in my hands. “Are those cupcakes?”

“Yes, I figured since we can’t drink, it would be perfect. Plus, the kids could join in as we binge on sweets.”

“You are so perfect. I’ve been craving cake.” She rubbed her belly, “I don’t even think the baby cares what flavor of cake I have, so long as I eat some.” We both giggled at that. I hadn’t really had any weird cravings yet, so I couldn’t relate to that, but cake did make me feel better while I was eating it and thankfully, I didn’t have to worry too much about gaining a few pounds from indulging.

“Mel, do you have another charger? My phone just died.”

We both turned to see a very handsome man approaching us while staring down at his apparently dead phone. When no one answered, he finally glanced up and took note of me standing there.

---