The D&C procedure was over, a cold finality to the grief already heavy on my shoulders from my parents' recent death. As I clutched their ashes, I called my husband, Ethan, a rising political star, needing him more than ever. His assistant, Sabrina, coldly told me he was too busy, later revealing his fury that I' d even suggest divorce. His anger boiled over when I finally told him I was done, not realizing the deep well of my despair. He'd sworn he wasn't divorcing me, his voice sharp and dismissive, just as he had dismissed my pain for years. I still remember the day my heart turned to stone: Sabrina "accidentally" knocking over the urn holding the ashes of our first lost baby, and Ethan rushing to comfort her, then turning to me, his eyes full of irritation, telling me to "get over it." But the truth was far more insidious, lurking beneath his carefully crafted image. An anonymous email, an audio file revealing his chilling plan, had shattered any lingering hope or trust. His calm, clear voice: "...She' s useful for that, at least." Useful. He meant my body, my unborn child, a living incubator to harvest cord blood for Sabrina' s dying sister. My baby wasn't a crop. My body wasn't a field to be plowed for his convenience. The decision was instant, brutal, and mine alone. I signed the divorce papers, the only certainty I had left in a world that had crumbled around me. And then, I knew, it was time to leave.
