Seven Months Pregnant—My Stepsister Called My Baby a Bastard Chapter 03

Seven Months Pregnant—My Stepsister Called My Baby a Bastard Chapter 03

The attorney replied the next morning.

I reread one line in his message until the words blurred.

[If your husband’s misconduct affects the case, preserve every piece of evidence.]

I stared at the empty side of the bed, dazed.

What counted as misconduct?

Did chasing his stepsister into a storm and staying gone all night count?

Did abandoning his pregnant wife while she vomited stomach acid to deliver painkillers for his stepsister’s cramps count?

What about the hands that wiped her tears or the umbrella forever tilted over her head?

Apparently, none of it counted.

They called it a close stepsibling bond.

I had fallen for Graham at first sight during my sophomore year of college.

Talia noticed my feelings, gave me his contact information, and jokingly called me her future sister-in-law.

Every time she said it, I blushed and paid for whatever she wanted.

Eventually, my shameless pursuit worked.

Talia served as my bridesmaid and stood beside us while I promised Graham my life.

I had smiled like an idiot, wishing that moment could last forever.

After the wedding, however, Talia began staying with us constantly.

She and Graham wore matching sweatshirts in different colors, and at the grocery store she looked more like his wife than I did.

One small incident after another tore away the illusion covering my eyes.

I finally understood.

Forever only had room for two people.

I was the outsider in my own marriage.

The storm passed and the sky cleared, but Graham still did not come home.

I texted [I want a divorce], and received a single question mark in return.

When the crib he ordered arrived, his next messages appeared without urgency.

[Leave the box where it is. I’ll assemble it when I get back.]

[Your hormones have made you oversensitive lately. I don’t blame you.]

[But you already took your anger out on Talia. Threatening divorce now is unreasonable.]

[Besides, I made a promise to your mother.]

For one moment, I lost my focus.

When Mom became sick, fear had left me helpless.

Graham had found specialists and handled everything at the hospital.

He lost more than ten pounds in one month and remembered every test result better than I did.

By the end, Mom could no longer speak. She could only look at me with aching love.

Graham immediately clasped my hand.

“Claire, don’t worry. Maren has me.”

“I’ll never let anyone hurt her.”

But Graham…

I had hired the contractor to repair our leaking roof.

I had packed every hospital and newborn necessity alone.

Where had you been?

I called him immediately.

The phone rang for a full minute before he answered.

“Come home right now. I’m serious about…”

He cut me off in a lowered voice.

“Maren, I’ve already made myself clear.”

“Are you going to keep dragging this out?”

A laughing woman called from somewhere near him.

“Graham, hurry! The tram is about to close!”

The anger about to erupt from me vanished.

My thoughts went blank for a moment.

“Where are you?”

“In the mountains.”

At that instant, a message from Denise appeared in the family group chat.

She uploaded dozens of photographs at once.

There were pictures of the four of them together and candid shots of Talia laughing with Graham.

The caption read:

[Talia finally smiled again.]

To make her smile…

They had abandoned a woman seven months pregnant and taken a family vacation without her.

The sheer absurdity of it filled my chest.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard before I typed slowly and pressed send.

[I hope all of you drop dead.]