The Love Was Gone

In my third year married to Michael, I learned I couldn't have children-a permanent, irreversible defect.

Grief consumed me, but Michael suggested adoption.

At the agency, we met a sweet, well-behaved girl.

I adored her instantly.

But on signing day, I noticed a tiny birthmark on her hand.

I don't want her, I said.

Michael insisted, "We're adopting her."

"Then I want a divorce."

Shocked silence filled the room.

"Over a birthmark?"

Michael asked, disbelieving.

"Yes. It's ugly."

His mother snapped, "You're the problem! You can't have kids, and now you're rejecting her over a mark a doctor could remove?"

Michael pleaded, "We'll get it removed. She's lovely-is this worth the drama?"

I laughed bitterly.

"After we divorce, adopt her. Adopt as many as you want. I won't care."

Michael looked at me, his face a mask of bewilderment.

"Emily! What the hell is going on? You're throwing our marriage away for a child you've met twice? What did she do to upset you? This is insane."

I locked eyes with him, my voice devoid of all emotion.

"It's her or me. Choose."

He looked at me as if I were a stranger.

Shock radiated from him.

"She's just a child, Emily. A little girl who's already been abandoned once. How can you be so cruel? She can't help her birthmark."

"Fine," I cut him off.

"Divorce it is."

The color drained from Michael's face.

I said nothing more.

The air in the agency turned to ice.

The staff exchanged nervous glances until the director finally broke the silence.

"Mrs. Hayes," she began gently, "Sophia is the sweetest child we have. She never makes a fuss, and she's always helping the other children. We've had other potential families, but she never seemed to connect with them. She really took a liking to you."

My father-in-law tried to play peacemaker.

"Emily, dear, she seems like a wonderful kid. And with modern medicine, if that mark bothers you, it's an easy fix."

I remained silent, my resolve hardening with every word they spoke.

Michael moved closer, his hand reaching for mine, his touch hesitant.

"Can we please just go home and talk about this?"

His voice was thick with a plea, a raw, wounded sound I'd rarely heard.

I snatched my hand away, leaving him no room for hope.

"There's nothing to talk about. I'll have my lawyer draft the papers. Make sure you're ready to sign them."

His mother gasped, her eyes wide with fury.

"How dare you? You've been married into our family for three years without a single sign of a baby, and now we know why. We try to find a solution, and you throw it in our faces."

She jabbed a finger at me.

"I never knew you were such a petty, vindictive woman. Are you trying to make sure the Hayes family line dies out?"

She started dredging up the past, her voice rising with every grievance.

"Remember all those times you wanted a midnight snack? My son got up to cook for you, no matter how late, without a single complaint. You loved that one bakery downtown, so he stood in line for an hour every single day to buy you a cake. Do you have a heart? We have treated you so well, and all I want is a grandchild. What good are you if you can't even give me that?"

She clutched her chest, her words painting me as an ungrateful monster.

I grabbed my purse to leave.

Just then, the little girl, Sophia, stepped toward me, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Mommy," she whispered.

A wave of revulsion washed over me.

I pushed her away.

Michael's sister, Jessica, caught her before she fell.

"Emily! She's just a child! So you don't like her birthmark, but did you have to push her?" she scolded.

"Why are you taking your anger out on her? All she wants is a family. What did she do wrong by calling you 'Mommy'?"

I shot her a cold glance.

"You can let her call you that."

Jessica's face went pale, and she started stammering.

"What are you talking about, Emily? This is the child you and my brother were adopting."

"And you know it's our adoption, so why are you so involved?"

My retort silenced her.

She bit her lip, unable to respond.

"Enough!"

Michael's voice trembled.

"Honey, please, can we just talk about this in private? I've already told everyone we were doing this today. Just sign the papers, for me. Please. Give me that much. You can scream at me all you want when we get home."

"No," I said flatly.

"Sign the divorce papers."

I turned to walk away.

Behind me, there was a heavy thud.

Michael had fallen to his knees in front of everyone.

"Please, Emily. Just sign," he begged, clutching at my legs, refusing to let me leave.

His mother was beside herself, on the verge of fainting as she shrieked at him to get up.

In all our years together, through all our fights, no matter how vicious, he had never knelt before.

They say a man's pride is in his knees, and here Michael was, sacrificing his for a child who wasn't even ours.

Michael, do you really want her that badly?

I glanced over at the girl, now hiding in Jessica's arms.

So beautiful. So adorable.

So much like her.

A dark, humorless laugh bubbled up inside me.

I bent down and, one by one, pried his fingers from my leg.

"Don't make a scene."

My coldness finally broke him.

His eyes reddened, and tears streamed down his face.

I looked around the room.

The well-behaved child.

The furious mother-in-law.

The silent onlookers.

And my kneeling husband.

Somehow, I had become the villain in this story.

The monster who would destroy a three-year marriage over a pea-sized birthmark.

"My answer is the same," I said, my voice steady.

"Divorce."

Then, without a backward glance, I walked out.

I went home alone and called my lawyer to draft the papers.

It was late when the rest of the family finally returned, their arms laden with shopping bags filled with gifts, their voices echoing with laughter.

Sophia was in the center of it all, the star of the show, being ushered in like a princess.

The moment Michael walked in and saw me sitting in the living room, the smile vanished from his face.

"Honey," he started, treading carefully.

"The director said Sophia could stay with us for a few days. I know you don't like her, so don't worry, I'll take her back soon."

I avoided his gaze.

"No need. Let her stay."

His face lit up.

"Really? You've changed your mind?"

I slapped the divorce papers down on the coffee table with a resounding thud.

"Sign them."

He shook his head, his expression crumpling into one of pure desperation.

"Emily, I'm sorry. If you don't want to adopt, we won't. Please, just don't divorce me. I can't live without you. Why, Emily? Why are you doing this?"

His mother pulled him back.

"Are you cheating on him? Is this your scheme to leave my son with no heir?" she shrieked.

"Since you married into this family, have I ever mistreated you? When you couldn't get pregnant, I never said a word, afraid I'd upset you. I'm an old woman now! All I want is a grandchild to hold, someone to call me Grandma. Is that so wrong?"

She grew more and more agitated, tears streaming down her face as she accused me.

Just then, Jessica, holding Sophia, walked over and suddenly knelt before me.

"Emily, I know we were lucky when you married into our family," she said, her voice trembling pitifully.

"You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, a true princess, and we're just an ordinary family. You've never known what it's like to be homeless, but I have. I know what it feels like to not have a family. It's so painful, I even thought about killing myself."

She continued, her performance worthy of an Oscar.

"I just can't bear to see her go through the same thing. I know you look down on unwanted children like us. And I know you've told my brother many times that you don't like me. If you'll just take her in, I'll leave this house right now and never come back."

Her words were so pathetic, so heart-wrenching.

I snapped.

I swung my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"Don't you know exactly why I don't want this child?"

I seethed.

Michael shot to his feet.

Before I could process it, the back of his hand cracked across my face.

The force sent me tumbling off the sofa, my head smacking against the sharp corner of the coffee table.

The world spun, a dizzying blur, and then I felt something warm and wet trickle past my eye.

"Emily, I'm so sorry," he stammered, staring at his own hand in horror.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to."

He rushed to my side, trying to press his hand against the wound.

I shoved him away, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door.

My father-in-law's voice boomed behind me.

"You walk out that door, you're never welcome back in this house! You'll leave this marriage with nothing!"

I stumbled back to my parents' house, exhausted and bruised.

My mother gasped when she saw me, pulling me into a hug.

"Honey, what happened to your face? Where's Michael? Didn't he come with you?"

I buried my face in her shoulder, and the tears I'd been holding back finally broke free.

"Did you and Michael have a fight? What happened?" she murmured, stroking my hair as the floodgates of my misery burst open.

"Mom," I sobbed, "that child..."

I told them everything.

When I finished, they stared at me in stunned silence.

"I can't believe Michael is that kind of person," my father finally roared.

"How could he do something so despicable?"

"Divorce him," my mother said, her voice firm.

"We don't want a penny from that family. We don't need their money."

My father was so furious he wanted to storm over to their house and confront them, but I held him back.

The next day, I went to Michael's office to retrieve the unsigned divorce papers.

I rode the elevator to the top floor and pushed open the door to his office without knocking.

Inside, he and Jessica were laughing, playing with Sophia.

The moment Michael saw me, he shot to his feet.

His eyes, filled with pity, went straight to the cut on my forehead.

"Emily, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I wasn't thinking."

"You know how much Jessica means to our family," he pleaded.

"She's always been the favorite. I just can't stand to see her get hurt."

He took my hand and tried to slap himself with it.

"It was my fault. I lost my head. Hit me. Do whatever you need to do to feel better."

I pulled my hand away.

"I'm here for the papers," I said, my voice flat.

"What is wrong with you, Emily? What happened? Just talk to me, please."

In just two days, I felt like my entire life's energy had been drained.

"I just want a divorce. I'm tired, Michael. I don't love you anymore."

He just shook his head, refusing to hear it.

"That's not possible. What did I do wrong? I'll fix it, whatever it is. You're lying. You can't just stop loving me. If you don't like her, we won't adopt her. No kids, I don't care. I just want you."

He pulled me into a crushing hug, so tight I felt like he was trying to merge my body with his.

"Michael! Don't you understand English?"

I shoved him back.

"I want one thing. A divorce!"

I enunciated each word.

"Or do you want me to start listing all the filthy things you've done?"

His calm facade cracked.

For a split second, I saw a flash of panic in his eyes.

"What did I do wrong, Emily? Just tell me, and I'll change."

Jessica cut in.

"Just let her go, brother. She's an ungrateful snake. She's forgotten every good thing you've ever done for her. Her conscience has been eaten by a dog. What were you thinking, marrying a high-maintenance woman like her?"

Michael spun around and slapped her.

Jessica staggered back, clutching her cheek in disbelief.

"Apologize to your sister-in-law," he commanded.

Jessica stubbornly turned her head away, tears welling in her eyes.

"If you won't sign," I said, my voice dangerously calm, "I'll see you in court."

With that, I walked out of his office.

As the elevator descended, I could hear people whispering behind my back, their eyes darting from me to their phones.

I snatched a phone from one of them.

"What are you all gossiping about?"

The company group chat was buzzing with notifications.

"I heard the little girl is the CEO's daughter. He admitted it himself."

"The wife is being so unreasonable. Who even notices a birthmark that small?"

"That kid is adorable. So sweet. I'd adopt her in a heartbeat. I can't believe someone could be so cruel."

"Well, it's her own fault she can't have kids. Now she's taking it out on a child. The CEO really has it rough, married to a shrew like that."

Suddenly, a message from Jessica appeared: "Anyone who spreads rumors will be fired."

The chat went silent.

I sneered.

So Jessica was the big boss now, was she?

She'd really leveraged her position to become Michael's executive assistant.

A few days later, I came home to find a mountain of trash piled outside my front door.

It was everything I owned from the Hayes' house, dumped unceremoniously on the pavement.

Lying in the dirt was my favorite teddy bear, a gift from Michael.

It was filthy.

I stared at it for a long time before finally picking it up.

It was the first gift he ever gave me.

The night we made our relationship official, I'd had a sudden craving for a teddy bear.

It was late, and most of the stores were closed.

Michael ran nearly ten miles before he found a little shop that was still open.

It was a cheap, simple bear.

I had seen countless others that were more intricate, more beautiful.

But for some reason, that one had captured my heart.

It had become my most treasured possession.

I took a picture of the scene and sent it to him.

"You really know how to fake sincerity, don't you?"

I texted.

It took him hours to reply.

"Emily, that wasn't me. I would never, ever do something like that!"

I didn't want to hear his excuses.

I blocked his number.

That evening, a torrential downpour began, raindrops hammering against the glass.

The doorbell rang.

I opened it to find Michael standing there, soaked to the bone.

Water dripped from his clothes, and his wet hair was plastered to his forehead, his jaw clenched tight.

"Get inside," I said.

I tried to pull him in, but he wouldn't budge.

"No. Not until you forgive me."

"Then stand outside," I said, and shut the door in his face.

A little while later, I checked the security camera.

He was gone.

I let out a bitter laugh.

I was such a fool for ever believing him.

The rain lasted all night.

When I opened the door the next morning, he was there again.

Wearing the same drenched clothes, still dripping wet.

"Can you forgive me now, Emily?" he asked, his voice raw with misery.

"I've been out here all night."

"What are you trying to pull?"

Before I could say more, Jessica appeared, running toward us in a panic.

She rushed to Michael's side, helping him up.

"Are you insane?" she screamed at me.

"You let my brother stand in the rain all night? What kind of monster are you? Just because your body is broken, you have to make everyone else miserable? You're disgusting!"

Michael put on a show of being hurt, pretending to hold her back but not saying a single word in my defense.

The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh.

I was done wasting my breath on them.

Jessica shoved her phone in my face.

"See for yourself what a horrible person you are. My brother may tolerate you, but the rest of the world won't put up with your princess attitude."

On the screen was a video of Sophia being interviewed by a reporter.

She was recounting the story of how I had rejected her because of her birthmark, crying pitifully the entire time.

The agency director was there too, confirming my cold and heartless behavior that day.

The entire internet was crucifying me.

"Oh my god, Sophia is so precious. How could she say those things to a child? That little girl must be so traumatized."

"She's so young and already so mature. She almost had a home, and then this happens."