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<\/p>\nI smiled, stepped off at the very first stop, and walked away. When they finally arrived, they froze when they saw me\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can stand,\u201d my husband, Julian, said casually, his breath turning white in the freezing December air. \u201cYou\u2019re pregnant, so think of it as exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it as if humiliating his pregnant wife were the most normal thing in the world. In his gloved hand, he casually held two first-class sleeper tickets for our cross-country train journey.<\/p>\n
Beside him stood my sister-in-law, Chloe, wrapped in a designer trench coat that had cost more than the first car I ever owned.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Nora, I feel absolutely terrible,\u201d she said sweetly, staring at me with a smug little smile. \u201cBut my motion sickness gets unbearable on long trips.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian claimed the holiday rush had left him with only two sleeper tickets. His brilliant solution was to make his six-month-pregnant wife spend fifty miserable hours standing in an unheated coach while he and his brother\u2019s wife relaxed inside a warm, private cabin.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t argue. I didn\u2019t scream. I simply nodded.<\/p>\n
Julian took my silence as proof that I was still the obedient wife he\u2019d trained me to be throughout our marriage. He gave me a satisfied smile.<\/p>\n
Fifteen minutes into the train ride, I stood in a freezing vestibule while the train rocked beneath my feet and our baby gently kicked against my ribs. Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
It was a message from Julian:<\/p>\n
I forgot to get food. Run out and grab something hot for us when the train makes its next stop. We\u2019re going to sleep now.<\/i><\/p>\n
He had already forced me into the cold, and now he expected me to act like his personal delivery service.<\/p>\n
At first, I tried to hold it in. Then a strange, uncontrollable laugh escaped my throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext stop, Milwaukee,\u201d the intercom announced through a burst of static.<\/p>\n
When the doors opened, I didn\u2019t head toward a station caf\u00e9 or search for sandwiches. I stepped onto the freezing platform, turned around, and watched the massive silver train disappear into the snowy distance.<\/p>\n
Julian and Chloe probably assumed I was rushing around trying to find them food. They had no idea I was going straight to the airport.<\/p>\n
And they certainly had no clue about the thick manila envelope tucked safely inside my tote bag.<\/p>\n
I opened the bag and slowly ran my fingers over the high-resolution photographs hidden inside. They had just trapped themselves inside a fifty-hour rolling prison.<\/p>\n
Now, what would happen when I arrived at his parents\u2019 house that very day, completely alone, carrying undeniable proof of his affair?<\/p>\n