The Divorce by Freida McFadden - 43

43

Veronica is pregnant.

She’s carrying my husband’s baby. I don’t know how this could have happened. I mean, yes, I get the biology behind it. But she couldn’t possibly want a baby with him? Could she?

What do I do now? I was certain I could get her to walk away with enough financial persuasion. But if there’s a baby growing inside her, it might take a little…extra persuasion.

But what gives me hope is that Lola asked Veronica what she was going to do about it. Which means that her pregnancy was most likely not expected or even wanted. She probably got pregnant by accident, because her twenty-eight-year-old body is simply that fertile, while I have spent the last five years desperately hoping and praying that the fertility gods would bless me and my husband with another child. I doubt Veronica has the same type of dreams I did, about a home in the suburbs, a loving husband, and 2.4 kids. She probably doesn’t want the stretch marks.

Does Jeremy know about the baby? If he does, that’s a game changer. He’ll want to marry her for sure if he knows. I still remember how determined he was for us to tie the knot when he found out about Teddy.

Then it hits me: I have access to their text messages.

My hands are shaking as I start scrolling backward through the messages. She has deleted a lot of those too, and the ones remaining are fairly innocuous. Mostly making plans for getting together. A few more “I love you” declarations, but I can’t help but notice that Jeremy always says it first. And of course, they talk about me a few times. Not very favorably either.

Although I suppose that’s fair.

I don’t see anything about a pregnancy test though. Nothing even hinting at it. Which makes me think that he doesn’t know.

While I am scrolling, a message from Jeremy pops up on the screen:

Can I FaceTime with Teddy in about an hour?

Oh my God, can he give it a rest? I appreciate that he wants to be around for Teddy’s bedtime. I always thought it was sweet when he would call in during his rare business trips so that he could say good night to Teddy. It was also helpful because Teddy often refuses to go to sleep without saying good night to his father. But does he have to do this now ?

But then I realize this might be an opportunity to figure out what he actually knows. So I start typing back:

Yes, of course. And maybe later tonight, we could talk about how to handle this situation.

The bubbles appear on the screen to indicate that he’s typing, and I hold my breath. Does he know?

What situation?

He doesn’t know. That was a very clear hint, and he hasn’t picked up on it. He doesn’t know about the positive pregnancy test. He probably doesn’t even know she was thinking about taking one.

I don’t want him to get suspicious though, so I start composing a text to backtrack, but then another message from him appears on the screen.

You mean with Naomi? Because I don’t think we need to worry about that. Hardwick says she will get destroyed in court after what she pulled at the party. Everyone saw her. Even that nerdy lawyer of hers won’t be able to save her.

I grit my teeth. Okay, that was pretty mean of him. And I didn’t even do anything at the party. He’s the one who called the police over nothing . Also, they are grossly underestimating my “nerdy lawyer.” Before I can stop myself, I type back:

Actually, maybe we should rethink things. I don’t know if we should take Teddy away from his mother.

What are you talking about???? Naomi is out of her mind! I don’t want to leave him alone with her for two minutes, much less allow her custody.

Maybe we’re not being fair to her.

I was married to her for five years! Trust me, I know what she’s like.

How could he say that? Up until a few months ago, we were happy together! It’s like he’s been brainwashed.

I don’t get it, Ronnie. Why are you saying this? Last night, you said I wasn’t being aggressive enough, and now you’re telling me we’re not being fair to her?

I knew it. I knew Veronica was the one behind this custody battle. She is the one goading him on because she doesn’t want him to have to pay me child support. It’s been her the whole time. And I suspect that when Jeremy finally gets custody, Teddy will be shipped off to a boarding school to get him out of the way.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Veronica is not going to be that easy to reason with. If she’s pregnant, she’s not going to just walk away with a check. The stakes have been raised.

You have to get rid of her.

I can’t seem to turn off my mother’s voice in my head. But I am not going to kill Veronica. Whatever else I have done in my life, I have to draw the line there. No murder. It’s wrong .

But I’ve got to do something . I can’t just allow Veronica to steal my family. I just don’t know what to do to stop her.

I was on the right track before. Jeremy is attracted to Veronica because she’s young and beautiful. I can’t do anything about the young part, but the other part…

I close my eyes and imagine what would happen if I took the blade of the scissors to Veronica’s porcelain face. If I ran it over her skin again and again. Her flawless cheeks. Her pink Cupid’s-bow lips.

Even her pretty eyes.

By the time my work is done, Jeremy won’t want anything to do with her. Yes, he might give her some money because he feels sorry for her or he feels that he must provide for the baby. But he won’t want to sleep with her anymore. Nobody will.

She will be just as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside.

Yes, this will work nicely.

I pick up the scissors again and move toward the cellar door.