Chapter 1

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After five years of marriage to my husband, I finally got pregnant with our child.

Overjoyed, I went to share the news with him, only for him to respond coldly: "Having Ethan as my child is enough for me."

It wasn’t until I discovered that my husband had been sending flowers to his ex-wife every Valentine’s Day that it finally hit me:

He had never truly moved on from her.

All he ever wanted was to have a child with the person he actually loved.

Without hesitation, I scheduled an appointment to terminate the pregnancy and handed him a printed copy of the divorce papers.

“This relationship? I’ll be the one to walk away.”

When I brought home the pregnancy test results, my husband was in the kitchen helping his stepson bake a cake.

"Claire, come over here! Look at the fruit Ethan cut himself—isn’t it great?"

The way he looked at his stepson was full of tenderness. He was, without a doubt, a wonderful father.

For five years, I had often wondered if my husband would treat our child with the same love and care he showered on Ethan if I ever got pregnant.

“Babe, I’ve got some great news to share!”

He smiled at me, his face lighting up. “Look at how happy you are! What’s going on?”

I walked quickly to his side, holding the test results up like a trophy. “Zach, I’m pregnant! Once the baby’s born, Ethan won’t have to play with his toys by himself anymore!”

But suddenly, his expression darkened.

His voice turned cold. “Having Ethan is enough for me.”

Ethan, overhearing this, threw a tantrum. He grabbed the finished cake and smashed it onto the floor. Frosting splattered everywhere.

“Dad! If she has a baby, I’m leaving! I’ll go live with Mom! She already told me that if she has a baby, you won’t love me anymore!”

Tears streamed down his face as he cried uncontrollably.

My husband immediately hugged him, trying to calm him down. “Ethan, I promised your mom you’d be my only child, okay? Don’t cry.”

Ethan sniffled and finally stopped crying but turned to glare at me with resentment.

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt.

After five years of marriage, had my husband never considered having a child with me?

Sensing my disappointment, my husband sighed. “Claire, I’m just not ready to have another child yet. Can you give me some time?”

I quietly went to the bedroom to manage my emotions.

On the nightstand sat a model airplane my husband had built for Ethan and a scarf he had hand-knit for him. I couldn’t quite describe how I felt.

I collapsed onto the bed, resting my hand on my stomach.

He only wanted Ethan. But what about our child?

Feeling overwhelmed, I ended up taking an afternoon nap for the first time in years.

When I woke up, my husband was sitting by the bed with a jewelry box in his hands.

“Claire, I’m sorry about earlier. While you were sleeping, I went out and bought you something—a necklace. Let me put it on for you.”

He opened the box, revealing a delicate gold necklace.

He swept my hair to the side and fastened it around my neck.

“Claire, your health has always been fragile, and I’m worried about the risks of you having a baby. I didn’t mean what I said earlier—I wasn’t thinking clearly. And as for what my ex-wife said, I don’t care about that. Ethan’s just a kid; I’m more concerned about how he’s feeling.”

Seeing that I was still upset, he added, “Claire, my ex-wife left me when I was at my lowest, but you stayed. You’ve been with me through it all, and you’re the one I love most. Don’t overthink this, okay?”

I thought back to the year I met him. He couldn’t even scrape together $300 and had to move from place to place with his son, struggling to make ends meet.

After we got married, I sold my dowry to help him start his business.

Over time, he earned more and more money and treated me like a queen.

He even made an effort to bring Ethan and me closer, knowing his son might feel uneasy about me being in their lives.