**Diary Entry**
God, I cant believe this. So what if he cheated? All men do it. Stop whining and go patch things up. Or do you think I want you living here with that belly of yours?
“Mum… He *cheated* on me,” Veronica reminded her, voice trembling.
Her whole world had shattered. Yesterday, shed caught her husband in the act. Today, her own mother was practically shoving her out the door. Both spoke to her as if she were some spoiled little girl throwing a tantrum.
“So he cheated. Big deal,” Nancy scoffed. “You provoked him. What, do you think youre special? Plenty of women go through pregnancy just fine. But no, youve got to be the delicate one. You kept workingclearly, you werent *that* sick.”
“Mum! Dont you remember waiting up for Dad all those nights?” Veronica choked out through tears.
“Thats my *point*!” Nancy threw her hands up. “They all stray. Some just dont get caught. Look, Ill give you a week to sort it out. If you dont make up, youre on your own.”
Just yesterday, her mother had ranted about how her son-in-law would “get whats coming to him.” Now, she was practically pushing Veronica to apologise to the man whod betrayed her. Deep down, Veronica knew the truthher mother just didnt want to help.
Not that shed asked. But right now, a shoulder to lean on wouldve meant everything. Because Veronica was pregnant.
Nancy knew exactly what that was like. Victor, Veronicas father, had cheated on her constantly. Nancy had a… unique way of handling it. Shed cry, lie awake waiting, then smack him with the roses he brought home the next morning.
“Never buying you flowers again,” Victor had joked once, utterly shameless. “Too prickly.”
And shed laughed with him. Every betrayal came with a pricea mink coat, a car, an entire shelf of French perfume.
“Hes putty in my hands after,” Nancy had bragged to a friend once, flaunting her latest haul. “Whats the point in leaving him? At least this way, I get something out of it.”
“Nance, maybe just divorce him?” her friend had sighed. “This isnt living.”
“Oh sure, so some other woman can have him? Not a chance.”
Over the years, Nancy had talked Victor into signing the flat over to her and renovating it”just in case.” When Veronica was eight, he left for good, vanishing into another womans life. Calls were rare, reserved for holidays.
Nancy had been devastated, but she adapted. They scraped by on what was left of their old luxuries before she had to return to work.
“Used to live like royalty. Now Im counting pennies,” shed grumbled.
“At least youre not wondering where he is,” her friend pointed out.
“Yes. And Im *still* counting pennies.”
Life had been hard. So hard that Nancy pawned her gold jewellery. But eventually, they learned to live with lesscheaper meals, fewer theatre trips, wearing clothes past their season.
Veronica had watched it all and sworn shed never end up like that. Never let her children see such a mess.
How wrong shed been.
Shed repeated her mothers fate almost exactly.
Liam had seemed perfectwealthy, sharp, with a chain of salons across London bringing in steady money. In the beginning, hed spoken beautifully about relationships.
“People just need to *talk*,” hed say. “If couples actually communicated, thered be fewer divorces.”
Charming, gentle, accommodatinguntil the first real argument. Then the cracks showed. Hed bring her peaches in bed, rush out at midnight for her cravings, pay for her haircuts. But the moment things got difficult?
“Youre overreacting. Your emotions, your problem,” hed say when she worried about his late nights.
“And if *I* did this?”
“Then itd be *my* problem. I wouldnt burden you with it.”
His logic baffled her. Hed “compromise” only if it cost him nothing. Otherwise, she had to yield. She told herself it was just how men wereclueless about emotions.
Maybe thats why she didnt quit her job, even when the pregnancy left her nauseous, dizzy, barely able to stand. She couldnt rely on him.
Turns out, she was right.
First, the housework slipped. Meals became pasta, ready-made burgers, takeaways. Liam never complainedif he wanted something nicer, he ordered it. She mistook that for kindness.
Then intimacy died. Liam sulked at first, then… stopped. Or so she thought.
His phone was always in his handwork calls, clients. Lately, he took it *everywhere*, even the shower. One peek at his messages confirmed it: flirty texts, pictures.
She confronted him that night.
“Its *your* fault!” he snapped. “What, did you think Id become a monk? Im a manI cant wait a *year* while you pop out a kid. Whats next? Kids screaming, no time for us? What did you expect?”
“Understanding. Patience.”
“Try seeing it from *my* side. One of our stylistshis wifes pregnant too. She doesnt push him away. But *you* cant be bothered.”
Thats when she saw itthe selfishness beneath his charm. He didnt love her. He loved himself.
She packed a bag and fled to her mother, desperate for support. Instead, she got blame.
“Mum, I *need* help right now”
“I *am* helping! Go back to him. You need a man, that baby needs a father. Stop being dramatic.”
Nancy saw betrayal as a bargaining chip. Forgiveness was wisdom; endurance, survival. Maybe she truly believed she was saving her daughter.
Veronica knew better.
The next day, she met Angela, an old colleague. Someone to talk to.
“Ver, this is rough… but youll get through it,” Angela said gently. “Youve got maternity pay, child support. You wont be homeless. Move in with me if you need toIve got a spare room. Split the bills, make it easier.”
Veronica was stunned. Her husband blamed her. Her mother sided with him. Yet here was a near-stranger offering help.
She said yesnot just for the room, but for the lifeline.
Back home, she packed properly. Nancy caught her at the door.
“Changed your mind? Made up?”
Veronica looked up. “Never.”
Nancy gasped, spluttered protestsbut Veronica was already gone. Inside, she was raw with fear, loneliness. Yet for the first time, she could *breathe*.
No matter what, she wouldnt go back. Not to him. Not to her mother. Shed scrape by on her own before shed live with betrayers again.
