Prologue
Courtney
“Your pretty pussy is always so hungry for my cum. Think you can take another load before you leave, baby?”
Baby? My heart slams against my chest as I register the familiar voice. No. Please, no. This can’t be happening. Marcus skipped our ob-gyn appointment because of a work obligation. How on Earth is fucking someone in our bed a work obligation? My skin prickles with disgust as the visual flashes in my mind. I quickly cover my mouth, but that does little to quell the wave of nausea that has bile rising in my throat. Breathe, Court. In and out. Come on. In and out. My breathing exercise is futile. It feels like someone’s sitting on my chest, crushing every breath I try to take. I press myself against the wall, looking for stability, as the hallway begins to spin.
A giggle. “Yeeess, fill me up, Daddy.”
“That’s what I like to hear, baby girl,” he says.
Palms slicked with sweat, I pull out my phone, my thumb hovering over the screen. I freeze, not sure who to call, afraid of hearing well-deserved “I told you so’s.” I squeeze the phone tighter, trying to stop my hands from trembling. My sister wouldn’t do that, would they?
“Courtney still thinks those business trips are real,” Marcus continues. “She’s so damn gullible.”
“And too distracted crying over her broken uterus,” the woman replies, before moaning loudly. “I still don’t get why you let her go through with all the treatments. What if one of them works?”
“The doctors said there’s very little chance.”
“But what if?”
“The minute her sister gets me the job I want,” he grunts. “I’m done with her and you can stop the pills so when I fill you up like this,” he grunts again, “I’m going to put a baby in that perfect body. You worry too much. Trust me. I’ve got this all figured out.”
They both laugh, the sound echoing, mocking me. I should leave. Run away and never come back. I’ll just call Lou and hide with her, crying on her shoulders until I have no more tears in me; I’d rather risk a lecture than stay here one second longer.
Thinking of my sisters, picturing them—their fierceness and their no nonsense attitude—makes me reconsider my escape plan. Lou… Cath… they wouldn’t run in my place. They’d barge in and demand an explanation to what I know is going on.
I will not run. This is my house. I will not let them make a joke out of me any longer. I will do this. I will do my sisters proud and confront Marcus and whoever the fuck is in there with him. I try to quickly rehearse what I’m going to say, then change my mind. I need to just go in before this unexpected courage dissolves into thin air with the last of my sanity.
“You lying, cheating-ass, two-faced motherfucker! How long did you think you could keep having business obligations before I found out the truth about it?” I shout.
They’re both frozen, not daring to move, as if they could become invisible if they stay still enough.
“What? Cat’s got your tongue?”
“Babe, you know it’s not what it looks like,” he says. He lifts her off him, his erection on full display, then gets out of bed, slowly walking toward me. He’s right to be cautious, because I feel like clawing his face off for daring to betray me like this.
“Marcus, I might’ve believed your lies before, but this,” I gesture at him. “This is not something you can lie your way out of. I’m not that gullible,” I say, giving him a knowing look.
He stands there in shock. His mouth opens and closes but nothing comes out.
“You think I didn’t hear you? Get your shit and your bitch and get the fuck out of my house.”
“Babe, I’m…”
“Save it. I don’t have time for your sorry-ass excuses. You leave or I call the police.”
“Stop bluffing, we both know you don’t have enough backbone to do anything,” the woman says, smirking.
I take my phone and act like I’m dialing 999. “Hello I’d like to report a home invasion. Yes I just came home and found two people naked in my bedroom. Yes a Black male, five feet eight, 180 lbs, short buzz cut. The woman, I’d say she’s about 120lbs, not sure about her height but she’s also Black,” I begin explaining as they both look surprised. “Yes please come quickly, they’re threatening to attack me in my own home.”
“No way they bought that! I bet your sister’s on the line,” he argues, lifting his chin, but I see the doubt in his eyes.
“Stay and find out, but even if I called one of my sisters you’re not in any less trouble. You know that right?” I snap back.
His face pales before he goes into action. He grabs her and they quickly run outside with the sheets barely covering them up. The moment I hear the front door slam shut, my phone slips from my hand and I sink down on the carpet, hugging myself as tears pour down my face like a broken faucet. Less than an hour ago, I left my obgyn’s office after she told me I can’t have kids. At all. Ever. I didn’t have time to really process the news and now I learn that my boyfriend had been using me to advance his career while screwing another woman behind my back. I thought today couldn’t get worse but I was apparently very wrong. Who did I fuck over to get this type of karma?
Tears blur my vision, I try to wipe them away, but they keep flowing. I lay there in a fetal position, my whole body trembling, my mind drowning in the unstoppable wave of emotions that hits me all at once. I feel a hollow ache in my chest. It’s like a painful void where my heart used to be before it was torn out and mercilessly stomped over and over. I didn’t deserve this. I’ve done everything right. I was the perfect girlfriend, I gave this relationship my all but it wasn’t enough for him. He threw us away like the past six years meant nothing.
I try to look at the bright side of the situation, but is there any? I lost everything today. I lost everything I thought I had. None of it was real and what I’m left with is more emptiness than I ever felt in my entire life.
I crawl out of the room, closing the door and ignoring the symbolic meaning of leaving behind Marcus and I. I gather my favourite quilt from the couch and drop dead on the guestroom’s bed downstairs, glad I have sick days piled up and ready to be put to good use. That way, I can truly avoid the world for as long as I want.
