After fifteen years of marriage, my wife, Tiffany Yarwood, who insisted on being child-free, wanted to become pregnant with her childhood friend’s baby.

“Taylor’s grandmother is dying. Her only remaining wish was for him to have an offspring. I have to help him with this!”

Unable to accept this, I went to my parents-in-law to reason with them. But they snubbed me with gentle yet cutting words. “Tiff’s womb belongs to her. She has the right to decide whose child to bear.

“Don’t you love her enough to give your life to her? If you can’t even tolerate such a small matter, how can you protect her for a lifetime?”

Tormented by grief, I had no choice but to compromise with teary eyes.

“Fine! I agree to let you have a test-tube baby for him. But after giving birth to the baby, you can’t have any further involvement with them.”

Tiffany, relying on my love for her, confidently refused.

“Not a test-tube baby! Taylor’s grandma is traditional. She’ll only accept babies born naturally.

“Besides, I will be taking care of the child after giving birth. I can’t let the baby grow up without a mother!”

I closed my eyes and exhaled.

“If that’s the case, let’s divorce. You can live with him as a family of three.”

My wife, Tiffany Yarwood, who had been going at me just seconds earlier, let out a laugh when she heard what I said.

“Honey, you’re still so immature! You say something like that just because you’re angry.

“Everyone knows you’re crazily in love with me. You chased me for seven years before you finally got me to marry you! There’s no way you’d actually divorce me.”

She even took my hand and placed it on her stomach.

“Look! There’s a new life growing here.

“It’s not yours, but it’s the child of the woman you love the most.

“Doesn’t that move you? Doesn’t it feel like some kind of blessing?”

I looked at Tiffany, whom I had loved for nearly two decades. For the first time, I found her foolish and cruel. She was almost repulsive to me.

Even the hand she had touched made me feel sick.

I yanked my hand back. I grabbed a wet wipe and scrubbed at my skin repeatedly. I kept going until it turned red and raw.

“Tiffany, I’m not the immature one here. You are!

“You’re an adult! You should understand you can’t have every absurd thing you want!

“If you wanted to keep this marriage alive, you should’ve turned Taylor down. The moment you agreed to him, you chose to walk away from me.

“I do love you, but no matter how much I love you, I’m not going to degrade myself by staying and playing the fool.”

Tiffany’s eyes widened in disbelief when she heard my words.

“Harry Fullard, we’ve been together this long! In the past, no matter how out of line I was, you never could bring yourself to say even one harsh word to me. And now, you’re dead set on divorcing me?!

“What did I do wrong? Taylor did this for his grandmother. He didn’t want her to pass away with regrets. Since he couldn’t find a suitable woman to marry in time, he had no choice but to ask me for help!

“Aren’t you the one who always talks about being loyal to your friends? Why is it that when it’s my turn to do that, you can’t handle it?”

In her self-righteous indignation, she seemed genuinely unable to see why I objected to this.

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. I only felt that all these years of defending her and giving my love to her had been a complete waste.

Tiffany and I first met in college.

Being born into the city’s wealthiest family as the only child in three generations meant that I had received the most prestigious education. I played by the rules and never stepped out of line.

When I first saw Tiffany, with her scatterbrained yet innocent charm, I was easily drawn to her unapologetic sense of freedom. I started pursuing her soon after and spent seven long years winning her over.

My parents initially objected to my marriage to her. But I stood my ground, and ultimately, they welcomed Tiffany into the family. They also helped the Yarwood family rise in prominence, turning them into a force to be reckoned with in Stratton.

Before marriage, Tiffany had never entertained the idea of being child-free. But in the second year of our marriage, she witnessed her best friend’s agony as her pregnancy turned complicated and had to do a C-section. She cried in my arms and begged me to never pressure her into having a child.

Seeing my beloved in such a pitiful state, I hardened my resolve and nodded in agreement.

From then on, no matter how much my family or friends pushed us to have kids, I took all the blame. I kept telling everyone that I was the one who did not want children, and Tiffany was just going along with it. I did that to shut down my parents’ hopes of having grandchildren.

My parents were disappointed in me. My mother even got sick a few times from the stress I put her through.

Facing all of that, I was hurt. But I told myself it was worth it if it meant protecting Tiffany. I never even complained about it to her.

I never expected that she would take all of this for granted. She easily went back on her words and treated me like a complete fool.

Seeing Tiffany’s aggrieved face, I let out a bitter laugh.

“Fine! Let’s just say neither of you did anything wrong, and I’m the one to blame!

“To fix this mistake, we have to get a divorce. That way, I’ll give you what you want, and I’ll also set myself free.”

“No! I love you! I don’t want to divorce you!”

Tiffany teared up, and her voice was choked with emotion.

“Honey, I screwed up. I should’ve told you. I shouldn’t have waited until I was already pregnant to tell you.

“But that’s only because I care about you! I was scared you’d be heartbroken. I was also scared you’d stop me from helping Taylor do this one last thing for his grandmother.

“Trust me. I won’t do this again. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?”

In the past, if Tiffany softened her voice and acted sweet toward me, I would have covered for her no matter how badly she messed up.

But she was carrying another man’s child! I felt nothing but a bitter ache in my heart. I did not feel any affection toward her anymore.

“Tiffany, Taylor’s grandmother isn’t the only one in this world who wants to hold a grandchild.

“You know exactly what my grandfather’s biggest wish was before he died.”

My grandfather had always liked Tiffany very much. He treated her like his own granddaughter.

When he was on his deathbed, he held Tiffany’s hand and pleaded in a hoarse voice to convince me to have a child. He wanted a chance to see my child before he passed away.

Tiffany had cried pitifully that time, and she had looked at me with a dazed and fearful expression.

I saw the reluctance in her eyes. So, I hardened my resolve and refused my grandfather’s request in front of her.

After that, my grandfather lost all hope and passed away within half a month.

That created a rift between my father and me to the point where we had cut off all contact with each other.

Perhaps she remembered that because a flicker of guilt shone in Tifanny’s eyes.

But that remorse lasted only a second. As if afraid that showing weakness would make me think less of her, she strengthened her resolve once more.

“Look, I’m already pregnant. That’s not going to change. If you love me, you need to learn to deal with it.

“I’ll give you some time to figure things out. I’ll stay at my parents’ place for a few days. Come get me when you come to your senses.”

With that, she dragged her suitcase and left. She slammed the door behind her without even looking back.

For the next month, Tiffany did not return home even once. But she posted on her social media more than eight times a day.

[Pregnancy killed my appetite. Good thing I have @Taylor_Lund taking me out to eat every day. Love is sharing a million meals with your favorite person!]

[What does a pregnant girl do when her feet hurt? Obviously, she gets @Taylor_Lund to carry her home like a princess!]

[Went shopping with @Taylor_Lund today and we got mistaken for a couple again. I had to explain that we’re just best friends, but also the parents of my baby. The poor girl at the baby store looked so confused, lol!]

Under every post, Tiffany attached a close-up photo of Taylor and herself.

In some photos, they pressed their heads together while sharing a cup of milk tea. In others, they walked hand in hand through a park. She also added various heart-themed stickers to each image.

In the past, whenever Tiffany was upset with me, she loved using Taylor’s name to deliberately make me jealous.

Only after I humbled myself and admitted fault did Tiffany generously forgive me. I even had to treat Taylor to several meals as thanks.

This kind of drama had played out countless times over the fifteen years of our marriage.

Our mutual friends had grown tired of it. They all tagged me in the comment section.

[@Harry_Fullard, you two have been child-free for so many years. Now that Tiff is finally pregnant, how come you, the guy who worships his wife, aren’t taking care of her? Why are you letting Taylor take care of your wife for you?]

Seeing that my friends had tagged me in her posts, Tiffany neither explained nor deleted the comments. Instead, she pinned their comments to the top of the post.

Seeing through her little scheme, I smiled coldly and proceeded to post on my own account.

[I’m child-free. I had nothing to do with this baby project.

[Whoever knocked her up can take care of her. Don’t tag me like I’m the one stuck holding the bag.]

Within thirty seconds after I posted the update, my phone blew up.

Aside from texts from friends that were filled with shock and gossip, most of the harsh messages came from Tiffany’s family group chat.

[@Harry_Fullard, are you insane? How could you post all that nonsense on social media?! Delete it right now and apologize to Tiff!]

[Exactly! Tiff is pregnant! She can’t handle the stress right now. If you upset her and something happens, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!]

Taylor had somehow gotten into the group chat at some point. He launched into a furious tirade against me.

[@Harry_Fullard, you trash! Are you seriously slandering your pregnant wife? What kind of a man are you?

[If you have the guts, come fight me one-on-one! I’ll break your leg!]

I ignored all the other comments. But when I saw that Taylor dared to provoke me like that, I replied immediately.

[Taylor, you should be thankful that we live in a society governed by law. Otherwise, I would’ve skinned you alive and dumped you in some sewer by now. You wouldn’t get the chance to run your mouth at me!]

I used to let Taylor get away with things because I did not want to upset Tiffany. This made him believe that I was a pushover.

He had not expected me to actually fight back. He flew into a rage and sent me dozens of long voice messages. I did not have to listen to them to know that he was cursing me viciously.

Tiffany then stepped in personally to back Taylor up.

[@Harry_Fullard, don’t even think for a moment that just because you’re my husband, you get to mistreat Taylor. Only women have the right to decide about having children, and I choose to bear Taylor’s child. And one isn’t enough. I’m having three more!

[However many I have, you’re still paying me child support. The Fullard family’s assets will all go to my kids anyway!

[If you know what’s good for you, apologize to Taylor right now! Otherwise, when you’re old and bedridden, my kids won’t take care of you! You’ll just lie there and rot!]

I thought I was already aware of how foolish and ignorant Tiffany was, but I did not expect her to push it even further.

I did not reply. I left the group chat and blocked her.

Two more months passed. Tiffany refused to back down and refused to sign the divorce papers.

I did not want to waste any more time on her, so I simply stopped engaging with her.

After all, as long as I endured the one-year separation period, the court could grant the divorce even if she did not agree to it.

Then, late one night, Tiffany’s mother, Jane Yarwood, called me. She had not contacted me in a long time.

“Harry, Tiff fell at home, and there’s a lot of bleeding. She keeps calling your name. Please come back and see her!”

She was still my wife in name. I hesitated for a moment, then drove to the Yarwood family’s house.

Unexpectedly, when I entered the house, I saw Tiffany lounging comfortably on the couch. She leaned against Taylor’s shoulder and ate the fruits that he fed her.