My Husband Claimed He Was On A Business Trip. I Found Him At The Hospital With My Pregnant Best Friend. Little Does He Know, I Just Cut Him Off From Every Penny He Ever Stole. What Should I Do Next?

His once soft hands began to blister. At noon, during the break, Richard sat on a pile of bricks. His body was wrecked. He looked at his lunch: rice, lentils, and a piece of stale bread. He ate it with his cement dirty hands; hunger did not let him think about hygiene. As he ate, a luxurious black sedan drove slowly past the construction site. The back window was slightly open. Richard choked. Inside the car sat Sarah, his wife.

Talking on the phone, Sarah looked serious but beautiful and well-groomed. The car was only 15 feet from where Richard was sitting on the ground like a beggar. Richard quickly turned, hiding his face. Overwhelming shame hit him.

“Do not see me. Do not see me,” his mind screamed.

The car drove past. Sarah did not turn to her; the construction workers were just part of the urban landscape. That afternoon, Richard returned home with his body aching all over. In his pocket were a wrinkled $50. He entered the room.

“Why so late? Where is my dinner?” Lauren shouted.

Richard threw the bill on the floor.

“There is your money buy it yourself.”

He collapsed onto the mattress. Lauren picked up the bill with disgust.

“Only $50 what did you work as to earn this pittance?”

“I am a laborer Lauren, a construction laborer. Happy now?”

Silence. Lauren was speechless.

“A laborer? My husband a laborer? How embarrassing! What if my friends find out?”

“What friends?” Richard whispered with bitterness.

“The high society ones who blocked you, or the ones who laugh at us on WhatsApp?”

Chapter 38: Instant Karma

Lauren fell silent and started to cry again.

“I cannot live like this Richard! I want to go back to my old life!”

“Enjoy it Lauren. This is the paradise we built on Sarah’s tears. Enjoy every second of it.”

Richard fell asleep from exhaustion. Meanwhile, in a luxurious restaurant, Sarah was having dinner with her lawyer.

“The divorce proceedings are underway, mrs hayes. The first summons was sent to Mr miller’s address, but of course it was returned. We will send a process server to locate him.”

“No need mr attorney,” Sarah smiled.

“I know exactly where he is.”

Sarah showed him a photo taken that afternoon—the photo of a dirty, defeated Richard carrying cement. The lawyer shook his head.

“What a swift fall from director to laborer in less than a month. That is what you call instant karma.”

“But this is not over. $50 a day will not be enough for Lauren’s delivery, which will soon require medical attention. When that happens Richard will do something desperate. And when he does, that is when we will make sure he ends up behind bars.”

Back at the rooming house at midnight, Lauren woke up with a sharp pain in her abdomen. It was not a normal cramp.

“Richard! Richard!” she shook her husband’s body.

“Richard, it hurts! There is blood!” she screamed hysterically upon seeing a fresh blood stain on the sheet.

Richard woke up with a start.

“What? Blood?”

“Richard, the baby!” Lauren cried out in pain.

Chapter 39: Desperation

Richard panicked. He knew it was a bad sign.

“To the hospital, now!”

Richard picked Lauren up in his arms. He ran down the stairs. In the deserted alley, there were no taxis.

“Help please,” he shouted.

A neighbor with a motorcycle and side car came out.

“My wife is bleeding! Take us to the nearest hospital please!”

Inside the rattling vehicle, Richard held Lauren, who was starting to lose consciousness. Arriving at the public hospital’s emergency room, the nurses took Lauren away. Richard was stopped at administration.

“Patients family? Do you have insurance?”

“No.”

“Then you need a deposit minimum of $3,000 for a D and C or admission for hemorrhaging.”

“$3,000?” Richard’s knees buckled. In his pocket, he only had $100 left.

“I only have $100 ma’am! Please treat her first! It is a human life!”

“I am sorry sir. Those are the rules. Find the rest of the money in the meantime we will stabilize the patient.”

In the hallway, Richard backed away. He saw Lauren on a gurnie in a crowded hallway, groaning in pain without serious attention. He needed $2,900 more, now. He left the hospital; his mind was blank, his heart dark. Across the street, he saw a 24-hour convenience store, empty—just a young cashier with a sleepy look. The devil whispered a crazy idea to him, an idea that would turn him from poor to criminal.

Richard picked up a brick from the ground, crossed the street, heading for the store.

“Give me the money fast,” Richard shouted, his voice breaking.

He waved the brick with a trembling hand. The cashier screamed, backing away in fear.

“I need the money! My wife is dying! Quick put it in a bag!”