The Day She Carried My Husband’s Child, I Left That Family Chapter 08

The Day She Carried My Husband’s Child, I Left That Family Chapter 08

The moment Graham saw the divorce papers, he looked completely bewildered.

“Mara, you really want to divorce me?”

“Why?”

The fact that he was seriously asking me why felt bitterly ironic.

He had betrayed me alongside the people I loved most and had a child with the one person I hated

most.

And now he was asking me why.

I gave a humorless laugh. “You know exactly why.”

“This is a hospital. I’m not going to argue with you here.”

With that, I turned and walked away without looking back.

Over the next few days, Graham kept inventing excuses to summon me to his room.

I ignored him and handed his care over to other doctors.

Three days later, I had just stepped out of the hospital cafeteria when my father appeared in front of

me, trembling, tears in his eyes.

In the two weeks since I’d seen him, he looked as if he’d aged ten years.

“Mara…”

My brother came up beside him, his eyes bloodshot.

“Mara…”

I remained calm. “I’m working. You should both go.”

I turned to leave, but my brother suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Mara, I was wrong. I put you through so much. I’m sorry.”

“Hit me, okay? Like you used to when we were kids. Take it out on me, and then we can make up.”

He grabbed my hand and tried to make me hit him with it.

I yanked free.

“Can you stop acting like a child? I’m working.”

My father pulled him back, his voice trembling.

“Mara, this is our fault. We thought Tessa and her mother were people who deserved our sympathy, and you were the one who suffered for it. You ended up all the way out here because of us…”

“I can’t bear having you so far away. Come home with me, please.”

He had abandoned my mother once.

Now he had betrayed me too.

I knew I could never trust him again.

“Let’s honor Mom’s last wish and live separate lives from now on.”

My father froze.

“Before your mother died, she told you to cut me out of your life…”

“She may not have been thinking clearly. Mara, how can you take that seriously?”

A flicker of guilt rose inside me.

For years, I’d done everything I could to take care of my father because he was getting older.

I’d planned to let go of the past and be there for him for the rest of his life.

But he had used up every bit of goodwill I had left.

In the end, I had still broken the promise I’d made to Mom.

I drew a slow breath.

“We should cut ties.”

Then I looked at my brother.

“You and I should too.”

I turned and walked toward the end of the hallway.

Behind me, both men stood frozen, completely at a loss.

That night, my father suffered a stroke and was rushed to the ER.

Tessa and her mother hurried over, sobbing.

“Mara, you upset Dad so badly he ended up in the hospital!”

Tessa lunged at me, trying to hit me.

Graham immediately shoved her back.

“Are you out of your mind? Try laying a hand on her and see what happens!”

He walked me into the next room and kept trying to reassure me.

“Dad will be fine. Don’t be upset.”

“Tessa and her mother have gone too far. I won’t let them treat you like this.”

I stood there without reacting, as if I couldn’t feel grief anymore.

Then, in the early hours of the morning, an alarm suddenly blared from my father’s room.

Tessa and her mother had found out that my father wasn’t leaving them anything.

In a rage, they attacked him.

Tessa smothered him to death with a pillow.

Military police arrived soon after and took her into custody. Tessa seemed completely unhinged, screaming wildly as they led her away.

Her mother couldn’t take it and fainted.

When Graham heard what had happened, he rushed over.

“Mara, are you okay? Did she hurt you?”

My brother was frantic too.

“I’ll take care of Dad’s funeral. Mara, you…”

I raised a hand, cutting him off.

“I have one request. Don’t bury him beside Mom at the Army cemetery.”

“Handle the rest however you want.”

With that, I turned and went into my office.

The next day, I received the divorce papers Graham had sent me.

He transferred two-thirds of his personal assets to me.

My brother also sent me a sum of money, part of it from what my father had left me.

By the time they came looking for me again, I was already aboard a departing military transport

plane.

I had arranged a transfer to another field hospital in the peacekeeping mission area and signed a confidentiality agreement.

From then on, they had no place in my world.

All that remained was the glory I had forged amid gunfire and honor.