Betrayed by my husband and sister, I became a perfumer

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Three years ago, at the perfumery competition, I inexplicably lost my sense of smell and lost the contest.

Afterward, my younger sister, who'd taken the championship, came running over cradling her trophy to gloat.

Beside me, my parents were scolding me for being a useless failure who had disgraced them beyond words.

At that critical moment, my fianc Bryce Henson, a pharmacist, was the one who stayed faithfully by my side. "Don't worry. I promise I'll formulate a serum to restore your sense of smell as soon as I possibly can."

He threw me a lavish wedding, and after we married he showered me with endless devotion.

But on this day, I walked in on him and my sister kissing, unable to tear themselves apart.

"Bryce, honey, it's all thanks to you drugging my sister three years ago and stripping away her sense of smell that I could win the championship."

Bryce chucked her affectionately under the nose. "Don't worry. For you, I'd sacrifice my own happiness without a second thought. All these years, those antidotes she thought she was drinking were nothing but the poison I developed to keep her sense of smell gone."

I stood outside the door, undone, feeling ice-cold all over, as if struck by lightning.

Fine, then. I'll let go of my own free will, and give the two of you my blessing!

Even after I'd walked some distance away, I couldn't stop myself from bracing against the wall, trembling all over.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I could never have believed it.

The happiness I'd imagined all these years had been nothing but one enormous fraud.

Only yesterday, Bryce was still holding me in bed, tangled up with me in tenderness.

And in the blink of an eye, behind my back, he was kissing my sister as though they couldn't bear to part!

What was even more absurd was what I had always believed.

That three years ago, when I lost the competition and everyone turned against me, he alone had stayed faithfully by my side.

But it turned out even the loss of my sense of smell had been a scheme he'd engineered.

And all those years of companionship had only been so he'd have the chance to coax me into keeping down those serums that robbed a person of smell.

Just as I stood there, undone, Bryce had appeared in front of me at some point I hadn't noticed.

Seeing how ghastly my expression was, he asked with concern, "Joan Foxie, what's wrong?"

Looking at the anxious set of Bryce's face, I felt ice-cold to the bone.

Only moments ago he'd been carrying on with my sister, and now he came rushing to my face to put on some act of devotion.

I forced myself to pull it together and shook my head. "It's nothing."

Before I could hide the pregnancy test report in my hand behind my back, he snatched it away, quick as anything.

"What is this?"

"Joanie, you're pregnant?" Bryce stared at me in surprise, but there was clearly no joy in his eyes.

Just then, Jocelyn Fox came up behind us, and the moment she heard those words her face changed too. "Sis, you're actually pregnant?"

Jocelyn shot Bryce a glare so subtle it left no trace, her eyes brimming with deep resentment.

And Bryce, with a trace of guilt, avoided Jocelyn's gaze.

Slow as I was, I finally saw that something was off between the two of them.

Their affair had shown signs all along, and I had been kept completely in the dark.

I clenched my fist hard, lifted my head, and taunted him. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you're not happy to hear I'm carrying our child?"

"How could that be?" Bryce pulled me tightly into his arms and pressed an affectionate kiss to the top of my head. "You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this child."

Beside us, Jocelyn's face darkened as she fixed us with a rigid stare.

The next second, she suddenly let out a shriek, her body going limp as she toppled to the side. "Ahh..."

Without a moment's hesitation Bryce shoved me aside, lunged to Jocelyn's side, and swept her up in his arms, frantic. "What's wrong, Jossie?"

"It's fine, I just get a little lightheaded when my blood sugar drops..."

Jocelyn slumped weakly in Bryce's arms, then stole a careful glance at me. "Bryce, sweetie, you should really put me down first. I don't want to upset my sister..."

Only then did Bryce finally remember I existed.

He caught sight of my pale face and froze for a moment before answering without a second thought. "She won't be. She's not that petty."

I swallowed down the bitterness rising in my chest. "It's fine. I'm tired anyway. I'll go rest in the bedroom for a bit. You take care of her, Bryce."

At my words, a flicker of relief crossed Bryce's eyes, so faint it was almost invisible.

Still, he arranged his face into a look of concern. "Is it because of the pregnancy? Do you want me to come sit with you in a little while?"

Watching him perform that fake tenderness, I only felt my disgust deepen.

"No need."

Back in the bedroom, I noticed the phone Bryce had left on the nightstand.

Once, to prove his devotion, he'd told me his passcode without holding anything backmy birthday.

And in that moment it struck me: Jocelyn's birthday was the same day as mine.

So which was it, really? My birthday? Or was it actually Jocelyn's?

I'd always trusted Bryce, so I'd never once checked his phone.

But this time, as if guided by some unseen hand, I keyed in the passcodeonly to find that his wallpaper was a photo of Jocelyn.

I opened his messages.

Sure enough, she was pinned at the top too.

I scrolled up, and the chat history grew more and more explicit.

Using my own phone, I quietly photographed all of it.

Whatever joy I'd felt at learning I was pregnant had already vanished without a trace.

As for what I would do next, my mind was a tangled mess, and before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep.

When I woke again, I went to find something to eat from the fridge, only to hear unmistakable sounds coming from the next room.

A woman's breathless moans, and a man's low, ragged groans.

"Stop it. Our room is so close to hers. Aren't you scared my sister will hear you like this?"

"Relax, I checked a minute ago. She's asleep. Besides, doesn't the risk make it more exciting?"

Jocelyn let out a coy little laugh, then turned petulant. "First tell mewhy did you go and get my sister pregnant?"

Soon the man's low voice came. "I don't know either. I did exactly what you told me. I swapped her vitamins for birth control pills..."

My mind went utterly blank, and my whole body felt like it had been dropped into an icy pit.

I used to complain to Bryce all the time, asking why I still wasn't pregnant.

He always smiled and comforted me. No rush.

But the truth was that he'd replaced every one of my vitamins with birth control pills.

My hand drifted to my stomach without my meaning to, and my eyes slowly reddened.

Since even the child's own father didn't want him here, there was no reason to keep him.

At that thought, I dialed a number. "Hello, could you help me schedule an abortion...?"

I'd barely hung up when I turned around and saw Jocelyn standing there, arms crossed, contempt written all over her face.

"Sis, when you came looking for Bryce today, you saw the whole thing, didn't you?"

It suddenly clicked, and I frowned. "You'd already spotted me back then?"

She arched an eyebrow. As good as a yes.

"I was just angry. We're both our parents' children, so why have you had more talent than me your whole life?"

"Oh, rightyou still don't know, do you? Bryce already gave me Quietude behind your back. I'll admit it, sis, your talent for perfumery really is something. Too bad. These days you can't smell a thing."

"What did you say?" I stared at her, refusing to believe it, so furious my hands were shaking.

Quietude was the last perfume I'd blended with painstaking care, three years ago, before I lost my sense of smell.

A week ago, Bryce had sweet-talked me into handing Quietude over to him.

Watching me teeter on the edge of collapse only made Jocelyn more pleased with herself.

She closed in on me step by step, sneering, "Joan, if it weren't for stripping you of your sense of smell and grinding you completely under my heel, do you really think Bryce would have bothered staying by your side?"

"Actually, Mom and Dad knew the truth ages ago. They just love me more, so they let it all happen."

So it turned out our parents had known the truth all along.

And those two, who had favored Jocelyn my whole life, would rather stand back cold-eyed and watch me lose my sense of smell, kept in the dark the entire time.

"Enough!" I couldn't listen anymore. My eyes went red as I grabbed her by the collar. "Shut your mouth!"

Jocelyn's face went white. She shrieked, "Sis, what do you think you're doing!"

Just then, Bryce came bounding up behind me, two strides eating three, and shoved me away.

He tucked Jocelyn safely behind him, his eyes turning glacial on me.

"Joan, what are you doing!"

"Have you lost your mind? Why would you treat your own sister like this!"

Before I could get a word out, Jocelyn cut in, her voice already wobbling with tears, "Don't blame Sis. She probably just saw you hold me today and acted on impulse"

At that, Bryce's face went ashen. He looked at me, deeply disappointed. "When did you get so jealous? Jossie wasn't feeling well, and I only grabbed her because I panicked. Would you rather I stood there and watched her fall?"

I drew a deep breath and demanded, my voice sharp, "What gave you the right to take the perfume I made and hand it to Jocelyn?"

"You already know?" A flicker of panic crossed Bryce's eyes, quickly hardening into irritation. "You can't smell a thing anymore anyway. So what if I let Jossie use the work?"

In that moment, my heart felt like it was being crushed in a giant fist, the pain so sharp I couldn't breathe.

But Bryce didn't spare me so much as a glance. He turned and pulled Jocelyn away without looking back.

Three days later, I came home alone from the hospital, the abortion done.

The moment I turned on my phone, a piece of news popped up.

Quietude, the newest work of genius perfumer Jocelyn Fox, had sold out the instant it hit the shelves.

It was deep into the night when Bryce came home.

There was a smear of bright red lipstick on his collar, and the satisfied glow of a man fresh from pleasure in his eyes.

Only when he saw me did a rare trace of guilt surface in them.

"I'm sorry, Joanie. Work's been so crazy lately, I've been neglecting you. The other day, I was too worked up. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."

Apology delivered, he circled his arms tightly around me from behind, resting a hand softly on my belly and coaxing in a gentle voice, "Baby, you stay put in Mommy's tummy and behave. Daddy and Mommy both love you so much."

If I hadn't already known the truth, I might really have teared up, moved.

But he was the one who'd switched my vitamins for birth control pills. Even my losing my sense of smell had been nothing more than his handiwork, start to finish.

I couldn't understand what gave him the nerve to keep putting on this devoted act in front of me.

The laughable part was, he still had no idea.

Our child was already gone.

Lying on the cold operating table, I'd wavered for a moment and placed one last call to Bryce before the procedure.

But when the line connected, what came through the receiver was Jocelyn's light little laugh.

"Sis, Bryce is in the shower right now. Is there something you need me to pass along for you?"

"That won't be necessary." I let out a hollow little laugh and hung up the phone.

Thinking back to what had happened earlier that day, I slowly pushed him away and said flatly, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

Sensing the chill in me, a flicker of disappointment crossed Bryce's eyes before he could stop it.

"Joanie, why do I feel like you've been so distant with me lately?"

"It's my fault. Maybe I haven't been paying you enough attention." He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. "Get some rest. Our anniversary is coming up soon, and I've got a surprise ready for you."

The next morning, the space beside me was empty. Bryce was already gone.

He'd texted an explanation: things were piling up at the research institute, so he probably wouldn't be home much in the evenings.

I couldn't be bothered to call out his lie. I simply replied, calmly, with a single word. "Okay."

So Bryce had no idea that I'd been busy too, all this time.

Busy applying for a visa. Busy packing. Busy booking a plane ticket. Busy stepping away from him, one move at a time.

I'd already promised my best friend that once I wrapped things up here, I'd fly abroad right away to treat my body, and keep her company while I was at it, just to unwind.

That day, the moment I unlocked my phone, the newest post on Jocelyn's feed popped straight up.

"Thank you to Bryce for throwing me this celebration party, to toast the huge success of my new creation."

In the photo, Bryce was bent forward, cutting Jocelyn a slice of cake with the gentlest look on his face.

I froze for a beat, then slowly zoomed in on the image with my fingers.

In a corner not far off, clear as day, I saw my parents beaming at Jocelyn, applauding her.

It wasn't until that moment that it finally sank in.

So from beginning to end, I'd been nothing but an outsider, someone who could never truly belong to their tight little family.

I gave a bitter smile and, without a moment's hesitation, flicked the lighter in my hand and burned the last photo of Bryce and me to ashes too.

Only after the photo had crumbled into ash, bit by bit, did Bryce's call come through.

"I'm sorry, Joanie. There's an unusual amount going on at the institute today, and I really can't get away. That surprise I promised you might have to wait a little while."

He paused, his voice taking on a note of apology. "When I get home tonight, I'll make it up to you, I promise"

Before he could finish, Jocelyn's coy voice came through from his end. "Bryce, what are you still waiting for? Come eat your cake."

Bryce fumbled to cover the receiver, his tone tight with nerves. "Joanie, remember to be a good girl and wait at home for me to come back."

Faced with him so clumsily trying to cover his tracks, I only smiled, calm as ever.

"Okay. I've got a gift ready for you too. It's on the table. Take a look when you get home."

Even though he'd heard me agree with his own ears, something uneasy stirred inexplicably in Bryce's chest.

With Jocelyn pressing him, he had no choice but to force down the disquiet inside him and hang up on me in a rush.

Before I left, I laid the divorce papers, the record from the abortion, and the proof of Bryce's affair all out on the table.

Then I picked up my suitcase and took a cab to the airport.

In the last moment before the plane took off, I pulled the SIM card from my phone without a shred of regret.

And along with it, I threw everything we'd had over these years straight into the trash.