After ten years of choosing a child-free life together, my wife, who had gone abroad on a research trip, suddenly updated her social media. In the photo, she stood pregnant, visibly so, shyly curled in the arms of a man. Beside them were two little boys, identical from head to toe.
The caption read: [For you two, I’m willing to give up the whole world.]
My heart skipped a beat. In disbelief, I dialed her number. The moment the call connected, her irritated voice snapped through the line.
"Don’t call me if it’s nothing. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I’m very busy. Don’t you get that?"
She hung up without waiting for a response.
I stared at the photo, my gaze fixed on the two children. Slowly, my hand drifted to my abdomen, stopping at the old scar that still burned like betrayal.
So this was why she insisted we remain child-free. This was why she refused to let me undergo treatment.
As I looked at the woman I had loved for over twenty years, the dam finally broke. Tears streamed down without shame.
——
After making ninety-nine unanswered calls, Assistant Vale came to find me.
Without hesitation, I told him to call Reese Ellison and inform her that I was sick and had been hospitalized.
Vale looked confused but still dialed her number. The call connected after just one ring.
“Hello, Vale. What’s up?”
Reese’s cheerful voice drifted through the speaker. I could almost picture her, legs lazily draped over that Italian man’s lap, lips curled into that familiar, carefree smile.
“President Ellison, Vice President Maddox is hospitalized. Do you plan to return soon? The company can’t run itself.”
There was a pause. Then her voice dropped, cold and dismissive.
“Sick again? Honestly, what does he even do all day? Completely useless.”
She sighed, then added, “I know Sebastian’s tenth birthday is coming up. I’ll spend a few more days with them and head back after that.”
As the call ended, Vale looked toward me, his expression twisted with awkwardness. He stammered, “Vice President Maddox, what do you want to do now?”
I simply waved him off. “Just go back to the office.”
Three days passed. Reese finally returned.
I sat slumped on the sofa, surrounded by empty liquor bottles, each one a silent witness to the storm inside me.
She burst in with joy, threw her arms around my neck, and kissed me with force.
“Darling, Vale said you were sick. Are you feeling better? Did you miss me?”
She smiled sweetly. “This time, I’m not going anywhere. You should take a break from work and just focus on getting better.”
As she spoke, she lifted a watch and held it out.
“Look, I picked this out just for you. I even had our names engraved. The ticking hands represent my love, steady, constant, never-ending.”
If not for the strong scent of a man’s cologne clinging to her, I might’ve believed those words.
After all, she had always been good at acting in love.
Even before she boarded the plane, she had been locked in a deep embrace with that Italian man, his scent still clinging to her skin like an unforgivable truth.
I looked at Reese with a heart full of sorrow, my gaze falling to the gentle swell of her belly.
With a hoarse voice, I asked, “You’re pregnant?”
She froze for a heartbeat, then blurted out, “No!”
I let out a bitter smile.
“I saw the post you made. So does the world you’re willing to give up include me, too?”
Her fingers stiffened. She hesitated, then slowly pulled out her phone and opened her social media. Her expression shifted, over and over.
Moments later, in silence, she peeled off her clothes and unfastened the belly band around her waist.
“Since you’ve already seen the post,” she said flatly, “I won’t hide it anymore.”
“They’re my husband and children overseas. They’re my family.”
I stared at her in disbelief, searching her face for guilt, remorse, anything. But she looked calm. Unshaken. As if none of this was betrayal.
I straightened up, fury flaring in my chest. “Husband? Kids? Then what the hell am I?”
She didn’t flinch. Instead, she gently reached for my hand and clasped the watch around my wrist. Her tone was light as if she were talking about the weather.
“They’re my family over there. It has nothing to do with you. Evander Hale lives in Italy. He’s not coming here; it won’t affect your role at all.”
