Page 3 of He Doesn't Deserve You

Emily remained silent, choosing instead to head to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she returned, Gabriel threw the covers back on her side of the bed and said, “Can we talk about this?”

Emily climbed into bed, and Gabriel put the covers over her body. “Hayden was harsh with Ava. Did you see her face when he rejected her?”

“I did, but he is right. Ava is much too young to ski. I can’t believe you would even consider the idea of her skiing.”

“That’s not the point, Gabriel! Ava’s too young to ski the big mountains, but Hayden could teach her the basics. He never spends any time with her. It’s not just about this incident; it’s a pattern. He continually disregards her feelings. The other day when we dropped the boys off at school, Ava said goodbye, and neither of them even responded. It’s like they don’t care about her at all.”

“It’s the age difference,” Gabriel suggested. “Think back to when you were sixteen. Would you have wanted to hang out with a four-year-old?”

Emily sighed; her frustration evident. “You’re always making excuses for them,” she said, recognizing the familiar direction of their conversation. “Those boys might ignore me, but I won’t let them do thesame to Ava. She adores them. She looks up to them like they’re heroes, and they don’t even consider the impact of their actions on her.”

Emily hastily laid down and turned her back to Gabriel, signaling the conversation was over. Leaning over her, Gabriel kissed her cheek gently. “I’ll talk to them,” he whispered.

Emily had heard it all before, she knew that nothing would change. With a resigned “Goodnight,” she reached for the light on her nightstand and flicked it off. After fluffing her pillow, she settled her head down, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when Emily awoke, the house was quiet—Gabriel had already left for work. As Emily moved through her routine, bustling around to get the kids ready for school, she deliberately pushed aside the previous night’s concerns. Nothing would dampen her spirit; the day she had been waiting for was finally here.

To her delight, the twins cooperated more than usual, allowing her to get everyone to school with time to spare. After dropping Ava off, she decided to treat herself to a cup of coffee and muffin from Starbucks, then indulged in a bit of shopping to find the perfect outfit for her weekend getaway. Having seen the perfect dress for the Broadway show, she cheerfully brought it to the checkout counter and joined the line behind two other women. While waiting, she texted Gabriel, asking if he was free for lunch. Just then, the woman at the front of the line said, “Thank you,” and she instantly recognized Taylor’s voice.

Quickly, she turned her back, hoping to go unnoticed by Taylor, but luck wasn’t on her side.

“Oh, Emily, hey there,” Taylor said, glancing down at the dress draped over Emily’s arm. She took the dress by the hanger and held it up. “Wow! That’s beautiful. Where are you going in that?”

“Sydney and I have tickets to see Wicked,” Emily said, taking the dress back from her.

“Oh, so you’re going to New York? I love New York. Where are you staying? Are you staying at The Plaza? That’s my favorite?”

“No, we’re staying at the Ritz-Carlton.”

“Just as nice. You’re going to have a great time.”

Taylor remained by Emily’s side as she approached the counter and handed the saleslady the dress. “What time are you leaving?” Taylor asked. “Do you have time to grab some lunch? I know a great place just down the street.”

“That will be $149.97,” the woman behind the counter said.

Emily selected a credit card from her wallet and handed it to the saleslady. Turning to Taylor, she said, “I’m sorry, I have plans to meet Gabriel for lunch. I’ll have to take a rain check.”

Moments later, the saleslady frowned as she returned the card to Emily. “I’m sorry, the card declined. Would you like to use another card?”

Emily’s face flushed red with embarrassment. She could feel Taylor watching her from the corner of her eye. “That’s strange. No, thank you. I’ll pay cash.” She quickly retrieved the card from the sales associate, counted out one hundred and fifty dollars from her wallet, and handed it over.

The sales associate handed over three cents in change, placed the receipt in the bag, and passed it to Emily. “Thank you. Have a nice day,” she said with a warm smile.

Emily’s fingers tightened around the bag as she muttered, “Thank you,” her voice barely audible. Her hurried footsteps echoed behind her as she bolted toward the exit, her eyes fixed straight ahead, determined to escape the store as quickly as possible. Taylor had trouble keeping up.

Once outside the store, Emily turned to Taylor and said, “Well, it was nice running into you, but I have to go. Gabriel is waiting for me,” she lied and raced to her car in the parking lot.

The moment she got into the car, she tossed her bag onto the front seat and immediately dialed Gabriel’s number. When he didn’t pick up, she left a message, her voice tinged with urgency. “Hey, something’s up with our credit card. I just tried to use it, and it declined. Do you know anything about this? Call me back as soon as you can.”

By the time she arrived home, Gabriel had still not returned her call. Frustration mounting, she decided to contact the credit card company herself, even though Gabriel usually handled all of the money matters. After navigating through several prompts on the automated system, she finally reached a live representative who asked, “How can I assist you today?”

“Yes, there seems to be an issue with my credit card,” she explained, trying to keep her voice steady. “I attempted to use it earlier, but it was declined. That has to be a mistake; there should be plenty of credit available. Could you please check and let me know what’s going on?”

“Certainly, I’m sorry to hear that. I just need to verify your identity and then we can look into what the problem is. Could you please provide me with your credit card number?”

After providing the customer service operator with all of her identifying information, Emily was informed that her credit card was maxed out, and the line was closed due to six months of non-payment.

“That can’t be right,” Emily said in shock. “I haven’t used this card in months. My husband wouldn’t have run up that much debt. I would know about it. I think this has to be a case of fraud. Could you please send me a copy of the last two statements?”

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