Mom snatched the report, a gasp escaping her lips. "Penelope, what on earth does 'fetal abnormality due to external stimulation' mean?"

She shoved it at Dad. He read it, then slammed it down. "Archer Edwards, look at this!"

My gaze was ice as Archer’s face went from pale to ashen. The report was brutally clear:

Patient sustained a lower back injury from impact. Fetal abnormality due to external stimulation resulted in miscarriage.

"No... she said she had an abortion..." Archer sputtered, clearly in denial.

His silver tongue was no match for the damning evidence on paper.

I took a sip of coffee, clearing my throat. "Mom, Dad, I've filed for divorce."

"I don't agree!" Archer's face was thunderous.

I ignored him and headed upstairs.

Mom followed with some broth, her concern evident. "Penelope, what really happened between you and Archer?"

I shook my head, a silent wall.

"Honey, you're usually so level-headed. You've put up with so much. I know you're devastated about the baby, but you're young. You'll have more children..."

"He's been seeing someone else," I cut her off.

"What? Archer? That doesn't sound like him. Is this some kind of mix-up?"

I stayed quiet. Mom knew Lilith. I couldn't drag her through the muck.

After she left, I sank back against the headboard. For the first time in days, a raw sob tore through me.

My cries echoed in the cavernous room. I wept for a lover's betrayal, for the child I'd lost, and for a marriage that couldn't survive one damn test.

I slipped off the ring on my finger. Its luster seemed dulled. Archer's engagement ring.

We'd been married two years. He'd showered me with fancier diamonds, but I always wore this one.

Because of what he'd said when he proposed: "Penelope, I'll make you happy."

The sincerity in his eyes, his firm declaration of love as he knelt – that felt real.

But so did the words he whispered to Lilith: "Baby, I only love you."

Archer was good to me. He loved me once. I wouldn't deny it.

But he said "I love you" too easily, too often, too cheaply.

Somehow, Archer sweet-talked his way back into my parents' good graces.

I'd just finished a landscape of the Alps and went to wash my hands. He trailed after me.

"Penelope, why don't you rest? Dinner's almost ready."

I dodged his hand as he tried to drape a shawl over my shoulders.

Shaking water from my hands, I met his gaze, my expression blank.

Archer’s face fell, his hand dropping awkwardly.

"Archer, I'm not buying it anymore."

That look used to melt me, erase his mistakes. Now, it was useless.

He wasn't the same naive guy. He’d become a pro at playing me.

"Penelope, I messed up. It's over with Lilith. Please, just this once. After all these years, all our memories... can you really throw it all away?"

He called out as I turned to leave. I stopped.

He probably thought he was getting through to me. "Penelope, we were childhood sweethearts. High school crush, remember? You’ve been with me from the start, from my school blazer days to now, CEO of Edwards Corp. We’ve loved each other so long, been married so long. You can't just let it go."

Yeah, we'd been together a long time. But it seemed I was the only one who hadn't changed.