Chapter One

Jules Pov:

The world spun as Adam's words echoed in my head.

He never loved me

Tears welled, blurring my vision as my body trembled in denial. This couldn't be real.

"You don't mean that, Adam," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "We can fix this. We just need to talk."

A cold fury replaced the warmth that used to be in his eyes. "There's nothing to fix, Jules. I never loved you. You were a game, a way to escape my own life." His grip tightened on my shoulders, his anger a physical thing pushing against me.

"No," I gasped,"We have so many memories, so many moments , laughs... We can't throw it all away." My voice rose in desperation, clinging to the wreckage of our love.

Memories flickered through my mind – stolen kisses under fireworks, whispered promises on starlit nights, the way his hand fit perfectly in mine.

How could none of it have meant anything to him?

"Memories?" He spat the word, his face contorted. "All I remember is your constant need. You suffocate me, Jules. You pretend to be this perfect person, but you're a liar. A leech who latched onto my life. God, I wish I'd never met you."

The air knocked out of my lungs. A sob escaped my lips, choked with a rising tide of fear. This wasn't the Adam I knew. Where was the man who held me close, who whispered promises of forever? The man who'd built a future with me, brick by hopeful brick?

"I hate you, Jules," he snarled, his voice laced with venom. "I hate the day I got drunk and married you. I hate that you wormed your way into every aspect of my life. You never stop lying... I swear to god I wish I'd never met you."

His voice cut off abruptly as his grip slackened. I slumped back in the chair, the room tilting around me. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a counterpoint to the dull ache spreading through my body. The world had shattered, and I was left to pick up the pieces, unsure if I could even recognize them anymore.

A part of me screamed in denial, clawing for the Adam I thought I knew. But another part, a cold and logical one, whispered the truth. The warmth, the love, the promises – it had all been a lie. A tear escaped, tracing a cold path down my cheek.

The air crackled with the heat of our argument. "I've never lied to you," I yelled, my voice hoarse.

"You're such a fucking liar Jules! You lied about Harry!" Adam's face contorted with anger, his green eyes narrowed to slits.

"No, I didn't! There was nothing between us," I pleaded, the truth catching in my throat.

"Then what about Trey? Huh? You were so in love with him before I came along. You always wanted to escape Fairview. I just didn't realize how desperate you were to ditch that tiny farm life. So desperate you'd marry the first guy offering a ticket out and a good fuck . You used me, Jules. Someone who'd be a better lay, a city boy like me." he sneared "How long was this charade supposed to last? No wonder you wouldn't let me quit my job. I wouldn't be good enough for you anymore once I was covered in dirt, huh, another one of your little toys."

Silence crashed over us. I stared at the man I'd sworn to spend my life with.

Yes, I wanted to leave Fairview. But it wasn't some fantasy of city lights and cobbled streets. It was about escaping the suffocating memories that clung to every corner. My parents, my brother, all gone too soon. My little sister, lost to the cold embrace of the lake, she'd drowned and left me alone. The only reason I stayed was for Nana, and for him. To hear Adam twist my desires into something so cynical…

I wanted to escape, to build another life, away from the town that had the ghost of my family on every pavement, every store block, every god-damned tree, streetlight and familiar face that looked at me like I was a cursed monster. I wanted something new.

I wanted a family with you Adam

"You think so little of me," I whispered, the words echoing the hollowness that had settled in my chest. There it was, my father's stubbornness and ego building inside of me.

He met my gaze, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. "It's not what I think, Jules. It's what I know."

Silence....

"I want a divorce," I said, the autopilot kicking in. Running was the only thing I'd ever known how to do, and right now, it was the only thing I craved, the only thing I desperately needed to help me get out of this mess. If he doesn't want me, then I'm a fool to think this is going to change anything, not me pleading or him finding out I'm pregnant.

I'd driven all this way to tell him. The moment he'd left two days ago, I'd felt horrible and when Doctor Mayer told me I was having a pregnant I wanted to tell him in person, To let him know we were going to be a family. I didn't expect him to be in bed with a blonde.

He cheated on me... I was wrong, yet I'm standing here begging him? I have someone else to think about, someone who's just the size of a little grape but still...my baby.

He never wanted me, He won't want our baby.

"I want a divorce. If you don't want me then I'll give you back your freedom Adam Casey. I won't contest anything. I won't ask for anything of yours. I'll leave and you never have to deal with me again. Divorce me."

Please, Adam, don't say yes...please say you love me.

A flicker of surprise, a shadow of sadness, flitted across Adam's face before it hardened into a mask of indifference. It was a chilling sight, the final confirmation that the love we once shared had vanished.

"Okay, Jules, okay," Adam sighed, turning away. "I'll have my lawyer get you the documents."

Silence echoed in the sterile apartment, I nodded, throat tight, knowing he couldn't see the tears blurring the world around me. "Good," I rasped, my voice thick with unshed tears. My heart already ached for the life we were losing, a life I'd envisioned filled with laughter lines and shared dreams.

Reaching for the doorknob, I hesitated, glancing back. Adam stood frozen in the same spot, a stranger cloaked in the familiar shell of the man I loved. A million unspoken words battled in my chest. This might be, no... it definitely was the last time I'd ever see him.

"Adam," I croaked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"What, Jules?" His voice was flat, devoid of any warmth, a stark contrast to the way it used to soften when he looked at me.

Taking a shaky breath, I forced the words out, each one a shard of truth piercing my heart.

No words left unsaid Jules...no words left unsaid

" I need you to know... I've always loved you. From the moment we met, it was like coming home. And I meant every word I said at the altar. 'Til death do us part' - I meant every single moment, every smile, every look, every kiss. Everything. But if you don't want me anymore..." My voice hitched, the lump in my throat making it hard to swallow. "If you want me gone, I'll go. Because I love you that much."

A heavy silence descended, thick and suffocating. This was it. My final plea for our fractured marriage. A second chance, I'm such a masochist. he'd already made his decision, but I just wanted to hear it again. To know that he really did want me gone.

Please, Adam ... Please

"Go," he finally said, the words sharp and cold.

As if someone had ripped the very air from my lungs, my breath caught. My heart shattered into a million pieces, but a strange sense of clarity bloomed in its wake. At least I knew. I wouldn't cling to something that wasn't mine.

"Okay," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "Goodbye, Adam. Forever."

Leaving wasn't easy. The twelve-hour drive I'd made in frantic hope and excitement to tell him my good news felt like a lifetime ago. We'd only been married a short while when he was called back to the city for work. He'd promised to quit, to move in with me. I hadn't wanted that; his passion for his job at the museum was as bright as the love in his eyes. that was the only reason I'd told him not to quit. It was the only memory he had of his mother.

Tears streamed down my face as I drove, blurring the cityscape into streaks of light. And it just hit me, what the hell am I going to do now with a baby on the way and my marriage has just ended?

I'm...alone.