Chapter 2 Back in Time
Diane's POV
Five years later
My head snapped to the side, the slap echoing loudly as my cheeks stung.
“Disgusting.” My mother-in-law spat, eyeing me in contempt. “You call this food?”
She pushed the plate to the ground, letting it shatter along with the dinner I spent hours making.
“A barren woman like you should know her place,” she continued, her words searing through my chest. “If you can’t bear an heir, then you should be able to make a decent meal. But you’re just so useless!”
I hung my head low, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip.
“Don’t waste your breath, mother.” Liam scoffed, glancing at me with a blank look on his face. The man who once held unwavering love in his gaze was gone, and now he just tolerated my presence. “You shouldn’t expect anything from someone who wouldn’t bother to lose a few pounds.”
It was almost funny because he used to tell me that he loved my body and wouldn’t want me to change.
But everything crashed when she came into the picture.
“Why don’t we go out to dinner?” Rose suggested, wearing that stupid innocent smile. She was Liam’s mistress and his childhood friend.
I saw her around him in college too, but then she moved abroad, only to come back years later and ruin my marriage.
“That’s a good idea,” Liam said, pulling her close, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “No need to ruin the night.”
And with that said, they left me standing there alone. I crumbled to my knees, letting the tears I desperately held back fall freely.
All of this was because I couldn’t have an heir. Two years after we got married, he started ignoring me, wouldn’t sleep in the same room with me, and wouldn’t eat the food I made.
Then I found out he was seeing Rose behind my back. He first said he was helping her settle in, then he gave her a position in his company, while I stayed home as a full housewife.
Some days he wouldn’t come home, then days stretched into weeks. He said it was all business until I caught them sleeping with each other.
Liam didn’t even care to explain. He said Rose saved his company, and he needed her to secure a huge contract. He told me not to make a fuss, he told me to understand, like I didn’t sacrifice my inheritance and everything I owned to help his company.
Despite everything. I couldn’t leave.
Because I had nowhere else to go.
The next day, I visited the hospital for my monthly check-up.
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Mrs. Quin.” The family doctor said that, but I was sick of hearing that line over and over again.
“Are you sure?” I muttered, wringing my hands together.
“Yes, I am.” The doctor sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “But word of advice, you should lose some weight just in case.”
I swallowed hard, pressing my lips into a thin line. “Alright.”
At the end of the day, it all came down to my weight. I worked hard in the gym, thinking that if I were as slim as Rose, if I had a slender waist like hers, Liam would come back to me, but it’s been years, and I saw little to no results.
I hated myself each time I stared into the mirror. So much that I stopped looking altogether.
When I returned from the hospital, I was stunned to see the house decorated with flowers and ribbons.
My heart swelled in anticipation.
“Did Liam do this for our anniversary?” I whispered to myself, unable to contain my excitement. I thought he had forgotten; he would usually send a simple card with some cash, but the thought that he would go this far made me hopeful again.
And I thought, maybe our marriage wasn’t over yet.
But then the front door slid open, and I turned to see Liam and Rose. They held hands, fingers intertwined as Rose hugged a bouquet to her chest. Liam kissed her neck, his free hand hovering over her belly.
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, and the excitement I felt vanished in an instant.
Their steps faltered as they finally noticed my presence, and the warmth in Liam’s eyes drained the moment he looked at me.
“Rose is pregnant.” My husband announced casually, then he tossed a brown file at my feet. “Those are divorce papers; sign them and leave immediately.”
I staggered, the world spinning.
“What?” I whispered in disbelief, unable to believe my ears.
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Diane,” Liam rolled his eyes, “You should have gotten the hint long ago. I only tolerated you because of how pitiful you are, but I’m done now.”
“Liam…” I choked, tears clouding my vision. “You can’t…you can’t do this.”
Liam’s lips curled into a snarl. “Look at yourself, Diane, you’re even fatter than you were in college, how do you expect me to deal with that?”
“That’s your excuse?” I hated how my voice shook as I spoke. “I accepted everything you did, I sacrificed everything for you, and now you toss me aside just because I’m fat?”
Liam shook his head, glancing at Rose, “We’ve been married for five years, but you couldn’t give me a child. Rose did that in six months.”
So that was it, huh? It was all about Rose.
“Did you even love me?” I muttered, and a lone tear slid down my cheeks.
Rose stepped forward, flicking her hair back as she offered me a sickly sweet smile. “Don’t blame Liam, dear; he’s only securing his future.”
To hell with that.
“There’s a check of a million dollars in the file.” Liam added, “Just take it and leave.”
I looked down at the file, at what my life had been reduced to. While my world came crashing down, Rose asked Liam to take her to dinner, and he agreed immediately.
Again, I was left alone.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, staring at the brown file, before I finally picked it up.
At times like this, I often thought of my stepbrothers.
I wondered why they reacted the way they did when Liam proposed to me.
They didn’t come to the wedding. Ever since then, I haven't heard from them again.
After I signed the divorce papers, I climbed the stairs and headed to my bedroom. I was numb and didn’t want to think of anything, but then I realized I opened the wrong door.
It was Liam’s room, and I was surprised it was unlocked. I turned to leave, but then I felt a sharp pain in my head, stumbling back. I accidentally knocked down a vase on his desk, and it shattered to the ground.
I blinked as I regained my balance, moving to clean up the mess before he came back, but I froze when I saw a bottle of pills among the debris. Someone must've hidden in the vase.
But why?
My eyes narrowed as I read the label on the bottle.
Fertility suppressants?
Just then, I heard footsteps echo down the hall.
I quickly brushed the debris under his bed, then I looked for a place to hide, squeezing myself inside his closet.
The door swung open, and I heard Rose giggle.
“I can’t forget the look on her face, it was priceless.” I heard her say.
“I’m just glad I won’t have to put up with her fat ass anymore,” Liam responded.
“Honestly, she didn’t know you only approached her in college because of her family’s status, what a fool.” Rose laughed.
What?
“Yeah, she’s so naive. That’s how she didn’t notice I’ve been slipping those pills in her food for years, like hell would I let a woman like that bear my child.”
Liam’s words rang in my head like a siren.
Was he the reason behind my infertility?
That was what the pills I found were for?
And he made me suffer for years, thinking it was my fault?
The color drained from my face, rage boiling in my veins as I recalled every slap, every degrading moment, and the humiliation I was subjected to for something I knew nothing about.
“How dare you!” I lunged from the closet, breaking their kiss as they jerked back from each other.
Their eyes widened in shock, but I didn’t give them time to react.
I grabbed Rose by her hair, dragging her to the ground. She screamed as she clawed at my hands, and Liam rushed to save her.
“Diane! Have you lost it?! She’s pregnant!” He tried to come between us, but I kicked him hard. He fell back on his ass, his eyes wide in horror. “I can explain! Just let her go first!”
“You blamed me for being barren!” I yelled, “You deceived me and ruined my life!”
Rose sprang to her feet, fighting back, and for the first time, I was grateful for my weight. Her weak punches didn’t faze me.
“Let me go you oversized bitch!” She snapped, but I only tightened my grip. “Liam! Help! She’s trying to kill our baby!”
We thrashed our way into the hallway, but I was far from done. Liam staggered to his feet, trying to pull us apart.
“I’m going to kill you both.” I seethed, meaning every word.
“Stop!”
Just then, Liam smashed our wedding photo in the hallway and used the shard of glass to stab my arm.
“Ah!” I jerked at the pain, blood dripping from the wound. I didn’t know we reached the top of the stairs, then Rose’s hands pushed against my chest as she broke free from my grip.
Time slowed.
I fell backwards, and the last thing I saw was Liam reaching out for Rose.
My body rolled down the stairs violently, bones cracking as my head smashed against the tiled floor.
Red painted my vision, and I instinctively knew that this was the end.
But even then, as I drifted into darkness, I couldn’t help but wonder…..
If things had been different…
If I were slimmer.
My eyes flew open.
I gasped as I jolted upright, my chest heaving.
I wasn’t in a hospital bed.
And hospital rooms definitely didn’t have boy band posters pasted to their walls.
No…
This looked like… my high school dorm room.
What the hell?
I stumbled out of bed, and nothing hurt. Well, that was until I tripped on an open suitcase and fell face-first on the ground.
A groan rumbled in my chest, and I winced as I dragged myself to my feet.
My gaze met the mirror.
And I froze, my eyes widening in horror.
Because the girl staring back at me didn’t look like me at all.
She was younger, like an average high school girl, but that wasn’t what made my jaw hit the floor.
It was because this girl… unlike how my high school self actually looked… was slim.
Terrifyingly slim.
And terrifyingly beautiful.
My hands trembled as I touched my face, unable to believe my eyes.
Was I dreaming?
I hoped it was a dream. But I could smell the floral perfume in the air, I could hear the busy street outside the window, and I could feel the pain from my fall earlier.
Realization dawned on me, like being doused with a bucket of ice-cold water.
“Did I….go back in time?”
