At three months pregnant, I was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy.

My husband, a doctor, was overwhelmed with worry, pulling every string he could to arrange surgery and remove the baby.

"As long as you're okay, it doesn’t matter if we don’t have our own child. We can always adopt. I can't lose you, Evelyn!"

Heartbroken, I blamed myself for being useless, for failing to carry our child, and for disappointing my husband.

But then, I accidentally saw his chat messages with another woman on the phone.

"Don’t worry, I already told her she had an ectopic pregnancy."

"I’ll have her sign the adoption papers soon, then find a way to bring you into our home."

"Asher is my only son. I will make sure he inherits everything I have!"

That was when I realized that the husband I loved so deeply had long since built another family behind my back.

The noise outside the hospital room was still loud, but I sat there in a daze, staring at the chat messages on his phone.

"I've already told my wife. Once she gets rid of the baby, I'll bring our son home."

"Don't worry, Asher is my son. I'll make sure he has the best of everything."

Like some kind of self-inflicted torment, I kept scrolling up, reading through the sweet words of their so-called love.

Outside, Jacob Barrett, as the hospital director, was discussing my condition with the other doctors.

"My wife has always been in poor health. This ectopic pregnancy was an accident. The longer she carries it, the more dangerous it is for her.

"Our hospital has regulations. As a doctor, I can't perform the surgery myself. Please, do me this favor."

The doctor hesitated.

"Surgery schedules are really tight these days. The earliest available slot is in a week. Jacob, maybe you should reconsider."

"No matter how much it costs, as long as my wife is safe, I’ll do whatever it takes."

To anyone listening, Jacob Barrett sounded like a devoted husband.

But the chat messages on his phone told me otherwise.

He already had a son with the name Asher.

Back when we first got together, we talked about baby names.

He suggested "Asher," saying it meant peace and happiness.

When I found out I was pregnant, I imagined so many times that we would give that name to our child.

I never expected that, without my knowledge, he had already given it to someone else’s child.

Wiping away my tears, I forwarded the messages to myself and deleted the chat history.

By the time Jacob returned, I had already placed his phone back in its original position.

He walked over to me and pulled me into his arms, comforting me.

"Evelyn, don't be sad. We'll have children in the future."

His embrace was as warm as ever, but no matter how tightly he held me, I couldn't find any comfort in it.

Those messages were etched into my heart, word by word.

Jacob never came home for dinner on weekend nights, always claiming he had social events to attend.

But the chat messages clearly showed that he was spending those nights with that woman and their child.

He was devoted to me, always indulging my every request, yet he treated another woman with the same tenderness.

I no longer knew what was real.

Jacob noticed my pale expression and handed me a resume.

There was a photo on it—of a mother and her son, standing at a scenic spot, both smiling brightly.

I just saw this child.

It was Asher.

I froze, my fingers trembling as they brushed over the boy in the picture.

Jacob noticed and said, "You like this child too, don't you?

"Evelyn, I looked into it. This woman is raising the boy alone, but she's seriously ill now and wants to find a good family for him.

"You have an ectopic pregnancy, and the doctor said future pregnancies will be difficult for you. Why don’t we adopt this child? That way, you won’t feel so sad."

My mind buzzed, unable to process the fact that these words came from Jacob.

Even after reading their chat messages, I never imagined he would actually say this to me.

I wanted to ask him—if he had already decided to bring that child into our home, then what did our relationship even mean?

Jacob thought I had wavered.

He started packing up my things with excitement, saying we were going to visit the child.

I hesitated but didn’t refuse.

I needed to know the truth.

Jacob had always treated me so well, so how could he betray me?

He drove me to a residential complex, one of the newest and most expensive developments in the city. Only those with money could afford to live here.

When the door opened, a woman stood there.

She looked just like the one in the photo—charming, alluring.

The way she looked at Jacob was undeniable.

I had seen that look in Jacob’s eyes countless times before.

It was the gaze of someone in love.

Asher was indeed a well-behaved child.

The moment he saw Jacob, his eyes lit up with unrestrained joy.

Before he could say anything, Jacob cleared his throat and coughed lightly.

"Asher, I came to see you. Have you been listening to your mommy lately?"

Asher reluctantly called him "Mr. Jacob" but shot me a wary, almost hostile glance.

Stepping inside, I took in my surroundings, my unease growing with every glance.

The décor was eerily familiar.

It was almost identical to our home.

Jacob’s favorite style.

I could no longer lie to myself.

Without my knowledge, my husband had built another home outside of ours.

How ironic.

Asher was clearly comfortable around Jacob.

The way they played together carried an unmistakable sense of closeness.

I reached down and touched my stomach.

This was supposed to be my child.

But now, everything that should have been mine had become someone else’s.

"You must be Miss Powell. Mr. Barrett really loves children!"

Sophia Reynolds smiled at me, her eyes filled with blatant provocation.

She was challenging me, determined to take her place beside Jacob.

Even on the way home, I couldn’t snap out of it.

The entire drive, Jacob wouldn’t stop talking about that child.

"Evelyn, that boy is really adorable. And he’s from a single-parent household. If we adopt him, it wouldn’t be any different from having our own. Why don’t we just adopt him?

"He’s already at this age. As long as we treat him well, it won’t be long before he forgets his birth mother."

Worried that I might be upset, Jacob lowered his voice.

"If we haven’t lost our first child, he’d be about this age now."

At the mention of our first child, something inside me stirred.

Back then, Jacob had just started his business, and I was helping him in every way I could.

I was young, unaware of my pregnancy, mistaking all the symptoms for simple illness.

Because of my carelessness and exhaustion, I lost the baby.

I looked down at the document in my hand.

That child would have been five years old this year.

If my first child had survived, he would indeed be that age now.

My grip on the paper tightened involuntarily.

While I was drowning in the pain of losing our baby, Jacob had fathered another child with someone else.

For all I knew, at the very moment I was grieving, he had been celebrating the birth of another child.

The memory of how he played so intimately with that boy just moments ago only made my heart ache.

By the time Jacob brought up the topic for the nth time, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

"Enough! I will never agree to adopting that child. Get that idea out of your head."

Jacob was startled by my sudden outburst.

For a moment, he was stunned, but then he quickly smiled.

"Alright, if you don’t want to, then forget it."

He pulled me into his arms, gently comforting me.

"As long as you’re happy, I’ll do whatever it takes."

My emotions finally settled.

But when we got home, I couldn’t sleep.

Maybe it was because that child’s presence had shattered the relationship that I held onto for so many years.

That night, I was plagued by nightmares.

I woke up in the middle of the night, clutching my stomach in pain.

Panicked, I shook Jacob awake.

"My stomach hurts… it hurts so much."

Jacob bolted upright, startled.

"Hold on, I’ll take you to the hospital right now."

He quickly started putting on his clothes, preparing to carry me.

Just then, his phone rang.

He froze, then picked it up.

"Hello? What’s the emergency?"

I instantly sensed that something was off.

Who could be calling him at this hour and making him sound so anxious?

A second later, I heard the voice I dreaded the most.

"Jacob, Asher has a high fever."

At those words, Jacob, who had just been about to lift me up, turned pale.

"What? I’m coming right now!"

Grabbing his coat, he rushed to leave.

I clung tightly to his sleeve, pleading.

"Jacob, my stomach hurts… our baby… Please, take me to the hospital first. It really hurts…"

But Jacob forcefully shook off my hand, his voice laced with frustration.

"Evelyn, you're not a child. Stop making a scene. Asher has a high fever. If something happens to him, won’t you feel guilty?"

I didn’t know if I would ever feel guilty over someone else’s illegitimate child.

All I knew was that if I didn’t get to the hospital soon, I would lose my baby.

But before I could say another word, Jacob turned his back on me and walked out the door.

Maybe I was just meant to survive on my own.

At that moment, I knew that Jacob had abandoned me.

I would never pin my hopes on him again.

"Your condition is critical. You need to have the pregnancy terminated immediately. You should inform your family."

"A perfectly healthy baby… how did it come to this?"

My heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Was this child never meant to survive?

"Is it because of the ectopic pregnancy? Doctor, please, I’m begging you. Is there anything else we can do?

"I’ll take hormone injections, whatever treatment it takes. No matter how much it costs or how painful it is, I’ll do it."

Tears streamed down my face.

The doctor looked at me in shock.

"What are you talking about? This isn’t an ectopic pregnancy. You’re carrying a perfectly normal baby."

Not an ectopic pregnancy?

But Jacob told me it was.

I grabbed my phone and called him.

The moment the call connected, his furious voice erupted through the line.

"Enough, Evelyn Powell! Will you ever stop? I really can’t step away right now. You’ve always been such an understanding woman. Why are you acting like this?"

His words drained all the color from my face.

My body ached from the excessive bleeding, but those words hurt even more.

I was about to tell him about my condition, but before I could speak, the call ended with a sharp click.

I called him again.

However, no matter how many times I tried, he never picked up.

Even the doctors and nurses around me looked at me with pity in their eyes.

My hands trembled uncontrollably.

And at that moment, I finally saw things clearly.

"Doctor, can I sign the consent form myself?"

Technically, I wasn’t allowed to sign it alone but seeing how miserable I was and that I had no one else to contact, the doctor made an exception.

The procedure was over in less than half an hour.

I stayed in the hospital for two days before being discharged.

During those two days, Jacob never came home.

I hadn’t received a single call from him, not even a single message.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he finally walked through the door.

"Evelyn, I’m back. You have no idea how serious Asher’s condition was. I couldn’t leave his side for a second."

As he spoke, he placed a bouquet of flowers in front of me.

"Ta-da! What do you think? Beautiful, right? I specially brought this back for you."

Jacob used to work late often, and I had always been stubborn about waiting up for him before going to bed.

We had made a deal that if he ever came home late because of work, he would bring me a flower.

It had been a long time since I last received one.

And now, here it was again.

How ironic.

It was only then that Jacob seemed to remember my condition.

With a concerned expression, he asked, "How are you feeling? Does your stomach still hurt? The surgery has been scheduled. I’ll go with you three days later and take good care of you."

I placed the flower on the table with a cold expression and continued packing my bags.

"There’s no need. The baby is already gone. Let’s get a divorce."