On my fifth year anniversary, my wife, Rachel Sutton, announces her pregnancy on her social media feed.

"After going through artificial insemination for the 39th time, I finally got pregnant with your child as I wished."

The accompanying photo features Rachel lacing fingers tightly with her first love, Damon Calloway.

I leave a like on the photo calmly. Then, I give them my blessings.

The next thing I know, Rachel calls me on the phone. She roars at me furiously, "Damon is diagnosed with cancer! What's wrong with me bearing a child for him? Garrett Whitaker, you're being too much right now!"

I reply coolly, "Then come back and file for a divorce. Once the divorce is through, you can go ahead and find yourself a husband who won't 'become too much.'"

The moment I hung up the phone, my heart continued to seize with a dull ache.

When we got married, Rachel Sutton had insisted that she was terrified of the pain of childbirth and absolutely didn't want kids.

On top of that, she argued that raising a child was a massive headache. It was both time-consuming and energy-draining.

To respect her wishes, we used protection every single time we were intimate throughout our five years of marriage. I even managed to get my parents off her back, convincing them to never pressure her about bearing children.

But two months ago, she started buying strollers and baby formula. I naively assumed Rachel had finally changed her mind and wanted to start a family with me.

As it turned out, she had absolutely no intention of making me a father. She was doing it to carry on the bloodline of her cancer-ridden first love, Damon Calloway.

When Rachel came home, I happened to be on the phone with my boss, discussing an overseas transfer.

He had been trying to ship me out to our Eldoria branch for ages, but I could never bear to leave Rachel behind, so I kept turning him down.

After today, though, regret washed over me. She wasn't worth throwing away my career for anymore.

Rachel crept into the bedroom, her movements far more cautious and hesitant than usual.

She lay down beside me and, for the first time in our entire marriage, took the initiative to wrap her arms around my waist.

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked, her tone gentle. "Honey, Damon has cancer. All he wants is a biological child before he goes, and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

"Besides, I genuinely forgot today was our anniversary… It's just a date on a calendar. We can celebrate it any other time."

The pungent stench of hospital disinfectant rolled off her skin and hit my nostrils.

I peeled her hands off my waist and silently shifted toward the far edge of the bed. The smell was suffocating, making my stomach turn.

"Don't worry about it. From now on, you can spend as much time playing nurse to Damon as you want. I'm bowing out," I said.

Seeing that her attempt to make peace was met with total indifference, Rachel ran out of patience.

"Garrett, what the hell is your problem?" she snapped. "Is it because I'm pregnant with Damon's baby? Don't forget that if you hadn't badgered and pursued me back then, I never would've agreed to marry you in the first place, and I wouldn't have missed my chance with him.

"Besides, I told you the day we got married that I would never fall in love with you. Damon is the only man I will ever love."

As she spoke, her gaze burned with fury.

"Honestly, I didn't even have to tell you about this. But you're my husband, and I thought you’d actually show some empathy. I never expected you to pick a fight over something so trivial."

Rachel lay there, waiting for me to cave and apologize like I always did.

But a long, heavy silence stretched between us.

Seeing that I remained turned away from her, completely unfazed, her expression twisted in fury, and she stormed off the bed.

"Fine! Since you're so unhappy with me, we'll sleep in separate rooms," Rachel muttered coldly. "I'll come back when you finally figure things out."

With a dark, petulant scowl, she left the room.

Watching her silhouette, I let out a humorless laugh.

In Rachel's mind, I was the villain who had torn apart her grand, unbreakable romance with Damon. I had no idea I possessed that kind of power.

Because she was carrying his baby, she assumed that all she had to do was inform me, and I had to accept it.

I wasn't allowed to have an opinion, let alone express an emotion, or else I didn't truly love her.

But why? Was I obligated to endure this humiliation just because I love her?

Well, I didn't want to anymore.

The next morning, Rachel was out the door at the crack of dawn.

I didn't even need to guess to know she was heading straight back to the hospital to play nurse for Damon.

Not long ago, she had complained to me that her current job was way too exhausting and that she wanted to switch to something less stressful, so she quit.

I hadn't thought twice about it. My salary was more than enough to cover our household expenses, so whether she worked or not didn't make a difference to me.

But ever since she resigned, she had been leaving early and coming home late.

Whenever I asked, she claimed she was job hunting because she didn't want me to carry the financial burden alone.

Looking back now, she wasn't trying to shoulder the burden with me. She was getting IVF treatments at a fertility clinic.

After tidying up the house, I drove over to meet Audrey Sinclair, the attorney I had reached out to earlier.

Unfortunately, once we entered the real world, we drifted apart. It wasn't until she moved back into town a couple of years ago that we finally reconnected.

Audrey was very professional. It didn't take her long to draw up the divorce agreement, and she told me we could make amendments later if I had any additional terms.

But the moment Audrey and I stepped out of the cafe, we ran into Rachel and Damon. They were carrying a mountain of shopping bags. From the looks of it, the bags were filled with baby clothes.

The second she spotted me, Rachel frowned. "Garrett, are you stalking me?"

Then, noticing Audrey standing right beside me, her brow furrowed even deeper. "Who is she?"

Before I could respond, Damon stepped forward and gently caught Rachel's arm.

His eyes darted between Audrey and me, his gaze shifting back and forth suspiciously. Finally, he feigned a look of disapproval.

"Rachel, what are you talking about? Garrett would never stalk us. He's clearly out to meet someone."

Damon was awfully good with words, instantly turning the tables and throwing me under the bus.

Sure enough, the next second, Rachel eyed me with suspicion.

"Garrett Whitaker, you're actually out here seeing other women behind my back?" she hissed. "You better explain to me right now who this bitch is!"

I let out a sharp laugh.

"Rachel, in what capacity are you even demanding answers from me? As my wife?" I asked, completely deadpan. "Because from where I'm standing, you and Damon look a lot more like a married couple. In fact, you're already carrying his kid."

The mall was packed, and the crowd of shoppers immediately stopped in their tracks, their eyes locking onto us.

Rachel's face flushed crimson, and she immediately lashed out at me.

"What are you talking about? Damon is my best friend."

How delusional. I had no desire to stand around bickering with the two of them because it would be pointless.

But the moment I turned on my heel to walk away, Damon's eyes welled with tears, and he grabbed my arm.

"Garrett, you've got it all wrong. Rachel and I are just friends. Look, if it bothers you that much, I can stop seeing her from now on."

He gazed deeply at Rachel as he spoke, as if this were some heartbreaking goodbye scene.

Repulsed, I forcefully ripped my arm from his grip, my voice dropping an octave. "Don't touch me."

The next instant, Damon swayed on his feet and collapsed onto the floor.

Within seconds, his face drained of all color, and he began wheezing, weakly begging Rachel not to blame me.

Rachel let out a piercing shriek, rushing to his side to help him up.

Then, she turned and roared at me at the top of her lungs, "He's sick! How could you put your hands on him? Garrett, I swear to God, if anything happens to Damon, I'll make you pay!"

I stood rooted to the spot, watching the woman I had loved for five long years turn against me for another man.

To say I felt completely numb would be a lie. But right now, a profound sense of relief washed over me.

I was relieved that I had decided to get a divorce, and grateful that it had only taken me five years to finally see reality for what it was.

A woman who was willing to endure 39 exhausting rounds of IVF just to have her first love's baby was someone who would truly never fall in love with me.

…

Not long after I got back home, I noticed Damon had suddenly posted on Instagram.

He had uploaded a photo of an ultrasound and tagged Rachel. His caption read, "Life is the continuation of love."

The comment section was already flooded with replies from Rachel's friends.

Vanessa Reed commented, "Damon, the way you look at her makes my heart melt. You've been in love with her for so many years. I'm literally so jealous! I'm crying tears of joy that my favorite high school sweethearts are finally back together!"

Victor Ramsey chimed in, "Does this mean Rachel is finally coming back to you? Wishing you two a happily ever after."

Soon, I saw Rachel's response to them.

"Damon is at his most vulnerable right now. I'm going to stay right by his side for whatever time he has left. This isn't about coming back to him. Even if the world ends tomorrow, Damon is the only man I will ever love."

A knot of emotions tightened in my chest as I stared at the screen.

Once upon a time, I genuinely believed that my devotion would eventually break through Rachel's icy exterior.

I didn't expect her to fall in love with me, but I thought she would at least grow to care about me a little.

But the second Damon stepped back into the picture, I realized just how delusional I had been. All he had to do was stand in front of Rachel, and I was utterly defeated.

A notification chime from my phone snapped me out of my thoughts.

It was a message from Vanessa, Rachel's best friend.

Ever since Rachel and I tied the knot, Vanessa had made no secret of her hatred for me. Every time we crossed paths, she always treated me with hostility and threw petty barbs my way.

I found out later that she, Rachel, and Damon had been best friends for years.

In her eyes, I was the homewrecker who had "stolen" Rachel away and broken Damon's heart, which was why she resented me.

Over the years, if Rachel ever did anything thoughtful for me, Vanessa would act as if Rachel had betrayed Damon.

It was safe to say that she had played a significant part in stirring up the fights between Rachel and me over the years.

But now, I couldn't care less.

She sent a barrage of texts, her tone as nasty as ever.

"Garrett, are you an idiot? Damon is sick, and you actually assaulted him? You realize that's a felony, right?"

"You'd better apologize to Damon tomorrow, or I'll have you thrown in jail."

"If you step up and cover Damon's medical bills, I might consider leaving you alone. Otherwise, you know exactly what I'm capable of."

When I saw those messages, I couldn't help laughing.

In the past, I tolerated Vanessa no matter how passive-aggressive she was, because she was Rachel's best friend.

But now that I was divorcing Rachel, I had absolutely no reason to play nice anymore.

Thus, I replied bluntly, "Mind your own business."

I exited the thread, tapped on my own profile, and selected three specific photos from my camera roll.

The first was a candid shot from our anniversary, showing Rachel and Damon holding hands with their fingers intertwined.

The second was a screenshot of the Instagram post Damon had just uploaded, and the final image was a screenshot of the divorce agreement Audrey had drafted for me.

For the caption, I wrote, "Counting down the days to my divorce."

The second that post went live, it felt as though a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

An indescribable wave of freedom washed over me.