Chapter 1
Calypso Hansley stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, her husband’s words racing through her mind. He’d left their apartment a bit ago, frustrated with her.
“I hate this. You’re defective, Calypso. Just admit it. You can’t get pregnant. Having sex with you is a chore anyway. You don’t enjoy it. You never have. “You could at least fake it,” he’d shouted at her before he left.
She hated to admit it, but he was right. They’d been trying to get pregnant for eighteen months now, but nothing seemed to work. Nothing she’d tried, including the thousands of dollars they’d spent on fertility treatments.
She’d become obsessed during that time with tracking her cycles, scouring the internet for information, and trying anything and everything. None of it worked.
Gray was also right about the sex. It was a chore, and though she never would admit it, especially to him, she didn’t enjoy it. She never had. It was just a means to an end for her, a way to have a baby. She didn’t care for the act itself. It wasn’t pleasurable for her. If it weren’t for the fact that she was trying to have a baby, she wouldn’t bother.
Apparently, Gray knew she didn’t like it, too, though she didn’t know that until recently. She’d never been with anyone else but him, and she wondered what the big deal about sex even was. She didn’t get pleasure out of it.
Gray had seemed to enjoy it when they were first married, which was why she tolerated it, but now, even he didn’t enjoy it anymore. He did his duty when she told him she was most likely to get pregnant and then rolled off of her, not bothering to even kiss her. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed her.
And every month, she tested negative. Every. Single. Month. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She knew it was her. There was nothing wrong with Gray. He’d been tested more than once. It was all her. Defective.
She’d been married to Gray for two years now. Gray was rich and owned his own company. He’d hired her three years ago as his Personal Assistant. They’d started dating not long after, and Gray had their lives planned out to a T.
Six months of dating, six-month engagement, married for six months, then they would start trying for a baby. Except she’d screwed up the last part. She’d wrecked his carefully laid plans and hadn’t gotten pregnant when she was supposed to.
He’d been patient with her for those first six months they’d tried. Then he’d started taking her to see specialists and spent thousands on her. But it hadn’t mattered. They still hadn’t had a child. In the last year, his patience had begun to run thin, and he was barely home. He showed up for sex, but he was right. It was a chore. It was always carefully planned. She secretly hated it, but she felt like it was all she was good for to him, and even that, she was screwing up.
He’d called her defective more than once, and she agreed with him. She was defective. She hated her body for not cooperating. She hated herself for the weight she’d gained, the depression she was trying to work through, and the fact that the man she loved had stopped caring.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she brushed them away. It did her no good to cry. She had to face reality. Gray would probably leave her. He needed an heir to leave his millions to, and she couldn’t give it to him. She was useless to him.
***
One Month Later
Calypso looked up as a file was placed on her desk. Gray stood in front of her, his arms across his chest. His blue suit was perfect as always, and he looked well rested and put together. He always did, and for some reason at the moment, that really annoyed her.
He wasn’t a large man, but only a few inches taller than her five feet five inches. He was thin, and while he liked to run, he didn’t lift weights or anything like that. Too much effort. She knew he expected her to keep in shape as well, but she hadn’t, and she knew it bothered him. He’d commented on how fat she was getting more than once.
She no longer fit the mold of his perfect wife. He hadn’t taken her out in over a year, hadn’t been seen in public with her in almost two, and was rarely ever at their apartment. He’d lost interest in her, which made her wonder if he’d ever loved her in the first place.
She’d barely seen him over the last month. He hadn’t been back in her bed. There had been scheduled sex that he hadn’t shown up for. He’d made a point to be at their apartment when she wasn’t. She only saw him at work, and their relationship was strained.
“What’s this?” she asked softly, her voice filled with apprehension.
“Open it.” Oh, and Calypso? You’re fired,” he said. “You have until the end of the day to get your stuff and get out. Your replacement is going to be here shortly.”
She stared up at him in shock, and he turned and walked away, dismissing her. Dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she opened the file with shaking fingers. She wasn’t overly surprised to see divorce papers inside. She let loose a long, shaky breath as she stared at them, reading them over slowly.
He didn’t plan to leave her anything. He contended that he’d already spent more than enough on her fertility treatments, and they’d been a waste of money. She was sick to her stomach when she saw he’d been keeping track. He’d spent over a hundred grand. He’d win too, she knew. She couldn’t afford an attorney who would be able to fight him.
She closed the file and sat for a moment, staring off into space as the elevator dinged, and a beautiful woman got off. She was tall and blond and dressed to perfection. She looked at Calypso and smirked, looking down her nose at her. “I’m here to see Mr. Hansley.”
Calypso nodded. “He’s through those doors.”
“Oh, I know exactly where his office is, sweetie,” she said, and headed down to it.
A moment later, the door slammed, making her cringe. She had a feeling that woman was her replacement, and not just as his personal assistant either.
Calypso took a deep breath, fighting back the tears that were threatening to escape. She had money, some, but not a lot. It would be enough to get her out of New York City and back home, where she could hopefully find a place to rent and a job. There was an account with her name on it, left to her by an aunt. Gray had never touched it, was completely unaware of it, and for that she was glad.
She stood and began to pack up her things, going over in her mind what she needed to do. She sucked in a small breath as she took the box and left the office, taking the elevator down to the first floor and out into the dreary day.
She got a taxi ride back to her apartment and walked inside. She needed to pack and get out quickly. She wouldn’t put it past him to change the locks on the doors.
She walked back to her bedroom as the tears streamed down her cheeks and pulled out a suitcase. She’d take what was necessary and leave the rest. There was no reason to take the fine clothes home with her. She’d have no use for them. She’d leave the jewelry too. She should take it and sell it, but she didn’t want to.
She made a point to throw away everything related to her trying to conceive. The notebooks, the calendars, the prenatal vitamins, the fertility drugs. All of it went in the trash, along with her hopes and dreams.
When she finally had everything she wanted, she pulled out the divorce papers. She signed her name, then slid off her wedding ring, leaving them both on the table, before grabbing her things and walking out. She’d wasted the last three years of her life.
She got a cab to take her to the airport. She had no idea if there was a flight home yet or not, but she’d wait. She has no desire to wait anywhere else. The sooner she was out of New York City, the better.
The cab dropped her off at the airport, and Calypso grabbed her bags and headed inside. She quickly found out she could get a flight home in three hours. That was quicker than she expected, and she bought her ticket, then made her way through the airport.
She shot off a text to her mother, warning her that she was coming home.
Her mother responded the way Calypso had expected. When?
My flight will be there at 11 pm.
Is Gray coming with you?
No.
Okay. Someone will be there to pick you up. Love you.
The last part made her tear up. At least someone still loved her. She sat down in a chair to wait. How had everything fallen apart? And why was she even surprised that it had? Because she’d been living in a bubble, pretending everything was okay when it wasn’t. It hadn’t been for a long time.
