Emily stared at the rainslick streets of Manchester, the nights neon flickering like a broken promise. The man shed once idolised at university Thomas Whitaker had walked out on his wife for her, and she never imagined the wreckage that would follow.
Shed first spotted him in lecture halls, a shy brilliance that made her heart race. It was the sort of naïve, blind devotion teenagers whisper about in schoolyards. When, years after graduation, they ended up in the same firm in London both engineers, both convinced destiny had drawn them together the fantasy solidified.
He seemed the very embodiment of the partner shed always dreamed of. At the time, his existing marriage didnt bother her; shed never been wed herself and had no notion of seeing a union crumble. So when Thomas announced he was leaving his wife for Emily, shame never brushed her thoughts. Who could have foreseen the agony that would later gnaw at her? As the old saying goes, you cannot build your happiness on anothers misery.
When he chose her, she felt as if she were soaring above the clouds, ready to forgive any transgression. Yet the daytoday reality was far from the Prince Charming shed imagined. His belongings littered every corner of their flat, and he refused to lift a finger for the dishes. The domestic chores fell squarely on Emilys shoulders, but at that stage she cared little.
Thomas quickly erased his former marriage from memory. Theyd never had children; the union had been largely at the urging of his inlaws. With Emily, he swore everything would be different that was his promise.
Her brief spell of bliss shattered the moment she discovered she was pregnant. Thomas beamed at the news, and they threw a lavish family gathering at a countryside estate near York, with friends raising glasses of sparkling wine and offering heartfelt wishes for the babys health. That evening remains one of her brightest recollections, and she feels no regret when she looks back. Yet the same night marked the first dimming of her blind love.
As her belly swelled, Thomas grew increasingly distant. On maternity leave, she saw him only late at night, his work hours stretching into the early morning, his presence reserved for afterhours office parties. Initially she brushed it off, but the exhaustion set in fast. Simple chores became Herculean tasks; she could no longer scoot around the flat to pick up his discarded socks.
She began to wonder whether they had rushed into parenthood. She knew affection could fade, yet she hadnt expected it to happen so swiftly. Thomas still brought flowers and chocolates, but all she craved was his company.
Soon his frequent outings stopped being innocent. A colleague mentioned, offhand, that a new junior analyst had joined their department. The team was already shorthanded, and with Emily on leave, the workload had become a crisis. The irony was cruel.
Emily wasnt sure it was her, but Thomas undeniably had someone else; his calendar was perpetually bookedmeetings, networking events, afterhours drinks. One evening she found a slip of paper in his jacket pocket, initials she didnt recognise. Something in her snapped; she slipped the note back and pretended ignorance.
The terror of being alone in her seventh month weighed heavily, and Thomas kept accusing her of being overly nervous. Every argument ended with his sigh of disappointment. She sensed that raising the issue would leave her truly alone. The fear of losing him was so intense it clouded every other thought. As old wives tales warn, dread can become a selffulfilling prophecy.
No amount of polished courtship could disguise his true nature. The worst words she ever heard were, Im not ready to be a father, followed by, Ive got someone else. She cant even recall the exact phrasing, but at that moment she felt herself teeter on the edge of madness.
Summoning a courage she didnt know she possessed, she filed for divorce. Thomas hadnt expected her to draw the line, nor her decision to fling his possessions out the flats front door the next morning. She felt a brief relief that they lived in a rented apartment; at least she wasnt tied to a property he owned.
And the child? What will you do? he asked.
Ill manage. Ill work from home, and my parents have offered to help. Mum always warned me he was a philanderer; I should have listened.
Responsibility for her unborn son gave her the strength to walk away. Alone, she would never have had the resolve to leave. She also realised she could never raise a child with a father like him.
His betrayal felt so cowardly that she wanted nothing more to do with him. It was as if a veil lifted from her eyes.
The first months after the divorce, including the birth, were a brutal ordeal. She moved back in with her parents in Bristol, a reunion that delighted her grandparents, who now had a greatgrandson to dote on. She cant claim she never missed Thomas, but she refused to let nostalgia rule her thoughts. Deep down she trusted she had made the right choice and that she could give her son everything he needed.
Then, out of nowhere, Thomas resurfaced.
He now spoke of deep regret, pleading to meet his son. But does Emily want that? Perhaps she should even consider moving to another city, maybe to Edinburgh, to start anew.
