While I Was Losing Our Baby, He Was Celebrating Her Dog’s Puppies Chapter 04

While I Was Losing Our Baby, He Was Celebrating Her Dog’s Puppies Chapter 04

“Enough, Erin. You came all the way here yourself, so I’ll assume you’ve calmed down. I’ll pretend I never heard you ask for a divorce. Go home and clean up the house. The puppies still aren’t stable, so I need to stay with Blair for a few more days.”

Listening to the two of them back each other up, I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

One was involved with a married man and saw nothing wrong with it.

The other had betrayed his marriage and still believed he had a perfectly good excuse for everything.

I ignored Ethan and let out a short, bitter laugh.

“Ms. Harper, aren’t you always so proud of being independent? Getting involved with someone else’s husband wasn’t enough for you? You had to take the sweater my mother left me too? Is this what you call being independent, letting a married man bankroll your business while you humiliate his wife?”

Several women browsing pet supplies turned to stare at Blair.

“Wait. He’s not your boyfriend? You two were just sharing a spoon. That’s seriously weird.”

“We said you looked like a couple earlier, and you never corrected us. He’s married?”

Blair’s face flushed so deeply that even her heavy foundation could not hide it.

The customers looked at her with open disgust, put down the items they had chosen, and walked straight out of the store.

Blair immediately burst into tears.

Clutching her chest for effect, she turned to Ethan.

“Oh my God, Ethan! Did she seriously come here just to destroy my business? This is horrible! I only thought the sweater was soft and warm and perfect for newborn puppies. She’s bought so many things with your money. Why does she have to humiliate me over one sweater? Those were longtime customers! Now they’re gone. What are people going to think of me? What about my brand?”

Ethan wiped her tears with a tissue before turning on me.

“Erin, I took the sweater. Why are you blaming Blair? It’s one old sweater. Once your belly gets bigger, you won’t be able to wear it anyway. Just ask your mother to make you another one. It’s not some designer gown. Is it really worth causing this much trouble over?”

He looked at me as if I were the problem.

I could not take it anymore.

I slapped him across the face.

“Yes, that sweater matters to me! Because my mother can never make me another one! While you were with Blair, choosing to stay beside her dog instead of answering my calls for help, both of my parents died!”

Ethan’s eyes widened.

He let go of Blair.

“What are you talking about? How could your parents be…”

Before he could finish, Blair lunged forward and shoved me hard.

“Oh my God! You actually hit him? Are you insane? It’s one stupid sweater! I don’t even care about it. Here, take it back!”

She ripped the little outfits off the puppies and hurled them into a litter box an employee was about to carry away.

“And now you’re saying your parents are dead? I saw them at the supermarket this morning! I hate women like you. No career, no status, nothing but a baby to keep a man from leaving, and now you’re lying for sympathy too. Women who depend completely on their husbands are the ones making independent women look bad!”

The litter box had not been cleaned yet.

Clumps of cat waste stuck to the sweater, and a foul smell filled the air.

The last thing my mother had left me was ruined beyond recognition.

“I… I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know the owner was going to throw the clothes in there…”

The employee took one look at my face and froze, too frightened to know what to do.

I was shaking with rage.

I turned toward Blair and raised my hand.

I never even touched her.

Ethan slapped me first.

The crack of his palm against my face echoed through the silent store.