Love Died the Day You Let Go

The day Leo Hayes was set to marry, I crashed the ceremony with a positive pregnancy test and a DNA report. I made him choose.

After a frozen moment, he did. He changed the bride on the spot, taking the ring from his fiancée’s finger and sliding it onto mine.

He bent close, his breath a venomous whisper against my ear. “You scheming bitch!”

I didn’t care. I’d married the man I loved.

I believed, in time, he’d love me back.

I never expected that after the wedding, Leo would never touch me again.

He treated our home like a hotel, spending his days and nights drifting through nightclubs.

And on the day I went into labor, in a drunken rage, he kicked me down the stairs.

“You ruined me and Willow! That bastard in your belly isn’t fit to be my heir!

“Did you really think the Hayes family would ever accept a cheap whore like you?”

He finally killed the last of my love. I walked away.

So tell me, Leo…why did you tear the city apart looking for me after I left?

My belly was so swollen I couldn’t see my own feet. That’s why I stumbled, my foot catching on Willow Reed’s gown.

Leo kicked me down the stairs.

“You’re a disgrace. If you can’t even walk, get the hell out of my sight.”

I landed hard on my back, the full weight of my pregnancy slamming into the floor. The pain was a white-hot vise, twisting me into a humiliating curl..

“Look at Mrs. Hayes! A bloated, pathetic spectacle.”

Leo and Willow’s friends pointed at me, bursting into mocking laughter.

Phone flashlights glared at me, incessantly taking pictures.

“Get out of here, stop pretending to be pitiful. You’re an embarrassment.”

Seeing me lying still on the ground, Leo kicked my waist again.

His friend smirked, winking.

“Leo, she worked so hard to get pregnant with your son and become your wife. Why don’t you treat her better?”

Leo exhaled a smoke ring.

“She thinks carrying my child makes her my wife? Willow and I threw a bunch of condoms in the trash these past few days. Does that mean the trash can is my wife too?”

Their laughter made me burn with shame.

That year, I stormed into the wedding with the paternity test.

Between me and Willow, Leo chose me.

The Reed family severed ties with the Hayes family because of it.

Overnight, the Hayes’ stock plummeted. Leo’s father suffered a stroke on the spot and passed away shortly after.

I cried, explaining that I never wanted such a result.

His mother had promised me that if I got pregnant, she’d drop the arranged marriage and agree to let him marry me…

But Leo furiously slapped Willow’s lace lingerie across my face.

“Anya, why don’t you just die!”

For a moment, I thought of just ending it all.

But then, the flutter of life within my belly.

I could die, but my child was innocent…

I spoke softly.

“Leo, I was wrong. Let’s get a divorce.”

My words didn’t cause even a ripple.

Leo toyed with Willow’s curled hair, saying indifferently.

“Fine. Get rid of that bastard in your belly, and I’ll let you go.”

I trembled, looking at him in disbelief.

“Leo, the baby is eight months old. It’s almost due.”

“Eight months? So what? If you don’t abort the child, don’t even think about divorce! I have plenty of ways to torment you!” His tone was cruel.