Pregnant and Bleeding, My Husband Pickle His Ex Chapter 07
She took a step toward me.
“Are you happy now?” Sienna’s voice was quiet.
Shaking.
“I’m not happy,” I said. “I just told the truth.”
“You ruined him.” Her eyes were red. “You stood up there and ruined everything.”
“I didn’t ruin anything.” I kept my voice steady. “He did that himself.”
“He made a medical choice-”
“He left his wife to die.” The words came out flat.
Final. “That’s what happened.”
She opened her mouth. Closed it.
Then headlights cut across the parking lot.
A black SUV. Pulling up right in front of the town hall.
The driver’s door opened. A man got out. Tall. Expen- sive suit. The kind of man who looked like he belonged in a boardroom, not a small–town parking lot.
Sienna’s face went white.
“Marcus?”
He walked toward us. Calm. Purposeful.
“Sienna,” he said. “We need to talk.”
“What are you doing here?” Her voice went high.
Panicked.
He held up a folder. “I think you know.”
People were starting to notice. The crowd from the town hall was still milling around. Now they were watching this new drama unfold.
Marcus opened the folder. Pulled out papers.
“DNA test,” he said. His voice carried in the cold air.
“The baby isn’t mine.”
Gasps from the crowd.
Sienna’s face crumpled. “Marcus, please-”
“I’m not here to embarrass you.” He looked at the papers. Then at her. “I’m here because that baby deserves better than this.”
“You left me-”
“You cheated on me.” He said it simply. Like he was reading a grocery list. “Multiple times. With different men. I have proof. Text messages. Bank statements.
Witness testimony.”
More gasps. Whispers spreading through the crowd.
looked around. Saw Colton standing near the door.
His face was frozen. Shocked.
“The baby’s father,” Marcus continued, “is a photographer named Ryan Mills. Who left town three months ago. With fifteen thousand dollars that you stole from our joint account.”
Sienna was crying now. “That’s not-”
“It’s all documented.” Marcus held up more papers. “I have emails. Receipts. Everything.”
He looked at the crowd. At all the watching faces.
“I came to Millbrook to offer Sienna a deal. I’ll adopt the baby. Give him a good home. Medical care. Education.” He paused. “On the condition that she gets help. Real help. For her issues.”
“What issues?” someone in the crowd asked.
“That’s between Sienna and her therapist,” Marcus said. “But she needs help. And she needs to stop using people.”
He looked at Colton.
“Dr. Whitmore, I’m sorry you got caught up in this.
She’s good at making people think she’s the victim.
Making them want to rescue her.”
Colton just stood there. Didn’t say anything.
Marcus turned back to Sienna. “You have forty–eight hours to decide. After that, I’m filing for custody. And I have enough evidence to win.”
He got back in his SUV.
Drove away.
Sienna collapsed. Literally sank to the ground. Someone rushed to help her.
But I was already walking. Betty caught up with me.
“Maren-”
“I need to go home,” I said. “This isn’t my problem anymore.”
Quinn was waiting by Betty’s car. He opened the door for me. Didn’t ask questions.
We drove in silence.
When we got to my house, Quinn walked me to the door.
“That was intense,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
I thought about it. “I think so.”
He nodded. Started to leave. Stopped.
“You did the right thing,” he said. “Tonight. At the meeting. You told the truth.”
“Thanks, Quinn.”
“I’ll see you around,” he said,
And then he left.
I went inside. Checked on Leo. He was sleeping peacefully. Didn’t know about the chaos. Didn’t know his father’s life had just imploded.
I was glad.
Six weeks later, I unlocked the door to my new clinic.
Not the old place. That had too many memories. Too many reminders of the person I used to be.
This was different. Smaller. On the other side of town.
But it was mine.
The sign above the door read: *Castellano Veterinary Clinic – New Location*
I’d spent weeks setting it up. New equipment. New paint. New everything.
Today was opening day.
I was wiping down the counter when the bell above the door rang,
I looked up.
Colton.
He was wearing jeans, A jacket. No white coat. He “looked smaller without it.
“Maren,” he said. “Can we talk?”
“I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.”
“Please. Just five minutes.”
I put down the cloth. “What do you want, Colton?”
“I want to explain—”
“You’ve had weeks to explain.”
“I know. I just-” He ran his hand through his hair. That old gesture. “I made a mistake.”
“You made a choice.”
“I was trying to do what was right-”
“For who?” I looked at him. Really looked at him. “Not for me. Not for your son. For yourself.”
He didn’t have an answer for that.
The back door opened. Quinn came out holding two coffee cups.
He stopped when he saw Colton.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know-” He held up the cups awkwardly. “I brought coffee. But I forgot to ask if you wanted sugar. So I just got it black. But if you want sugar, I can-”
“Black is perfect,” I said. I took the cup from him. “Thank you.”
Quinn’s ears turned red. He looked at Colton. At me.
Back at Colton.
Colton stared at Quinn. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not kidding you,” I said. “I’m just done with you.”
“With him? The guy who can barely hold a conversation?”
“The guy who saved my life.” I kept my voice calm. “The guy who’s been there every day for six weeks. Bringing coffee. Checking on Leo. Not asking for anything.”
Quinn was looking at his shoes now. But I saw the small smile.
“Maren-” Colton started.
The bell rang again.
Mrs. Henderson bustled in carrying a cat carrier.
“Dr. Maren! You’re open!” She beamed. “I told everyone I’d be your first customer!”
She stopped when she saw Colton,
“Oh. Dr. Whitmore.” Her voice went cold. “Leaving, I hope?”
Colton looked at me. At Quinn. At Mrs. Henderson.
“Yeah,” he said finally. “I’m leaving.“.
He walked to the door. Stopped. Looked back.
“I did love you,” he said. “I want you to know that.”
“Maybe you did,” I said. “But not enough.”
He left.
I watched through the window as he got in his car. Sat there for a minute. Then drove away.
“Good riddance,” Mrs. Henderson said. She put the carrier on the exam table. “Now, about Mr. Whiskers. He’s been sneezing…”
I smiled. Turned to the carrier.
This was it. My new life. My new clinic.
Quinn was leaning against the wall. Holding his coffee. Watching me with those gray–green eyes.
Mrs. Henderson was chattering about her cat. About the town gossip. About how everyone was so proud of me.
Through the window, I could see Main Street. The town I’d grown up in. The people I’d known my life.
It was the same town.
But I wasn’t the same person. whole
“Dr. Maren?” Mrs. Henderson asked. “Should I take him out of the carrier?”
“Yes,” I said. “Let’s take a look at him.”
Quinn moved closer. “Need any help?”
“Actually, yeah.” I gestured to a shelf. “Can you grab those syringes?”
“Sure.” He grabbed them. Handed them to me. Our fingers touched.
He pulled back quickly. Face red.
Mrs. Henderson was watching us with a knowing smile.
“You two,” she said. “You’re good together.”
Quinn’s face got redder.
I just smiled.
Maybe we were.
Maybe we weren’t.
But I had time to figure it out.
Time to build this new life.
Time to be the person I wanted to be.
Outside, the snow had stopped. The sun was breaking through the clouds,
Spring was coming.
And I was ready.
THE END