Chapter 2Vanishing Point

I shook my head, a bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaping me. "I'll just... secretly have it removed." If she was so willing to assume a new identity to care for Jake, then I would grant her that twisted devotion. Let the identity of Sarah Peterson, my wife, vanish completely.

I had just settled into my car, ready to leave, when I saw Sarah rushing towards the hospital. Moments later, a text message from her lit up my phone:

"Alex! Big news for the family! I'm about to give birth!"

My wife of five years, the woman who had shared my life and love, was now calling me "brother-in-law" and attributing our child to another man. The sheer absurdity of it all, the cold indifference, washed over me. It felt utterly pointless.

I didn't bother to reply. Instead, I drove directly to the hospital, walking straight to the registration desk to request kidney surgery. A young nurse, her voice kind and gentle, asked, "Is your partner here? We usually need to consult family, you don't have to face this alone."

My gaze drifted towards the delivery ward, where I saw Sarah, her face alight with tender adoration as she cradled a newborn. A bitter, self-mocking laugh escaped me. "My partner passed away," I told the nurse, "so I'll make my own decisions." The nurse, suddenly awkward, simply mumbled an "Oh," and quickly registered me.

I tried to hide in a quiet corner, waiting for my surgery, but Sarah spotted me anyway. She came bouncing over, her face radiant. "Alex! I had a little boy! Our Peterson family finally has a legacy!"

Her smile, so blindingly bright, faltered as she saw the numb expression on my face, a fleeting flicker of guilt crossing her features. "I know you always wanted a child. Actually, I—oh, I mean, Emily, your sister, she really wanted a child too. If only she were still here…"

I stared at her now-flat stomach, my heart clenching as if a cruel hand were twisting it. For years, I had yearned for a child. And now, the child was right there, before me, yet I was utterly stripped of the right to claim him.

As she spoke, two doctors, standing some distance away, called out to both of us simultaneously.

"Ms. Peterson, your partner is looking for you!"

"Mr. Stone, it's time for your surgery!"

Perhaps she was too ecstatic, too wrapped up in her new role, to hear my name. I brushed past her, an invisible phantom. She was cooing with delight, tickling the tiny infant in her arms, while I was walking into an operating room to have a kidney removed. Thankfully, the surgery was swift.

Fresh out of surgery, Sarah insisted I come into the recovery room to see the newborn. Jake Thompson was there too. He’d sustained injuries in the crash, and even with his arm in a cast, he looked remarkably handsome, clearly well-cared for. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror: my chin was shadowed with stubble, and I looked years older than my actual age.

Suddenly, Sarah announced she was hungry and instinctively reached for a mango someone had left on the table. Jake shot her a look, and she immediately, fondly, tossed the fruit into the trash. I used to warn her countless times that I was allergic to mangoes, but she'd always eaten them without a second thought.

Jake looked at me, a triumphant smirk playing on his lips. "Alex, my wife listens to my every word. She knows I can't stand the smell of mangoes, so she never buys them anymore. I guess I really married the right woman."

Jake’s words dripped with possessiveness, a smug challenge in his tone. Did he know? Did he realize this woman, pretending to be his wife, was actually Sarah? I didn’t have time to dwell on it. My parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, rushed in, squeezing past me, eager to see their new grandson. That perfect little family of three, with the grandparents beaming over them, truly looked like a harmonious unit. And me? What was I? Not even a grieving widower to my own wife…

Back home, a package from the Sterling family had already arrived for me: several photos of Chloe Sterling, along with samples of wedding attire and diamond rings. I hadn't expected Sarah, who had returned to retrieve Jake's jacket, to catch sight of Chloe’s face on my phone screen. Her voice, suddenly tight with nerves, cut through the quiet.

"Who is this? Alex, what are you doing?"