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Nine months into my pregnancy, I found out that my husband was keeping a pregnant woman
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When I was nearly nine months pregnant, my body no longer fully obeyed me. That afternoon, I sat in the living room, my legs swollen tight with fluid, mechanically scrolling through my inbox, trying t...
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第1章
When I was nearly nine months pregnant, my body no longer fully obeyed me.
That afternoon, I sat in the living room, my legs swollen tight with fluid, mechanically scrolling through my inbox, trying to make time pass a little faster.
One email was buried among a pile of advertisements, utterly unremarkable.
The moment I opened the attachment, though, it felt as if someone had pressed pause on my world.
Page after page of electronic bank statements unfolded—clear, precise, merciless.
My husband, Daniel Hart, had been transferring thirty thousand dollars every single month to the same account. The amount never changed. The date never wavered. Like a program written long ago and running flawlessly.
The earliest transaction dated back two years.
That was when I had just lost my first child.
The memories surged without warning: the harsh white lights of the hospital corridor, the sharp scent of disinfectant in the air, and me calling Daniel over and over, only to hear the cold message—no answer. He had told me he was away on a business trip.
Turns out, he had simply gone to live somewhere else.
Before the chill could fully settle into my bones, my phone vibrated.
A Messenger notification popped up.
A friend request—from a woman I didn’t know.
Her profile picture was clean and beautiful, her smile relaxed and confident.
Her message contained only one sentence:
“A woman who gets thirty thousand dollars a month for spending money must be very happy.”
I thought I would lose control.
I thought I would be furious, or at least reject her immediately.
Instead, a strange calm spread through me.
I lowered my head and placed a hand over my swollen belly.
The baby moved softly beneath my palm.
Then I tapped Accept.
1.
The moment the request went through, her message appeared.
“You’ve already seen the bank statements, haven’t you?”
I didn’t reply.
I clicked into her profile.
Her timeline ended at April 21st, two years ago.
In the photo from that day, she leaned closely against a man, their posture intimate. Her fingers rested on the back of his hand, and a diamond ring flashed sharply in the camera.
The caption read:
“Birthday gift received. Thank you, my love.”
The man’s face wasn’t visible—only his back.
I didn’t need to see his face.
That shirt—
I had bought it myself.
I remembered hesitating at the price, thinking the embroidery along the collar was too expensive.
That same day, I lay on a freezing operating table and lost my child.
And he told me he was on a business trip.
The irony was suffocating.
I kept scrolling, my fingers beginning to tremble.
From then on, her life was filled with luxury—bags, jewelry, clothes, one after another. What tightened my chest even more was how eerily familiar they all were.
Almost identical to what I owned.
Like a deliberate comparison.
There was only one difference.
Her world was always wrapped in the scent of jasmine.
I stopped at her most recent pinned post.
An ultrasound image.
She was pregnant.
My phone slipped from my hand and landed on the carpet with a dull thud.
I stood up—slowly, heavily, yet with startling clarity—and walked to the laundry basket. I pulled out the shirt Daniel had worn the night before.
I brought the fabric to my nose.
Jasmine.
Clear. Foreign.
I never wear perfume.
I still didn’t reply to her.
Soon, she grew impatient.
My phone kept vibrating—photos, videos flooding in one after another, as if she were putting her victory on display. I sank back into the sofa, one hand over my belly, my breathing quick and shallow, forcing myself to open each message anyway.
She was young. Beautiful.
Her ponytail swayed gently in the videos.
She and Daniel rowing on a lake.
Laughing together in the snow.
Walking side by side through an autumn forest.
Four complete seasons.
Tender, intact.
And I had never appeared in any of them.
第2章
In the end, I opened one last video.
On the screen, Daniel stood by the sea. The wind tousled his hair, and his voice was low and gentle as he called her name.
“My Karina.”
She asked softly, “Do you love me?”
It was a question he hadn’t asked me that way in many years.
On the screen, my husband of seven years—the father of the child growing inside me—answered without hesitation:
“I will always love you, Carla.”
I replayed the video again and again, watching as daylight slowly drained from the room.
Tears slid down my face in silence, yet no sound escaped me.
When night fully fell, I turned off my phone.
Then I reopened the bank statements.
I backed up every record, one by one, carefully labeled and clearly marked.
Only after I finished did I lower my gaze to my belly.
The baby moved gently again.
And in that moment, I finally understood something—
This story would no longer be allowed to end on their terms.
When Daniel came home, the house was completely dark.
He paused at the door, then turned on the light, his voice carrying a note of deliberate concern.
“Olivia, why didn’t you turn on the lights? It’s so dark—what if you trip?”
The moment the lights came on, he was already in front of me. He dropped to one knee and took my hand in his.
I instinctively raised my other hand to shield my face, but the tears still slipped through my fingers.
“Why are you crying like this?” he asked softly, as if soothing a child. “Who made my wife and our baby so uncomfortable?”
As he spoke, he leaned down and pressed a light kiss against my belly.
In that instant, I smelled it again.
That familiar scent—
Sweet, faint, unmistakable jasmine.
I forced myself to steady my breathing and looked up at him.
“Where were you just now?”
“At the office,” he answered quickly, without even pausing. “There was a sudden issue with a project. I had to work late.”
His tone was natural—too natural. As if it had been rehearsed countless times.
I nodded, then smiled instead.
“Is that so?”
He visibly relaxed.
“But Daniel,” I said softly, my fingers tightening around his hand, “weren’t you in the eastern part of the city today? Carla suddenly wanted dumplings from that famous place. You drove all the way from the west side—it takes over an hour. She even went live.”
The air fell silent for a single second.
Before he could react, I added with another smile, my voice gentle, almost naïve,
“Now that I think about it, I suddenly want those dumplings too.”
I placed my hand back on my belly, as if reminding him of the role he was supposed to be playing.
As if sensing my emotions, the baby suddenly kicked hard. I frowned and drew in a shallow breath.
“Could you help me get some?”
Daniel withdrew his hand from mine.
He stood up, a trace of poorly concealed irritation flashing across his brow.
“That kind of food isn’t very nutritious,” he said. “You’re so far along now—you need to be careful about what you eat.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“For our son. Try to endure it, okay?”
Without waiting for my response, he turned and walked toward the bathroom. His voice returned to that familiar, gentle tone that allowed no argument.
“I’ll take a shower first. I’m exhausted. Why don’t you call your mother and ask her to make you something light?”
The sound of the bathroom door closing echoed sharply through the house.
I leaned back against the sofa, slowly stroking my belly, and whispered,
“Don’t be afraid, my love.”
“Mommy will find a way.”
第3章
The phone on the dining table lit up.
Daniel was always like this—never cautious, never secretive, as if he were certain I would never touch it.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom. I braced myself against the sofa and stood up. My movements were slow, but my mind had never been clearer.
I tried a few familiar numbers.
Our wedding anniversary.
His birthday.
The date of our first date.
All failed.
In the end, I stared at the screen. My finger hovered for two seconds before I entered the date printed on Carla’s ultrasound report.
The screen unlocked.
I wasn’t even that surprised.
In his messaging app, her profile picture stood out unmistakably.
What was more bitterly ironic was that they were using the exact same couple avatar.
The chat history was overwhelming.
“I miss you.”
“Baby, when can we meet?”
“As long as I can see you every day, nothing else matters.”
I didn’t keep scrolling. Instead, I turned on screen recording.
Then I opened his shopping app.
The order list made me let out a silent, humorless laugh.
Prenatal supplements. Skincare. Cosmetics. Not a single thing missing.
The delivery address was always the same.
And the recipient was never me.
I took screenshots one after another, forcing myself to keep my breathing steady, afraid the baby inside me might feel my trembling.
After everything was saved, I carefully erased all traces and placed the phone back exactly where it had been.
When I returned to the bedroom, I lay down almost on my side. The night pressed in heavily, and my chest felt hollow and aching, as if something essential had been carved out.
Seven years of marriage—
it turned out to be nothing more than a stepping stone in someone else’s story.
The bathroom door opened again.
Not long after, his phone lit up once more.
Through the crack of the door, I saw him answer the call. In that instant, his entire body softened. He glanced toward the bedroom, then walked quietly to the balcony, closing the door behind him.
The sound of the glass sliding shut was soft.
But I heard it with absolute clarity.
At that moment, I didn’t cry.
Curiosity—thin, sharp, relentless—pushed me to stand up again. I held onto the doorframe and remained in the shadows, watching Daniel take the call on the balcony.
Through the glass, I couldn’t hear his words. I could only see his face.
It was an expression I hadn’t seen on him in a long time—relaxed, patient, even tinged with indulgence.
The person on the other end seemed to make a request. His brow furrowed briefly, as if hesitating. But not long after, he nodded, the smile returning to his lips.
In that moment, a chill slowly spread from my chest outward.
I turned away and dragged my heavy body back to the bed. The room was terrifyingly quiet, the air feeling as though it had been drained away, every breath suddenly laborious.
A few minutes later, he slipped into the room quietly.
One hand rested on my belly. The other brushed aside the loose strands of hair at my forehead. His movements were gentle—almost flawless.
“Baby,” he said softly, “something urgent came up at work. I need to step out for a bit.”
I turned my head and looked straight at him.
In that moment, I still gave him one last chance.
I spoke quietly.
“I’m not feeling well. Could you stay?”
As long as he nodded.
As long as he chose me—just this once.
Maybe then, I could still persuade myself to forget all the evidence.
第4章
The thought had barely surfaced before it was cut off by a calmer, clearer voice within me.
A kite with its string severed can never return to its original direction, no matter how carefully it is repaired.
Daniel showed a brief look of hesitation, then quickly returned to the tone I knew so well, gentle, steady, and firm.
“This project is really important. I have to go.”
“I’ll ask your mother to come stay with you, alright?”
My stomach churned as a faint chill spread across my skin. I nodded, my voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
“Drive safely.”
He noticed nothing unusual. He got dressed and left.
The moment the door closed, I opened my eyes.
Slowly, I sat up. Supporting my belly, I made my way downstairs and hailed a taxi.
“Maplewood Estate,” I said, my tone unexpectedly calm.
The car had barely stopped when Daniel’s vehicle came into view. I immediately asked the driver to pull over and park behind the shadow of roadside trees.
Through the window, I saw Carla almost jump into his arms.
Daniel caught her with ease. One hand rested naturally on her still flat abdomen as he lowered his head and gently tapped her nose, as if teasing her.
Instinctively, my hand moved to protect my own belly.
I took out my phone and started recording. My fingers trembled, but I did not stop.
On the screen, he opened the car door for her, settled her into the passenger seat, and carefully fastened her seatbelt. His movements were practiced and tender.
My eyes burned sharply, yet no tears fell.
“Follow that car,” I said to the driver.
Night flowed past the windows. Neon lights passed one by one. I gripped the window frame until my nails pressed into the wooden edge. The pain kept me awake and clear.
Endure it, I told myself.
Do not fall apart here.
The car finally stopped in front of Riverside General Hospital.
After paying the fare, I stepped out. The driver, who had been silent the entire ride, suddenly glanced back at me, his voice unexpectedly gentle.
“Miss, take care of yourself. For the baby.”
That simple sentence nearly broke me.
Since discovering the truth, I had buried everything deep inside, like swallowing a slow acting poison.
A stranger’s quiet concern allowed me to breathe for a brief moment.
I hid behind a pillar and watched Daniel.
Throughout my entire pregnancy, he had never accompanied me to the hospital even once. He was always too busy.
And now, here he was, registering for someone else, collecting medication, supporting her by the hand with patience and care.
Like a flawless husband.
In that moment, I finally understood.
He never lacked time.
He had simply chosen to give it to the wrong person.
And I, too, finally needed to make a choice, for myself and for my child.
The hospital lobby was flooded with harsh white light. It was noisy, crowded, and restless.
Daniel’s arm rested naturally around the woman’s shoulders, his voice soft and careful.
“The doctor said you should eat a little less these days. Walk around a bit, it helps digestion. Early pregnancy is sensitive, so do not push yourself. This time, let’s listen to the doctor, alright?”
She gave a dissatisfied hum, sounding spoiled.
“I know, I know.”
Then she smiled and added,
“It’s all your fault for buying so much food.”
“Alright, my mistake,” he said with a low laugh. “I care too much.”
She looked up at him, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
“Then I’ll let it go this time.”
Their voices were light and natural, like lovers long accustomed to one another.
I stood not far away. The fluorescent lights washed my face pale. People passed by me again and again, yet not a single one noticed my presence.
As if, in their world, I had never existed.
第5章
Protecting my belly, I slowly walked out of the hospital.
It had begun to rain. The wind carried a damp chill that rushed toward me. Mist wrapped the street, and the lights were stretched into blurred shadows by the rain.
Through the curtain of rain, I saw Daniel take off his coat and drape it over her shoulders. He shielded her from the rain and helped her into the passenger seat. The movements were smooth and natural, as if he had done them countless times before.
She suddenly looked up, smiling as she grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Daniel lowered his head and kissed her back. Rain slid down from the ends of his hair.
When they parted, he gently tapped her nose.
She laughed and tugged his tie again, biting lightly at his lower lip.
He did not get angry. Instead, his smile grew wider.
Before the car door closed, she rolled down the window. Her gaze passed through the rain and met mine for a brief moment.
It was a look of victory, completely undisguised.
“Olivia,” she said. Her voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly. “You lost.”
I looked at her and suddenly smiled.
Not out of sarcasm. Not out of stubborn pride.
I simply felt that everything had finally become simple.
“It does not matter,” I said to myself in silence.
“He is nothing more than a man.”
The car started, turned, and disappeared into the rainy night.
I stood beneath the hospital canopy and raised my hand slightly, as if waving goodbye to someone who no longer mattered.
“Daniel,” I whispered, “you no longer belong to me.”
“You are her choice.”
At that moment, I took out my phone and sent everything I had organized over the past few days to my mentor. The bank statements, chat records, videos, and photos were all included.
He was a highly respected divorce lawyer in the field.
I did not hesitate.
No matter how difficult the road ahead would be, I had to reclaim the initiative for my child.
Rain soon soaked the hem of my dress, yet I barely felt it.
My phone lit up again.
It was my mother.
“Olivia, I made you some soup and had it delivered home,” she said, her voice as warm as ever. “Where did you and Danny go? Why are you not back yet?”
Before I could answer, she continued, “You are so far along now, you need to be careful. How could Danny take you out so late?”
In that instant, all the emotions I had been suppressing felt as if a lid had been suddenly ripped open.
My throat tightened. My chest ached.
“Mom, do not worry,” I said, forcing my voice to sound steady. “We just went out to eat something simple.”
“It is raining outside,” I took a breath. “Take your time on the way home. Message me when you arrive, alright?”
I hung up before she could say anything else.
The moment I put the phone down, my tears finally broke free.
I made no sound. I simply stood under the canopy and let the tears run down my face.
The baby inside me moved gently. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around my belly.
People passed by me without stopping.
Yet in that moment, I knew with absolute clarity that I was no longer someone who merely endured.
This rain was only the beginning.
That night, Daniel did not come home.
When my phone lit up on the bedside table, I was sitting alone in the dim room, the rain tapping against the window. I glanced down. It was a message from him.
“Olivia, I have to work overtime tonight, so I am sleeping at the office. The weather is getting cold and it is raining. Remember to close the window before bed.
I will always love you.
Your husband.”
I read it without any reaction.
In the past, messages like this would have made me anxious, worried, even driven me to check again and again whether he was safe.
Now, I simply turned the phone face down and did not reply.
It turned out that once a person truly wakes up, even anger disappears.
第6章
I once believed I was the luckiest woman in the world. I believed marriage was the most solid fortress there could be.
Reality taught me otherwise. Some vows are meant only for paper. True hearts often hide in the darkest places.
A few days later, the lawyer sent me the divorce agreement.
I printed it out and signed my name on the last page. My handwriting was unnervingly steady. Then I began packing my things, preparing to move back to my mother’s home.
Just as I closed the suitcase, my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
When I answered, I heard Carla’s voice.
We agreed to meet at the café downstairs.
When she walked in, she looked composed and confident. She wore slim high heels and carried a shopping bag filled with items. Three months pregnant, she appeared relaxed, certain, as if she were already standing on the winning side.
“I thought you wouldn’t come,” she said with a smile. “You never replied to my messages.”
I lifted my coffee, my tone calm.
“Why wouldn’t I come? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Leaning back in my chair, I looked at her steadily.
“Daniel and I are legally married. I am not the one who should hide. No matter how hard a third party tries, their identity never changes.”
Her expression darkened instantly. She was about to argue, but I spoke first.
“Oh, and I should thank you.”
I smiled faintly.
“If you hadn’t taken the initiative to send me the chat records and videos, I wouldn’t have gathered all the evidence so quickly.”
She froze.
I placed a few bills under my cup and stood up, one hand supporting my belly.
“Coffee is on me.”
She suddenly stood and grabbed my arm.
“What do you mean by that?”
I pulled my arm back, my voice still steady.
“It means I don’t want him anymore.”
“If you want him, take him.”
She narrowed her eyes, as if trying to decide whether I had another motive. In the next second, she shoved me hard.
I lost my balance and fell heavily to the ground.
The pain came without warning, sharp and tearing, as if something inside me had been ripped apart. I barely had time to react before a violent contraction seized me.
Blood quickly soaked the hem of my dress.
Fear finally shattered my composure. I screamed,
“Please save my baby.”
Chaos erupted around me.
I only saw Carla stumble backward in panic before turning and fleeing.
Forcing myself to stay conscious, I asked the staff to call an ambulance. By the time I was lifted onto the stretcher, I could no longer tell whether the dampness on my skin was rain or cold sweat. My entire body was trembling uncontrollably.
In the ambulance, the nurse asked for my phone password.
After unlocking it, they called my emergency contact, Daniel.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
He finally answered on the sixth call.
“Olivia?” His voice was impatient. “I’m in a meeting right now. Something urgent came up. I’ll contact you later, alright? Be good.”
Before the call ended, I clearly heard Carla’s voice in the background.
I looked away, wiped the blood from my hands, and dialed my mother’s number.
My fingers were shaking, but I forced myself to stay steady.
“Mom…” I took a deep breath. “I’m about to give birth.”
Her voice immediately became calm and firm.
“Don’t be afraid. Listen to me. Go to Riverside General Hospital. Bring your documents and follow the doctors’ instructions.”
“I’m fine, Mom,” I whispered. “Really.”
The moment I hung up, another wave of pain crashed over me like a tide.
I screamed hoarsely as cold sweat streamed down my back. My consciousness wavered between clarity and blur. I clutched the doctor’s hand with all my strength.
“Please,” I gasped, “save my child.”
I could not lose him again.
This time, no matter the cost, I would protect him.