Love Left Unrepaired by Time Chapter 1

I was in the delivery room, in labor, when my husband called.

“Isla,” he said, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. “I’m cheating on you.”

“Let’s get a divorce now, before the baby is born.”

“Ruby is young. She can’t handle the scandal and the gossip.”

“I have to make it official with her.”

“And don’t even think about using the baby to trap me.”

“You of all people should know how painful it is for a child to be born unwanted.”

I looked at the photo he sent me and nodded, my heart strangely quiet.

I didn’t scream or have a hysterical breakdown like I had before.

And I didn’t tell him that the precious, innocent girl he was so desperate to protect…

Was a party girl with AIDS.

And that after all his… indulgence, he probably wouldn’t even live to see the divorce finalized.

* * *

When Declan Lancaster came to the hospital with the divorce papers, I had just given birth.

It was a difficult delivery. I was barely hanging on.

He looked at my pale, drawn face and frowned, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes.

There was no concern, no tenderness.

Only irritation that I had gone against his wishes.

“I told you not to have this baby.”

“Ruby doesn’t like the idea of a child competing for my attention.”

I looked down at the sleeping infant in my arms and managed a weak, tired smile.

“Couldn’t be helped. You called a little too late.”

“By the time you were proposing to your Ruby, I was already on the operating table.”

The baby wasn’t due yet.

But a package from Ruby containing a dead rat had sent me into premature labor.

While I was at the hospital, waiting, I called Declan countless times. He never picked up.

As I was being wheeled into the operating room, the sky outside exploded in a shower of fireworks.

I looked closer.

It was Declan, trying to make his little mistress happy.

A multi-million dollar proposal.

A path of roses, a sky full of light.

And there, spelled out in the darkness by a fleet of drones, were the words:

“I love you, Ruby.”

I gave birth to our child amidst the crackle of his celebration.

The doctors issued multiple critical condition notices. My phone calls went unanswered.

In the end, I had to grit my teeth and sign the surgical consent form myself.

And what a coincidence. He showed up right after the baby was born.

Not out of concern for me or his child. He was here to rush me into signing the papers.

To tell me to take the baby and get lost, to make way for his new love.

I sighed a silent, weary sigh.

But I forced a smile and took the divorce agreement from his hand.

As I shifted to sit up, the movement tore at the stitches on my stomach.

Bright red blood instantly soaked through the gauze. Declan’s frown only deepened.

“Don’t bother playing the victim with me, Isla.”

“I’m not a heartless man. I’ll be generous with the money.”

“Just sign the papers, and I’ll pay the child support in one lump sum. You’ll be comfortable.”

My hand, holding the pen, paused.

I looked at his cold, handsome face and felt… nothing. Not even a pang of sadness.

I suppose I had already cried all my tears.

I remember when I first found out he was cheating. I had cried, screamed, even threatened to kill myself.

I had one foot out the window, and he just stood there, his expression bored.

“Stop crying, Isla. I lost feelings for you a long time ago.”

“Your tears used to break my heart.”

“But now… they just make me sick.”

That night, he left without a backward glance, rushing off to Ruby’s side.

He left me to cry myself unconscious.

I cried for a long, long time.

And I finally understood just how cruel a man can be when his heart has moved on.

Fueled by a bitter desire for revenge, I started digging into Ruby’s background. I was going to burn his world to the ground. I wanted everyone to see the ugly truth behind his perfect facade.

But the moment I saw her picture, everything changed.

All the hatred, all the resentment, it all just… evaporated.

Because I recognized her immediately.

The pure, innocent angel in Declan’s eyes was a former patient of mine, one I had treated for AIDS.

Declan has a congenital heart condition.

An infection like that could kill him.

In that instant, I felt a sense of release.

Fate has a way of making the unfaithful pay.

All I had to do was wait for the right moment to give it a little push.

So, I stopped fighting. I stopped making scenes.

I focused on my pregnancy, playing the part of the polite and dignified Mrs. Lancaster.

And I waited, quietly, for the day Declan would die.