Chapter 1 - THE WIFE HE FORGOT ON CHRISTMAS EVE
"On Christmas Eve, I was on duty at the emergency room when my husband walked in with another pregnant woman in his arms. He had told me he was going to New York for business. Instead, he ran in, pale and desperate.\
— ""Doctor, please save my wife!"" he shouted. ""We've been waiting three years for this pregnancy.""\
I froze.\
""Three years?""\
I shook.\
The words echoed in my head.\
Then the emergency room doors opened.\
Vincent ran in, pale and frantic.\
""Where is she?"" he demanded. ""Where's my wife?""\
I froze.\
He saw me.\
""Claire?""\
I looked at him.\
""I found you.""\
""Claire?""\
I kept quiet.\
""I know you're in New York.""\
Before he could answer, Vanessa shouted from the other room.\
""Vincent! He's here!""\
He turned at the last moment.\
""Darling, I'm here!""\
The tenderness in his voice was something I hadn't heard in months.\
I looked at him silently.\
""Then that's your wife.""\
His face turned as pale as chalk.\
""Claire, listen to me...""\
A nurse called out, and I went to him.\
""Take care of your wife, Vincent.""\
For almost two hours, I worked with Vanessa's obstetrics to stabilize her. The bleeding subsided, her vitals improved, and the pregnancy continued, even though she needed close monitoring.\
When I finally walked down the aisle, Vincent ran towards me.\
— Is the baby okay?\
— She's stable.\
He closed his eyes, relieved.\
I watched for a moment and then laughed bitterly.\
— When I lost our baby last year, I don't remember being this scared.\
His eyes opened.\
— Lawyer Claire Moretti?\
Silence.\
— My name is Rebecca Collins. I'm a lawyer for Dr. Claire Moretti.\
I closed my eyes.\
A moment later, Vincent's voice changed.\
— Lawyer of whom?\
Rebecca handed him the documents.\
— My client instructed me to initiate the divorce proceedings.\
Another silence.\
Then Vincent asked the only question that showed he had finally understood.\
— Did Claire hire you before today?\
Rebecca replied calmly.\
— She hired me weeks ago.\
For the first time in five years, Vincent was left without an answer.\
And behind that locked door, with a hand on the child he didn't even know existed, I finally stopped waiting for him to choose me.\
This story is too long to fit in the caption. If you want to know what Claire is going to do after this night, leave a ""me"" below and I'll keep it in the comments."
For the next twenty minutes, I sat inside an empty consultation room, listening to the hospital's Christmas decorations chime whenever someone opened the corridor door.
My name was Dr. Claire Moretti.
I was thirty-two years old, an emergency physician in Boston, and apparently the only person in my marriage who knew it had ended.
Outside, my husband was demanding explanations from my attorney.
Inside, I was staring at an ultrasound photograph hidden beneath my identification badge.
Twelve weeks.
A tiny heartbeat.
A child I had already decided to protect from the disaster Vincent had created.
Rebecca entered without knocking.
"He signed the acknowledgment of service," she said.
"Good."
"He wants to talk."
"No."
"He's threatening to call your department chief."
I laughed.
"Of course he is."
Rebecca pulled out a chair.
"Claire, there's something else."
I looked up.
"Vanessa told the admissions nurse that she and Vincent were legally married in Connecticut."
My breath caught.
"What?"
Rebecca placed a copied intake form on the table.
Under marital status, Vanessa had checked married.
Under spouse, she had written Vincent Moretti.
I stared at those words until they blurred.
Vincent and I had been married for five years.
Our wedding certificate was framed in the hallway of the house we shared.
He wore the ring I had placed on his finger every morning.
And now another woman was claiming to be his legal wife.
Rebecca leaned closer.
"If there's a second marriage, this isn't simply adultery."
I swallowed.
"What is it?"
"Possibly bigamy. Possibly fraud. We need to verify the records."
Outside, someone began shouting my name.
Vincent.
"Claire! I know you're in there!"
Rebecca stood.
"Stay here."
But before she reached the door, my phone vibrated.
A message from an unfamiliar number.
You don't know why he married her. Ask Vincent what happened on March 14.
Beneath it was a photograph.
Vincent stood beside Vanessa in a courthouse hallway.
She wore a cream dress.
He wore his wedding ring.
The date on the photograph was March 14.
Four days after I had been discharged from the hospital following the loss of our first baby.
I pressed a hand against my stomach.
Then I looked at Rebecca.
"Find out everything."
For the first time that night, I wasn't wondering whether my husband still loved me.
May you like
I was wondering how much of my life had been a lie.
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