YOU SWAN , HE FROG !

16

James looked up at me, bewildered. 

I stared into his eyes and spoke slowly, deliberately, "I saw Emma's Twitter." 

His face turned ashen. 

"I saw how you took care of her at the hospital, how you held her hand when she was scared of needles, how you carefully peeled shrimp for her. I saw how she kissed you when you pretended to be asleep, and how you liked her posts." 

"I died hating you, James." 

"So tell me, how do you have the nerve to ask for my forgiveness?" 

James wavered, his face drained of all color. His lips moved, but no words came out, only the look of deep pain and regret filled his eyes. 

Does this hurt you, James? 

It's not enough. 

I let out a faint smile, tilting my head as I asked, "James, did the apple pie you ate with Emma on your birthday taste good?" 

James froze, blinking in confusion. "How... how do you know—"

His pupils widened in sudden realization, fear spreading across his face like a shadow. 

I met his gaze, my smile growing even brighter. 

"Because, all this time, my soul never left, James. This isn't some dying hallucination you're having." 

"I've been watching you both, every step of the way." 

James went rigid, as if overtaken by an indescribable terror and hopelessness. His lips trembled violently, his eyes reddened to the point of bleeding. 

"I watched you kissing her on the couch I bought, eating the celery apple pie I made. I saw you sharing our secrets with her, playing the PS5 I gave you. I watched you choose her over and over again." 

"James, while the baby and I were dying in agony, you were planning how to break up with me so you could be with her, openly, shamelessly." 

I spat out the truth, raw and bleeding, my voice laced with venom. My heart screamed in pain, my vision blurred with tears. 

"So now, because you've realized your 'true feelings,' you think killing yourself to join me somehow proves your love? Why would I ever want that?" 

James was on the floor, clutching his head, his body curled into a ball. His empty eyes filled with blood tears that ran down his face, dripping onto the baby clothes he had laid out on the bed, staining them red with his despair. 

He stared at the clothes, dazed, his voice hoarse and broken. "The clothes... they're dirty." 

"The clothes are dirty..." 

Frantic, he tried to wipe them clean, but the blood from his wrist only smeared them further. He froze, his body trembling as he looked up at me with desperate, hollow eyes. 

"Annie... the clothes I bought for our baby are ruined. What do I do?" 

My heart felt like it was being crushed, suffocating me. I closed my eyes, trying to control the overwhelming pain. 

"James, you don't deserve to die. You don't deserve to join us." 

"You have to live—live forever in this endless suffering." 

The room fell deathly silent. 

James was so quiet, I couldn't even hear his breathing anymore. 

After what felt like an eternity, he whispered through his tears, "Okay." 

The moment he said that, it was as if a weight had been lifted. My soul suddenly felt light, almost free. 

In my fading consciousness, I saw James reach for his phone. 

He looked at me one last time, deeply, as though he was trying to etch my face into his memory. 

"I've transferred all my company shares to Jack. I'll donate the rest of my money to the orphanage. Annie, I'll have nothing left. I'll live a long, empty life, spending every day atoning for what I've done." 

Finally, I closed my eyes, ready to move on to a new world. 

I hope... in the next life, I'll have loving parents, a husband who truly respects and cherishes me, and a few beautiful, happy children. 

But most of all, I hope I'll never meet James again.
END

Please feel free to mercilessly point out the flaws in my novel. Thank you

Oops! The man isn't a frog, he's actually a toad.