All Chapters of Zeroed Out: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

I was packing my hospital bag, weighed down by my belly, when I noticed a note sitting on the table.'Babe, there's a planetary alignment that only happens once every 77 years and I just got pulled through a time portal. Don't miss me. See you when I see you.'The bag slipped from my hands and hit the floor. My husband, Jasper Wynn, had snuck off again behind my back, abandoning his wife who was days away from giving birth.In our three years of marriage, the excuses he came up with were getting more and more ridiculous than the last.I pulled out my phone and checked his location. He was already abroad.I knew exactly what that meant. He was off traveling with Fiona Crest again. Three years together, and none of it mattered more than the woman who still lived rent-free in his heart.A wave of suffocating fury hit me, and a violent pain tore through my abdomen. Warmth flooded between my legs in an instant.I doubled over while clutching my stomach and collapsed to the floor. I m

Chapter 2

I had barely survived, and I pressed a gentle kiss to my son's head. From that day forward, I was going to keep the child and cut the father loose.I was extremely weak after giving birth. I was forcing myself out of bed through the pain when my mother-in-law, Nancy York, pushed the door open."Where's Jasper?" she asked in that passive-aggressive tone of hers. "How could you not tell him about something as important as the birth of the baby?"A cold smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Jasper said he traveled through time. He's gone."Her expression soured. She knew perfectly well it was just another one of his excuses, but somehow, the blame still landed on me. "Honestly, you can't even keep your own husband in line. What good are you?"In the very next breath, she turned to the bassinet beside me and broke into a grin. "Oh, my grandson is so handsome. He looks just like his daddy."I was long past the point of being bothered by her jabs.My grandfather and Jasper's grandf

Chapter 3

Fiona followed up with a sugary smile. "I have a really sensitive nose, so don't take it personally."Jasper gave a slight frown of his own and said, "Babe, I know things have been rough for you these past few days. I just got back from the time portal. Here, I brought something for our son."He reached into a bag and pulled out a cheap bootleg action figure, placing it in my hands.If this had been any other time, I would have thrown it in his face on the spot, the way I always did with whatever half-hearted gift he used to brush me off. Not today, however. I did not care anymore.Glancing back at Fiona, he added, "I ran into her on the way. She said she wanted to come see the baby, so we came together."When I said nothing, Jasper assumed I was sulking out of jealousy the way I always used to.However, I soon smiled. "That's fine. Come on in."Confusion flickered in his eyes, but it passed quickly. "Look at you. Motherhood really does change a woman. You're so much nicer than

Chapter 4

Jasper laughed, his voice dripping with contempt. "So what if she hears us? She scalded you. Consider this her punishment."Thunder rolled, and lightning split the sky outside. I held my son and did not sleep at all that night.I had just started to drift off when the bedroom door was kicked open. Fiona stood in the doorway with a taunting grin. "Tessa, get up and make breakfast. Jasper's waiting."When I did not answer, she moved closer on purpose, letting the red marks scattered across her skin speak for themselves. She leaned in and whispered against my ear, "Jasper told me last night that just looking at you makes him sick. He said you smell sour all the time and that it makes him want to gag."I ignored her completely and walked toward the bathroom.Then, my son started screaming.My blood ran cold. Fiona's fingernails had left deep crescent marks on the soft skin of his arm.Touching my child was the one line nobody could cross. Every protective instinct I had ignited at o

Chapter 5

Jasper did not have time to be angry. He floored it all the way to the hotel.The moment he walked into the banquet hall, the massive screen behind the stage was playing footage of him and Fiona in bed together. The sounds filled the entire room, raw and unmistakable, while the images on display laid their affair bare for every guest to see."Turn it off!" Jasper barked. "Turn it off now!"The host fumbled with the controls in a panic, but nothing worked. I had paid him well in advance to make sure the video played all the way through.One by one, the photos appeared on screen. Every single one showed Jasper and Fiona living it up abroad. Then, the final few slides hit.They were hospital consent forms for emergency surgery and an amniotic fluid embolism report, and on every document, the signature line for next of kin was blank.The last image was a photo of me, drenched in blood, lying on a stretcher as I was rushed into emergency surgery.The montage ended with a written stat

Chapter 6

"Did you know she nearly bled out on the delivery table? She almost died in that room."Nancy shot back, "You're blaming me? Where did you disappear to?"Jasper looked at his mother, who was still spitting the phrase 'that woman' like it was something foul, and it finally clicked. For three years, every time he was not home, I was subjected to his mother's insults and her constant belittling. It was his fault. He had never once given me any standing in this family, and that had given his mother permission to treat me however she pleased.Nancy was still ripping into me when Jasper cut her off, "Enough, Mom. She's gone. She's completely gone. Why are you still tearing into her?"She actually smiled. "Good thing I never let you register the marriage legally. She leaves with nothing this way. There are no divorce papers, no settlement. She won't see a single cent of the Wynn family's money."Jasper stared at the woman in front of him and felt like he was looking at a stranger. He c

Chapter 7

Jasper had no interest in the chatter around him, not until the elevator doors opened.The figure who stepped out was one he knew by heart, but everything else about it had changed. He froze where he stood and could not move.The woman in front of him was not the disheveled, worn-down version he remembered. I was radiant. During our three years of marriage, I had never looked the way I did now. I was dressed head to toe in couture, flanked by two bodyguards, and I walked straight toward the conference room without breaking stride.As I passed Jasper, he reached out and caught my hand, his voice barely holding together. "Te... Tessa."I turned and smiled, letting it reach my eyes. "Hello, Mr. Wynn. My name is Diana."My bodyguards pulled him aside before he could say another word.I took the seat at the head of the conference table, and Jasper eventually sank into the chair across from me, looking as though the ground had caved in from under him.He stared at me for the entire me

Chapter 8

She reached for me, but I turned away before her hand could make contact.The coldness in my eyes cut her deeply, but compared to three years of torment and her complete indifference while I nearly died on the delivery table, whatever pain she felt now was nothing.Nancy crumpled to the floor and broke down completely. She clutched at her chest, her voice raw and shredded. "I did this to myself. God, this is what I deserve. What have I done? I nearly killed my own daughter!"Watching the two of them fall apart in front of me, drowning in their own guilt, I felt a deep and thorough satisfaction.I picked up the share transfer documents and the letter from the table before pushing open the conference room doors. Sunlight hit my face the moment I stepped out of the building, and it felt like the first breath of a new life.I stood bathed in light on the other side of those doors, while Jasper and Nancy remained trapped inside, where they would live with their regret forever.I wrapp

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