During my pregnancy, my husband changed. He mocked my appearance, ignored my pain, and made me feel worthless. Then he left me for another woman, thinking he’d won. But what he didn’t know was that I had my own plan. And when the time came, he never saw it coming.
Pregnancy. One of the most beautiful moments in a woman’s life. That is, of course, if she has a loving husband who supports her every step of the way.
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As for me, not only did I have constant morning sickness throughout the months of pregnancy, but so did Arnie, who couldn’t stop reminding me how bad I’d started to look.
Before my pregnancy, we had a good relationship. Arnie practically carried me in his arms.
She made me feel like the most loved woman in the world, always finding little ways to show me her love.
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When we decided to have a child, he was as happy as I was, grinning from ear to ear as he held the positive test in his hands.
But as soon as I got pregnant and my body started to change, it was like it had been replaced by someone else.
At first, they were just small comments. “At least you could dress up for your husband instead of walking around in pajamas all day,” she once murmured.
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It didn’t matter that he had spent all day next to the toilet, vomiting at the slightest smell.
Then she started complaining. “You spend all day lying around,” she grumbled one night, taking off her shoes. “This house is a mess.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Arnie, my back hurts and I’m nauseous all the time. I can barely stand without feeling dizzy.”
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Then Arnie started coming home late, always glued to the phone, texting someone.
It worried me, but whenever I asked him, he quickly shook it off. “I’m just working,” he said.
One night, I was already eight months pregnant. My belly was huge, my feet swollen, and I was having trouble breathing. Arnie came home late, reeking of a woman’s perfume.
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“Where have you been?” I asked. My voice came out weaker than I intended.
Arnie didn’t even look at me. He threw the keys on the table and shrugged.
“None of your business,” he muttered, heading straight for the kitchen. “JESSICA!” His voice echoed through the apartment.
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I shuddered. My heart was pounding. I struggled to get up from the couch.
My back ached. My legs felt stiff. I grabbed the armrest for support and forced myself toward the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, breathing heavily.
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Arnie was standing by the fridge, looking at me. “Where’s dinner?”
My stomach lurched. I swallowed hard. “I feel sick again. I’ve tried, but every time I smell food, I run straight to the bathroom.”
Arnie rolled his eyes. He turned back to the sink and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Could you at least have washed the dishes?”
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He raised his voice. “I come home exhausted, and this place is disgusting! There’s no food. No clean dishes. What do you do all day?”
Tears burned my eyes. “Arnie, I’m sorry. I wish I could, but I feel terrible.” My voice cracked.
He sneered. “All you do is sit around in your pajamas.”
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I placed a hand on my belly. “I’m pregnant with our daughter. My body is working hard.”
“Don’t start!” she cut me off. “My sister was pregnant. She did everything. She cooked. She cleaned. She still looked good. And she never ignored her husband in bed.”
I exclaimed. My chest hurt like I’d been punched. “Pregnancy isn’t the same for everyone. I didn’t think it would be this hard either, but I’m doing this for her. For us.”
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Arnie sneered. “Stop making excuses. You’re just lazy.”
He stormed out. A second later, the front door slammed shut. I stood there clutching the counter, tears streaming down my face.
I sat down in a chair and covered my face with my hands. My body was shaking, my shoulders were shaking, and my chest hurt with every breath.
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How did it come to this? How could the man who once promised to love me and care for me now treat me like I was nothing?
That night I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts spun in circles, tormenting me with endless questions.
Where had Arnie gone? Was he with someone else? Hours passed, the silence in the house growing ever more intense, until, just before dawn, a message appeared on my screen.
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It’s here. I needed space.
It was his mother’s. A wave of relief washed over me, but it didn’t last long. He hadn’t run off with another woman, at least not tonight.
When Arnie returned, things only got worse. His gaze was filled with resentment, his words sharp and cold.
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He constantly criticized me, making me feel like a failure.
“This place is always dirty.” “You spend all day lying around.” “You don’t even try to take care of yourself.”
His voice was filled with disgust, and each comment hurt me more deeply.
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One day I told my best friend everything. She listened, her expression darkening with every word. “Jessica, you have to leave him,” she said.
I shook my head, a lump in my throat. “I can’t. I’m pregnant. I have no money, no job, and nowhere to go.”
“You have people who care about you. You’re not alone,” she insisted. “You don’t deserve this.”
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I wanted to believe him, but fear held me back. No matter how much Arnie hurt me, I didn’t know how to walk away.
Then, one night, everything changed. Arnie was in the shower. His phone, which he never left unattended, lit up with a notification. My hands shook as I grabbed it and unlocked it.
A dating app. Dozens of messages. Women he’d been flirting with, seeing, and sleeping with while I was home, pregnant with his daughter.
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My stomach dropped, and I clutched my belly as if I wanted to protect my baby from the pain, but in that moment, my mind cleared. I had to leave him. But I needed a plan.
The next day, I started it. And pretty soon, just as I was about to give birth, Arnie walked through the door with another woman.
“Who is it?” I shouted, my voice shaking with rage and disbelief.
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Arnie stood in the doorway, completely unfazed. He put his arm around the young woman next to him and smiled contentedly. “This is Stacy, my girlfriend,” he said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
My stomach lurched. “WHAT?!” I screamed. I clenched my hands and gasped.
“You heard me,” he said, his voice cold and distant. He pulled a folder from under his arm and threw it on the table. “I’ll leave you. Here are the divorce papers.”
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My whole body went numb. I stared at him, then at the folder, unable to process what was happening. Instinctively, I brought my hand to my stomach. “And our daughter?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Arnie shrugged. “I don’t want you or your daughter.”
My eyes filled with tears. “How could you do this to us? How could you be so cruel?”
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Arnie sneered. “Jessica, look at you! You’ve really let yourself go. There’s nothing attractive about you. You just sit around whining all day. Stacy, on the other hand, is beautiful, young, and most importantly, she never says no to me.”
He pulled Stacy close and kissed her in front of me. My stomach lurched. My heart pounded.
“YOU’RE A MONSTER!” I yelled. Without thinking, I grabbed the pen from the table and signed the papers.
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Arnie smirked. “At least I don’t look like you!”
I glared at him. “I’ll get my things when you’re not home!”
“Make it quick,” he sneered. “Soon you’ll be locked out of this house—it’s my property!”
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I spun around and slammed the door. He thought he’d won. He had no idea what was in store for him.
I gave birth to my daughter the same day I finalized my divorce from Arnie.
I felt like one life had ended and another had just begun. I’d spent a month drowning in stress, terrified that I might harm my baby, but when I finally held her in my arms, all my fears vanished.
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Riley was perfect. Her tiny fingers wrapped around mine, her soft cries filling the hospital room. In that moment, I knew she’d saved me.
For a while, we lived with my mother. She helped me with the baby, letting me rest when exhaustion took hold.
My body recovered quickly, and when I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself. I’d lost weight, but I’d gained something else: strength.
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One afternoon, a knock on the door startled me. I opened it and froze. Stacy was there.
I opened the door and frowned when I saw her standing there. “What are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my arms.
Stacy shifted her position and let out a small sigh. “It’s over. Your plan worked.”
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Relief washed over me. A slow smile spread across my face as I stepped back. “Finally,” I said, motioning for him to come in.
He walked past me and looked around the house. “Arnie signed everything over without a second thought. The house. The bills. He didn’t even read the papers. He was too busy thinking about what he was going to get with me,” he said with a smirk.
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I shook my head. “He was never the smartest in the class. I handled all the paperwork when we got married. He never questioned anything I put in front of him.”
Stacy chuckled. “Well, congratulations. He’s all yours now.”
“Thank you,” I said, putting my arms around her in a brief hug.
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With Arnie out of the picture, Riley and I moved back into what was rightfully ours.
The house we had built together, but now it was truly mine. Life seemed peaceful for the first time in a long time.
Then one night, I heard shouting outside. Curious, I went out onto the porch.
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“Stacy! Come back to me! I’m begging you! I have nothing left!” Arnie’s voice was desperate, his hands reaching out for her as he stood rigid in the doorway.
I crossed my arms and bowed my head. “Poor thing,” I said, sounding amused.
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Arnie whipped his head around to me. His face twisted in anger. “What are YOU doing here?” he yelled.
I raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t expect this, did you?” I took a step forward. “I tricked you, Arnie. You fell right into my trap with Stacy.”
He frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
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I let out a small laugh. “At some point, I got fed up with your disgusting behavior. Your lies. Your affairs. So I hired Stacy—a young, beautiful woman—to seduce you. And you, being exactly who I knew you to be, didn’t even hesitate. You were so blinded by your own ego that you didn’t realize you were signing everything away to me.”
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His face turned red with fury. “Witch! You set me up!”
I shrugged. “No, Arnie. Your own lust set you up. I just gave you the perfect opportunity to destroy yourself.”
His anger faded into something pathetic. He looked me up and down, his eyes filled with regret. “Come back with me. I’ll do better,” he pleaded.
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I didn’t even pause. “No.”
“You’ll never find anyone else but me! No man will ever want you!” she snapped.
I smiled contentedly. “Look at me: I’m doing great, and now I don’t have some useless person dragging me down. Meanwhile, you’re practically homeless. I think I’ll be fine.”
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“Jessica, please,” he begged, his voice breaking.
I turned around without another word and went back inside. The lock clicked behind me.
I took Riley in my arms, holding her close. I had her, and I didn’t need anything else.
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If you enjoyed this story, read this one: My sister-in-law always felt entitled to everything she wanted, but nothing prepared me for her most outrageous demand: she wanted me to have a baby just to keep it as a gift. When she refused to take no for an answer, I decided to teach her a lesson she’d never forget. Read the full story here .
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