Hello again wonderful readers!

Thank you for your continued support and interest in my story.

I realize that cheat stories aren't everyone's cup of tea, so I am just reminding everyone that this is a cheat story without an HEA.

If you have time, please leave a review, good or bad, and as always, abuse won't be tolerated.

Thanks again to Debbie Hannon for all you your help, ideas and support—you're the bestest!

"I'm pregnant"

Silence.

He just stares at me with cold, dead eyes, but doesn't say anything.

He is starting to burn holes into me, and then he explodes.

"Pregnant? Are you fucking kidding me? How the fuck did this happen? Did you forget your fucking shot, or did you do this on purpose?" He glares at me, and before I could answer he screams "How could you be so fucking stupid? We agreed to wait 5 years before having kids. How could you do this to me? To us? Get rid of it!" He screams even louder.

"I didn't do this to us Christian. My shot failed. This isn't my fault. You had a hand in this happening too." I scream as the tears start to run down my face.

"Don't even fucking start crying. You know I'm not ready for kids. I don't know if I will ever be ready. Why did you have to ruin everything?" He shouts as he walks into his office and slams the door. A few minutes later I hear a loud crash coming from his office and when I rush in there I find his desk overturned and Christian is throwing everything across the room.

"Get the fuck out of here! I can't stand to look at you!" he screams at me.

Just then Taylor and Luke come running in and they see the now destroyed room and how Christian is glaring at me. Taylor reaches for me, pulling me out of the room and putting himself between Christian and me. "Sawyer, take Mrs. Grey to her office and stay with her until you hear from me."

"Mrs. Grey" like says softly.

I'm sitting on my sofa sobbing into my hands.

"Ana." I feel his strong arms around me as he holds me and lets me cry.

Finally after an eternity, I stop sobbing and look up at Luke. "I'm pregnant, and Christian is not happy with the news."

Luke nods but doesn't say anything, and just then Taylor comes in to check on me.

"Where's Christian?" I ask.

"He grabbed the keys to his R8 and left. I have Welch tracking him, and he will let me know where he goes." He takes a deep breath and looks at me "Are you OK, Ana? Did he hit you?"

"No, he didn't hit me…He just screamed at me, blaming me for the pregnancy."

Jason frowned, before saying "Gail wants to know if she can come in and sit with you….will that be OK? Do you want us to call anyone for you right now?"

"Gail can come in, but right now I don't want to talk to anyone."

Gail comes in and wraps me in her arms, and I start crying again.

"Shhhh. It will be OK Ana."

Hours later I wake up on the couch in my office, and see Gail sitting in the recliner. She stayed with me the entire time.

"Is Christian back?" I ask her.
She shakes her head, no.

"Has Taylor heard from him?" I ask Gail.

"I don't know Ana. He isn't here right now...he and Reynolds went out to find him" is all Gail would say.

Taylor finally found Christian, but took him to Escala instead of bringing him home. I guess he still doesn't want me to see me…

I emailed Hanna and told her I wouldn't be in today and that I would be back in the office Monday morning, and for her to handle all of my calls.
Friday and Saturday pass with no word from Christian, and finally Sunday he comes dragging in.
I'm in the living room reading when I hear him come in…he glares at me and heads straight for his office and slams the door. Gail cleaned it up and put everything back in place and replaced what he broke during his temper tantrum.
I take a deep breath and walk in his office…he doesn't acknowledge me, and I decide I have had enough of his childish bullshit.

"Christian you cannot ignore me forever. This is happening. We are going to have a baby in less than 7 months. I'll do it with or without you…it's your decision. I'm not getting rid of our baby just because you refuse to grow up.

I'm going to my dad's for a few days, and when I come back you can let me know what you have decided" and I turn and walk away. He never said a word to me.

I grab the bag I packed earlier and texted Luke to get the car.
I called my dad this morning and told him I needed to come for a visit...he didn't ask why, he just said the door was always open and he would have fresh sheets on my bed and a cup of tea waiting for me.

2 hours later Luke pulls up in front of my childhood home…coming here always brings a sense of peace and tranquility to me. My dad was on the front porch waiting for me, and when I walked into his arms I felt my body relax for the first time in 3 days.
Luke carried my bag in and my dad asked us if we were hungry. We both nodded our heads yes.
"I made a big pot of soup when you called yesterday… I'll make us some sandwiches to go with the soup. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes."

After lunch I walked into my childhood bedroom and lay down on my bed after I dropped my bag. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, and I dreamed of a little grey eyed boy with copper hair.
When I woke it was dark, and I momentarily forgot where I was.
I could see the green light blinking on my phone, signaling that I had a text message.
I grabbed my phone, hoping it was a text from Christian, but was disappointed when I saw it was from Hanna asking me if I was still coming in Monday. Shit. I forgot to text her this morning to let her know I would be out of the office for a few more days.
I texted her that I would be out until Wednesday, but would be available by phone if she needed me.
I plan on going home Tuesday morning unless something comes up and I need to leave sooner. My dad has not asked what's going on...he just told me that if I need to talk he is there for me.
I spend Monday hanging around the house and decide to take a walk down to the creek. I took off my shoes and stuck my feet in the creek like I used to do when I was a little girl, and I think about the situation I find myself in.

Women raise kids by themselves every day. I refuse to raise my child in a toxic environment, and I won't force Christian to be a part of our child's life if he doesn't want to. I know how it feels to be unwanted by a parent...my mother wasn't thrilled about my existence, and she let me know all the time, but my dad did a wonderful job raising me, taking on both roles as mom and dad.

I walk back to the house and decide to have Luke take me home tonight instead of tomorrow.
I hug my dad goodbye and climb in the car with Luke and we head out.

I walk into the house 2 hours later, but nobody is there…Gail must be shopping, and I have no clue where Christian is.
I unpack my bag and decided to go to my office and read and respond to some emails. I started feeling a bit woozy so I shut down my laptop and walk to the kitchen to get something to drink.

Gail walks in a few minutes later and when she sees me she comes over and gives me hug. "Ana are you feeling OK? You look a little flushed."
Before I could answer, the room started spinning and I felt like I was going to pass out.

GPOV

I reached out and caught Ana before she hit the floor and then hollered for Luke to come quick.

"Gail what happened?"

"I was talking to her and I noticed her face was flushed, and the next thing she fainted. I caught her before she hit the floor.

"Help me carry her to the couch."

We get Ana on the couch and I get a cold towel and put it on her forehead.
"Should we call Dr. Grey, or take her to the hospital?" I ask Luke.

"Let me call Dr. Greene...maybe she will have an idea."

Luke walks back in the living room a few minutes later "I just hung up with Dr. Greene-She's actually in the area and will be here in about 10 minutes."

Ana starts to come to and tries to get up, but I keep her lying down and tell her that Dr. Greene is on her way.
Just then security calls to let us know they just let her through the gate, so Luke walks out to meet her and show her the way in.

Dr. Greene sits on the couch next to Ana and asks us what happened.

Ana is awake and looks at me and then Dr. Greene
"I remember feeling woozy, and the next thing I remember is waking up on the couch."
"I'm going to check your blood pressure and see if I can figure out what is going on with you." She then puts the cuff on my arm and starts to pump it up. I see her frown after a minute, and I know it's not good.

"Mrs. Grey, your blood pressure is dangerously high…so high that I'm thinking about admitting you to the hospital right now. Is there anything going on that is causing excessive stress to raise your blood pressure this much? You were fine when you came in last week."

I look at Gail and Luke, and they both nod their heads telling me to tell her everything.

"My husband has not been very receptive to the pregnancy, and it has put an enormous amount of stress on me. In fact, he has not spoken to me since I told him." And at this point I started to cry again.

"I don't mean to scare you, but if we can't get your blood pressure down it puts you at a high risk of miscarrying. I want you to get a blood pressure cuff and check it several times a day, and bring those readings to me when you come in to see me.
If you want me to talk to your husband and tell him what is going on with you, I will be glad to. You need to get this under control. I don't want to put you on medication if I don't have to, OK?"

I nod yes.

"I'm going to give you a mild sedative... It will help you relax and should lower your blood pressure, and it won't harm the baby. I want to see you in the office next week for a checkup, OK? Call the office and make an appointment, and if you feel worse then come in immediately."

"Thank you, Dr. Greene. I will."

After she leaves I head to the bedroom and lay down on the bed.
About 15 minutes later I feel the sedative taking effect and feel myself starting to relax.

I wake Tuesday morning after a decent night's sleep and walk into the kitchen where Gail is puttering around putting dishes away. She sees me and asks what I want for breakfast.
"Just a cup of tea for now, Gail.' I pause before asking "Has Christian left for work yet?"
"He and Reynolds left early this morning. I think he slept in his office. I'm sorry, Ana."
I give Gail a small smile take my tea to my office. I email Hanna that I am available if she needs me today and that I will be in tomorrow.
The rest of the week and the weekend go by without a word from Christian. He leaves before I get up and comes home after I go to bed, if he even comes home at all, and when he is home, he stays in his office the entire time and doesn't acknowledge me at all.

It's been almost 2 weeks since he has spoken a word to me and I don't know how much longer I can deal with this. He hasn't been home for over a week…he's been staying at Escala to avoid having to see or talk to me.

It's Tuesday and I have my first follow up with Dr. Greene this afternoon. Luke is driving me and doesn't say much, but I can tell he is disgusted with Christian's behavior, along with Gail and Taylor.

Dr. Greene is looking over my chart after the nurse leaves and looks at me "Mrs. Grey, your blood pressure is lower than when I saw you at home, but I would still like to see it a little lower. What have you been doing to help lower it, and reduce your stress level?"

I told her that Gail has been preparing meals and feeding me food that help lower blood pressure, and also that I've cut back on my hours at work and have delegated some of my duties to the rest of my team.

"Ana how are things at home?"

I sigh before answering. "No change. We haven't spoken since I told him about the pregnancy. He does not want this baby."

"Mrs. Grey, have you spoken to his mother about this? I know Grace Grey, and there is no way she would put up with her son treating you like this."

"I haven't spoken to anyone. Nobody outside of our immediate security knows I'm pregnant. We haven't told anyone because if Christians behavior. I don't know what I am going to do when I start showing."

Dr. Greene just looks at me and I don't even want to know what she is thinking.
"Keep on with the restricted diet and your reduced hours at work. I want to see you once a week until your numbers are back to normal, OK?"

I nod my head and walk out into the hallway where Luke is waiting to take me home.

After 2 more weeks of no contact from Christian, I have come to terms that my marriage is probably over.
Christian stays at Escala now…he basically moved out and hasn't set foot in our house for the past 2 weeks. Gail said he has hired a housekeeper to come in 2 times a week to cook and clean for him so she doesn't have to go back and forth all week long either. Reynolds stays there in the staff quarters and is assigned to Christian full time now, and I have Taylor and Luke with me at the house. Ryan bounces back and forth between us depending on what is going on.

I finally broke down and told Kate what is going on, and asked her to help me contact an attorney to get divorce papers started. I will not live this way, and I won't raise my child in this environment.

She was beyond shocked and pissed off, and wanted to beat Christian senseless.
I told her I needed her to make arrangements for me to meet with a divorce attorney—somewhere that Christian won't find out what I am doing.
Kate contacted the best one in town, and made arrangements for us to meet at her apartment. Me visiting Kate at her apartment wouldn't raise any flags, so we have my attorney show up 30 minutes before I show up with Luke, and since he stays in the car, he didn't know she is in the apartment.

I told her what was going on with the baby, and that I wanted to relieve Christian of his paternal rights to my child in exchange for agreeing to no alimony or child support from him. I have decided to relocate out of Washington so my pregnancy will not be public knowledge for the paps to go crazy over. I can imagine the crap they will print once our divorce gets out.
She told me she would need a copy of our marriage license and pre nup to get the papers going.

When I told her there was no pre-nup she could not believe I wasn't taking Christian for half of everything. I told her severing his rights was more important than his money. I told her that I still had a checking account in my maiden name that my salary from GP goes into, along with a healthy monthly deposit from Christian, and what is in there is enough for me to live on comfortably for years. I didn't want anything from Christian except his signature on the divorce and custody relinquishment papers.
She got to work right away and said she would have everything done in a few days.

After I got the divorce papers started, I began slowly packing my clothes and moving them into the closet in my office. I was in our closet and had just filled one suitcase and reached for another one. When I opened it there were some of Christian's clothes shoved inside and I wondered what they were doing in there.

I pulled out a pair of grey slacks, a white button up, his suit jacket and a pair of white boxer briefs. I went to put them in the hamper, and when I emptied out his jacket pockets I found a receipt for dinner, and a separate receipt for an expensive bottle of wine.
I looked at the dates on the receipts and realized they were from the night I had the meeting with Grace and could not meet Christian for dinner.
After looking at both receipts I realized one was for the restaurant and the other from the bar at the Fairmont. Christian must have had drinks with someone after dinner...
As I went to put his clothes in the hamper, I noticed a little red stain on his boxers...WTF. It looks like lipstick, and it's not a shade that I wear.
Holy fuck. Did he get a blow job from some slut that night, or, even worse, did he fuck her?
I then went thru his pants pockets and found a condom wadded up in a napkin.

OMG. OMG OMG.

The fucking bastard. I feel my stomach start to churn.

Then it dawned on me-he had a nightmare that night. He hadn't had one in months.
He fuckng cheated on me that night...that's what brought on the nightmare.

That cheating bastard. And this happened before I found out I was pregnant.

SHIT! He fucked me in the shower that night after his nightmare, too.
I start to gag, and I barely make it to the bathroom before everything comes up.
After dry heaving for several more minutes I finally am able to get off the floor and stand up. I look at myself in the mirror and am shocked at the person looking back at me. I have dark circles under my eyes, I am pale I have lost weight.
I start to feel light headed and dizzy again so I sit down on the toilet until I feel a little better. I realize that I need to see Dr. Green ASAP and get checked for STDs and make sure the baby is OK.

I wonder if he is still seeing her...since we aren't speaking we obviously aren't having sex, and seeing how he was used having sex several times a week he must be getting it from someone else. I start sobbing uncontrollably as the realization that my marriage is really over hits me like a freight train. I let it all out...and when the sobs slow down and finally stop and I get myself back under control, anger sets in and I vow to myself that those will be the last tears I ever shed for him and our broken marriage.

I call Dr. Greene and schedule an appointment for tomorrow morning to get tested for STDs, and then call my lawyer and leave her a message to call me back. I am going to have the papers drawn up this week and have him served ASAP.

I am done…Christian Grey can go to hell.

Reynolds informed me last night that Christian was leaving for Chicago this morning for work ,and would be back on Sunday. At this point I really don't care what he does or where he goes. I plan on being packed and gone before he gets back. I'll leave the divorce papers in his office on his desk as a welcome home present…since he isn't living here home anymore I'm sure it will take a few days for him to find them .

I'll stay with my dad for a few days until I can make arrangements to leave the state…I don't want to be anywhere near Seattle when the paps get wind of what is going on.

I'm sitting in the exam room at Dr. Green's office waiting for her to come in. After her nurse took my blood pressure, it was off the charts and she left in a hurry to get Dr. Greene.
After I explained about needing to be checked for STDs, she put 2 and 2 together and understood what is causing this latest episode of stress.
We do another ultrasound, and surprisingly my baby is positioned just right and Dr. Greene can clearly tell the sex…she asked me if I wanted to know. I nod yes, and she tells me that I'm having a boy. I smile as the tears start running down my face…It saddens me that Christian doesn't want and will never know his son.

She gave me another sedative to help calm me down, along with a prescription for blood pressure medication that is safe for me to take. I knew the sedative would make me sleepy, and since I knew that Christian was gone, I had Sawyer take me to Escala so I could take a quick nap and calm down before going back to work, plus it will give me a chance to see if there is anything there I want to take with me when I leave.

Sawyer does a quick walk thru of the apartment before leaving to get my prescription filled—Dr. Greene wanted me to start taking it immediately so he headed out to pick it up while I was sleeping.
I didn't want to set foot in our bedroom so I headed to my office and lay down on the sofa in there, and a few minutes later I started drifting off to sleep.
A few minutes later I am awakened by the ping of the elevator…I look at the clock and see that I was only asleep for 10 minutes.
Thinking Sawyer came back for some reason, I walk down the hall, but what I see shocks the hell out of me.
Christian is leaned against the elevator door holding it open, his pants are unzipped, and some slut is on her knees sucking him off. Suddenly I hear him moan loudly and he bucks his hips into her face, obviously shooting his load down her throat. He pulls her to her feet and slides his hand up her skirt between her legs, making her moan like a bitch in heat.
"Christian!" She groans, as he continues to finger her, "oh Fuck, don't stop" she moans, as he slowly pushes her to the breakfast bar, laying her on her back. He pushes up her skirt and rips off her panties. "So wet. You're a horny little thing today" he says as he spreads her legs and starts sucking her clit and fingering her faster, making her moan louder "Oh Fuck, don't stop!" After a few minutes, she groans "OH God I'm gonna cum!" He chuckles as he continues to slide his fingers in and out of her while stroking his cock. "Are you ready to be fucked hard, baby?" He asks her.
"God yes. Fuck me as hard as you can!" As she continues to moan through her orgasm.
Christian slides her off the counter turns her around, bends her over and rams into her as hard as he can. She lets out a loud garbled scream, and I stand there in complete shock as he pounds into her relentlessly. After a few minutes they both start moaning and I can tell that he's close "C'mon baby let go" he screams, and just then she howls out as her orgasm hits, and he pounds a few more times before grunting loudly and falling on top of her, panting.
After a minute he, pulls his dick out of her and says "Let's take a shower...we can get dirty again before our flight leaves" and they walk off towards our bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes as they go.

"I can't wait to join the mile high club with you" the whore says as the bedroom door closes.

It then dawns on me that he wasn't wearing a condom….he's been fucking her unprotected…OMG If she winds up pregnant is he going to demand that she get an abortion, or will he abandon yet another child? She's obviously not a sub as he never kissed his subs like that, or allowed them to shower with him or call him by his name. They have history because he looked comfortable with her, as if this has been going on for a while.

I guess everyone but me knows what Christian has been doing. That must be why Reynolds is now Christian's CPO-Reynolds wouldn't hesitate a second to lie and cover for Christian. Taylor has supposedly been working full time on a new security project for Christian...or that's the excuse Christian gave me when I asked him why he now has Reynolds with him all the time. I wonder if Taylor knows and Christian replaced him because he refuses to cover for his lying ass…although it saddens me that Taylor is keeping this from me. I wonder if Gail knows too…

I need to get out of here before Sawyer comes back, so I call Kate.

"Hey Steele" she says when she answers.

"Are you busy? Can you come pick me up at Escala now?"

"Sure. Are you OK?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Pick me up in the garage. Please hurry."
"Ok. I'll be there in 10 minutes" and she hangs up.

I turn off the light in my office, quietly close the door and walk to the elevator. Just then I decide to go to the security office and see if the CCTV is on...if I can get a copy of this "encounter" maybe it will give me leverage in the divorce and forcing him to relinquish his rights to my baby. Yes. My baby.

Unbeknownst to Christian, Luke had shown me how to use the CCTV from the security office and also how to access it remotely, so I went into the security room and downloaded this little tryst on a thumb drive while I was waiting for Kate. When I get home I'll review the CCTV back several weeks and see if I can find how long this has been going on.

Kate pulls up and I hop in "Drive. Please, take me home." I am trembling and Kate looks at me, concern written all over face.

"Ana what's going on? Are you OK?"

I nod my head and take a deep breath, then tell her what I just saw.

I see her knuckles turn white around the steering wheel. "That fucking bastard!" I'm going to cut his balls of and shove them down his throat!"
I dial Luke's number and explain to him that Kate called when I was asleep, and I decided to go home instead of back to work, and since I wasn't feeling well she offered to drive me home.
I told him I set the alarm at Escala and grabbed my purse and briefcase so he didn't need stop there on his way home.
Before we get home my lawyer calls me back and tells me she has the final papers done, and if I want to review them first she can send them over first. I just told her what happened, and she asked if I wanted to amend the papers to include adultery as one of the reasons for divorce
"If it will give me more leverage to force him to sign the divorce and custody relinquishment papers then yes, do it."
She tells me she can them have them amended in an hour, and I can review them before she makes the official copies.

Kate looks at me and asks "What's the plan Steele?"

"Erica is going to amend the papers right now. Can you stop and pick them up on your way back to the office? We can meet for lunch tomorrow and I can get them from you then.

"Ok. How else can I help?"

"When are you flying out?" Kate is leaving on an assignment and won't be back for 2 weeks.

"I'm flying out late Friday afternoon but I have the entire day off, so if you need me I'm available."

"I need time to think. I'll call you later tonight after I figure out what I am going to do."

Kate dropped me off and then headed to Erica's office to pick up my papers.

It's nice having the house to myself for once... Ryan is in on gate duty, Luke is in the apartment over the detached garage that we had built for the security team, and Taylor and Gail are visiting his daughter Sophie until Sunday. I have no clue where Reynolds is, since he was supposed to be in Chicago with Christian.

When Sawyer got home he gave me a little lecture about riding home with Kate without a security escort, but he understands what I am going through and didn't give me too much grief.

I went into my office and sat down to devise a plan for my exit Friday morning. I then packed up all my books that I had before we got married...I am leaving all the expensive first editions as they were all gifts from Christian…I don't want anything that will remind me of him.

I walked into my closet and took inventory of what was still left to be packed. I did not see a need for all the fancy ball gowns and formal evening dresses so I decided to leave most of them behind. I will make arrangements to come pick them up at a later date. I packed my work wardrobe and casual clothes...items I know I will need whenever and wherever I return to work. I made a lot of contacts throughout the years so I don't see a problem finding another job when the time comes.

Christian was supposed to gift me Grey Publishing on our first anniversary but he never got around to doing it, so technically it is still his company. I'm sure I could fight for it in the divorce but I don't plan on staying in Seattle or Washington for that matter, and running it from out of state would be difficult. Plus seeing how I want to sever all ties to him, keeping it would be a permanent connection to him. It will soon be his problem. I'm sure he will push it off on Ros, or probably sell it as soon as the divorce is final.

I remotely access the CCTV at Escala from my laptop and go back to the night of the dinner at the Fairmont and fast forward to see how many times he and his whore had met up.

The all-nighters started after he found about the pregnancy, although the week I was in New York he stayed at Escala with her and never left until Saturday morning. He went home for a few hours then came to pick me up. I knew he was staying there that week, but he said it was because he was working late and it was easier for him to stay at Escala because it was only 10 minutes from the office.

Holy Fuck!

I jumped him in the back of the Audi when I got home that Saturday…he had left her that morning and fucked me in the back seat of the car that afternoon, and we then spent the entire weekend in bed…I'm going to be sick again.

The pregnancy obviously wasn't what caused him to cheat...I wonder what the hell did. It's clear that their relationship is not a contract/BDSM relationship because they never went into the red room...he seemed fine with just fucking her in our bed and everywhere else in our apartment, and now on the GEH jet.

After I transfer all the damming footage to a thumb drive, I finally call it a night and decide to take a hot bath and go to bed.

Kate and I meet up for lunch Thursday and she delivers my divorce papers to me. I reviewed them and everything is in order as I requested.

I went over my plan for tomorrow with Kate, and since she had already taken the day off she was available to help me get out of town.

Friday morning comes and I am anxious to get out of here.

I told Luke and Hanna yesterday that I would be working from home today since I wasn't feeling well. I called Luke at 8:00 and asked him to drive to the office and pick up a manuscript that I had forgotten which will keep him away from the house for at least 2 hours. I made sure to send him when I knew he would hit morning traffic, keeping him out of the house a little longer.

Kate was around the corner waiting, and as soon as Luke left, I called her and had her drive up to the front of the house. We quickly loaded my suitcases and boxes in the back of her Escalade, and I climbed in and ducked down in the passenger seat as she drove through the security gate. Ryan was back on gate duty, and he waved her through when she drove out 30 minutes later.

By the time Sawyer realizes I am gone I will be almost to my dad's house.

I left Christian's welcome home present on his desk in his office...along with my wedding and engagement rings…I wonder how long it will take him to find them.

I wonder how bad he's going to destroy his office this time, I think to myself. Poor Gail.

I'm sure that he will be relieved that I am gone, and he doesn't have to worry anymore about being stuck with a child and a wife he obviously doesn't want.

I drop off Kate at her apartment and hug her goodbye. She wanted to cancel her trip and stay here for moral support for me, but I insisted that she leave—this was an excellent assignment for her and I didn't want her to pass it up just to babysit me.

She told me to drive her Escalade while she was gone if I needed it, and we would figure out something when she got home. Hopefully by then I'll be somewhere far away from Christian Grey.

My last stop before I hit the road is the bank.

Per Erica's instructions I am closing out my checking account...I'm having the manager give me $5,000 in cash and the balance in a cashier's check. I'll open a new account at another bank when I figure out where I'm going, but for now I now have enough money to last me for years. There's no big rush for me to find a job right away, and once I get back to work I'll put the balance in a trust fund for my son. It will be enough to cover college and any other expenses that will come along in his life.

I had Kate get me a burner phone a few days ago, and only she and my lawyer and my dad have the number. I call Erica and tell her I am on the road, and promise to stay in touch with her—she said she would contact me when she hears from Christian or his lawyer.

I left my laptop and my Blackberry in my office so Welch won't be able to track me, and since I never used either one for anything that wasn't work related, Welch won't be able to find anything useful when Christian has him go through it.

I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before Luke tracks me to my dad's house, but with my dad there he won't dare try anything. I'm sure he will notify Taylor and Reynolds of my whereabouts, but I know none of them will have the nerve to set foot on my dad's property, and seeing how my dad is good friends with the chief of police in Montesano, all it will take is one call from my dad to have Christian and any if his security removed from my dad's property and, if necessary, arrested for trespassing.

I hit the highway, turn up the radio and exhale a deep breath I didn't know I was holding.

I really expected something to go wrong today...that someone would find out what I had planned and keep me from leaving, or the bank would notify Christian that I was trying to close my account and refuse to give me my money.

But, everything went as planned, and I am on my way to start my new life as a divorced, single mother.

I look in my rearview mirror and see Seattle slowly disappearing behind me, and I feel myself start to relax.

The last 5 weeks have been worse than hell...

I'm about 15 minutes from Montesano and decide to pull into a gas station for a cold drink and a much needed bathroom break.

After I fill up and grab a drink and take care of business, I call my dad and tell him that I'm almost there, and then pull out to get back on the highway. As I sit at the red light, waiting for it to turn green my mind starts to wander and I think to myself I never thought I would be a single mother, starting my life over before I was 25. I swore that I would not be like my mom, and when I had kids they would have and warm, loving home with 2 parents.

I was so wrong.

The light turns green, and as I enter the intersection, I hear screeching tires, and a second later I hear and feel smashing metal and breaking glass.

Then everything goes black.