CHAPTER NINE

There stood Jack, delegating a group of movers like it was just another day at the office. His face was calm and focused as if this wasn’t the home we had built together, as if these weren’t our memories now scattered across the floor in pieces. He didn’t flinch when he saw me standing there.

“Jack?” My voice barely a whisper, he glanced up, his expression cold and distant.

“What’s going on here?” I demanded, though my voice wavered.

Jack sighs as if I was inconveniencing him. “As you can see, Racheal, I’m cleaning up the mess you made.”

I blink, stunned. “The mess I made? “Gesturing around the room, my hands trembling.

“Jack, you walked out on me. You left without so much as a word! And now you're here... what? Packing up our life like it’s nothing?”

He didn’t respond immediately; he just waved at one of the movers to continue taking the furniture. My furniture. Our furniture.

“Your things are outside. I figured you’d want some of them back before things get finalized.”

“Finalized?” I echoed, my voice rising. “Are you being serious right now? You disappear, you leave a note like some coward, and now you show up to throw me out of my own home? Are you out of your mind, Jack?”

He finally looks at me, really looks at me, and for a brief second, I thought I saw something in his eyes, regret, maybe, or guilt. But just as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by that same cold indifference. “This isn’t your home anymore, Racheal. I thought you would’ve understood that by now.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. “Not my home? You’ll seriously stand there and say that after everything we’ve been through?”

He shrugs, turning his back to me as he continues overseeing the movers.

“Look, I’m not here to argue. I’m just here to move forward with my life. I suggest you do the same.”

I stare at him, astonished. How had he turned into this person? The Jack I knew was kind and loving. I knew he had a bit of anger issues, but I never imagined this. I had never prepared myself for the day when I would be on the receiving end of his ruthlessness.

I step forward, my voice shaking with anger. “You owe me an explanation, Jack. You don’t just get to walk away from our life without saying a damn thing. You owe me that much.”

He pauses, his back still turned to me, his shoulders tense. For a moment, I thought he might say something real or honest. But then he shakes his head, muttering, “It’s over, Racheal. Just let it go.”

That was it. That was all he was going to give me. No closure, no reason. Just... over.

I felt my chest tighten as tears threatened to spill. I had been ready for the heartbreak and anger, but not this emptiness, not this void where our life had been.

As I turn to leave, broken and defeated, a voice I knew all too well pierced the silence.

“Has she left yet? I didn’t want to see her. It would’ve been awkward,” the voice said, soft but cold.

I freeze. My breath caught in my throat as I slowly turned around. Standing in the doorway was Hannah. Her figure had changed since the last time I saw her, and when my eyes dropped to her swollen stomach, I quickly put two and two together.

"Hannah?" disbelief washing over me like a tidal wave. "Don’t tell me... you and Jack...?"

The world around me seemed to slow down. My vision blurred, the edges going dark as the weight of realization pressed down on me.

Hannah had been in our lives for a couple of years. She had been in our home, our dinners, our celebrations. I had trusted her and believed she was my friend too. My heart starts to race, blood roaring in my ears as the betrayal hits me like a freight train.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think.

“How long?” I finally manage to ask, my voice filled with shock and pain. “How long has this been going on? Is she the reason you are leaving me?”

Hannah looks at Jack, and to my horror, they both exchange a smug, knowing smile.

“The truth?” Hannah finally speaks, her voice steady and unflinching.

 “Don’t answer her babe. We owe her no explanation.” Jack interrupts

My knees almost gave out. The room felt like it was spinning, the ground threatening to collapse beneath me. I stare at Jack, waiting for him to say something, deny it, and tell me this was some sick joke. But all he did was stand there, watching me with a cold detachment, like I was nothing. And then, in the cruelest act of confirmation, he reaches out and places a protective hand on Hannah’s belly.

“Hannah and I are having a baby. We need you out of our lives, so please, can you leave us alone now.” Jack tells me as he points to the door, indicating for me to leave.

  I just stood there, trembling, my eyes stinging with unshed tears, but more than the sadness, something else was starting to build inside me. Rage. A burning, seething rage.

“Did William and Karen know?” I ask, my voice rising with every word, my heart pounding in my chest. “Did they know about this? About you two?”

Hannah giggles a short, cruel sound that grates against every nerve in my body.

“Who do you think suggested this?” she sneers, her eyes glinting with malice. “They never liked you, Racheal. You were always the outsider.”

That was it. I finally snapped. Without thinking, without warning, I grab a jagged piece of broken glass from the floor, my hand trembling with fury. Before I could stop myself, I hurl it across the room.

Jack moves in an instant, shielding Hannah, but not fast enough. The glass slices across his cheek, leaving a thin, red line.

“Are you insane?!” Jack roars, pressing his hand to his bleeding face. “She’s pregnant! Get the fuck out!”

The sound of his voice barely registered. My body was shaking, adrenaline coursing through me. I take a step toward them, ready to lunge at Hannah and wipe that smug smile off her face, but before I could, strong hands grabbed me from behind. The building’s security guards, alerted by the commotion, had burst into the apartment.

“Let go of me!” I scream, struggling against their hold, my voice raw with fury and pain. “Let me go!”

But it was no use. They drag me out, my feet barely touching the floor as I thrash in their grip, my heart shattered into a million pieces. Jack didn’t even look at me. Neither did Hannah. They just stood there, ignoring me being hauled away like I was nothing.

The door slams shut behind me; and finally it downed on me that everything I had ever known, everything I had ever loved, was gone. And the worst part? The people I had trusted had been conspiring against me all along.