Broken Heart: A Tale of Betrayal and Rescue
Thomas, Im expecting! she declared at the doorway, leaving no room for doubt. He froze, glanced aside and sighed, Well then if thats how it is, before planting a quick kiss on her cheek, as if trying to outrun his own feelings.
Ethel had first fallen for Thomas while she was still a university student. He worked in the firm where she was doing her placement young, handsome, already deputy department manager he seemed to belong to another world. A modest girl from a Yorkshire village could never have imagined drawing his eye. Yet on the final day of her placement, he approached her, handed her a box of chocolates and asked her to join him for an evening walk. Thus began their story.
On their first date he confessed that he had grown up without parents. His mother had remarried and left, leaving him in his grandmothers care. Ethel did not reveal that her own parents had never taken an interest in her. Her childhood had been a cold stretch of indifference, not a hint of warmth. Both knew what solitude felt like, and perhaps that is why they bonded so swiftly.
A month later Ethel moved into Thomass rented flat. Soon after they married a modest ceremony, unpretentious but hopeful. They dreamed of a future together, of a house of their own, of a quiet life. The only point of contention was children. Ethel had longed for a baby, while Thomas kept delaying, Were fine as we are; why rush?
When the test showed two lines, Ethel hesitated to speak. Fear of judgment and reproach held her back, but at last she gathered courage.
Well be parents, are you happy? she asked.
I thought that would be later he replied, his disappointment plain.
He missed the first ultrasound, waiting in the car while Ethel returned with tears of joy twins. Two tiny hearts beating inside her.
Twins?! Thomas went pale. That wasnt part of the plan. You must consider an abortion!
What are you saying?! I saw our children I cant Ethel sobbed.
She hoped he would understand, that he might come around. Yet each day he drifted further away, critiquing her weight, saying shed lost her shape. She tried to ignore it, but after the babies were born things worsened.
Olivia and Emily the twins became the centre of her world. Thomas stayed later after work, withdrew, and offered no help. Ethel endured it all for the children, for love, for family.
When the girls turned one and a half, Ethel mentioned returning to work. Thomas sat opposite her, eyes fixed on the floor:
Youll see Ive found someone else. Im leaving. I wont abandon the children, but Ill live with her.
Ethel was stunned.
You swore youd never be like your parents! she managed through tears.
He left. At first he turned up now and then, then vanished for good. Ethel was left alone, without money or support. Return to the village? There was no work there. Stay here? There was work, but no roof over her head.
Her boss stepped in, arranging a spot in a university hall of residence. A small room, a bit of refurbishment, two children she managed as best she could. One afternoon, as she tried to push the pram down the lane, a voice called out:
May I give you a hand? Im James. I live next door.
He helped without asking questions, later offered to assist with the repairs and began picking the girls up from nursery. At first Ethel recoiled fear held her back but day by day James became part of their lives.
He was ordinary and dependable. His own marriage had fallen apart when his wife left him for a friend after learning they could not have children. Now, with two little ones who adored him, he found a new purpose.
When he proposed to Ethel, she initially refused.
I have children. Youll find a woman without such ties.
I want to be with you. The children are no obstacle; theyre as my own.
They married. A week later Thomas reappeared.
Ethel, Im sorry. I see everything now. Lets start again
Its too late. Im married. My children now have a real father.
From the doorway James stepped forward.
Meet him, thats my husband.
Thomas turned, gave a halfwave and walked away forever.
A year passed. Ethel and James bought a modest house of their own. Where Thomas was now, she never knew and never wished to. For happiness, she learned, is not the one promised in bright words, but the one that stays.
