Chapter 1Whose Child Is She Carrying?

On the day of our wedding anniversary, I brought a homemade, carefully packed lunch to my wife's corporate headquarters.

The receptionist froze for a solid three seconds when she saw me.

"Nolan, Ms. Whitmore isn't in today. she started her maternity leave."

I stared at her. I told her I had no idea my wife was pregnant.

All the color drained from the receptionist's face. She immediately backtracked, stammering that she must have remembered the schedule wrong.

A cold chill crept up my spine. I pulled out my phone and remotely accessed the dashcam footage from Kate's luxury SUV.

The live feed showed a man carefully supporting my wife by the arm as they walked into the doors of an exclusive private maternity clinic. Their body language was undeniably intimate.

When the man turned his head in the footage, my stomach dropped. I recognized him instantly.

It was my best friend, Joshua.

Three years ago, when I was hospitalized after a severe car crash, Joshua had visited me every single day.

Back then, my wife used to tease me, saying my best buddy pampered me more than my own mother would.

I dialed Kate's number. The background noise on her end was loud and chaotic.

"What is it, honey? My meeting hasn't wrapped up yet."

The words of confrontation hovered right on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to scream and ask her why.

But I swallowed the bile down.

"Nothing. I just missed you."

I hung up the phone.

If these two pieces of trash wanted each other so badly, I would let them rot together.

I sat in the pitch black living room, my eyes locked on the front door as it finally swung open.

"Kate, was your corporate board meeting held at a maternity clinic today?"

The motion sensor lights in the entryway flickered to life.

Kate's hand was still resting gently on Joshua's forearm.

At the sound of my voice, her entire body went rigid.

Joshua instinctively shrank back, hiding slightly behind her. He gripped the lapel of Kate's tailored blazer, his eyes instantly welling up with tears.

"Kate, I told you I shouldn't have let you accompany me. Nolan is definitely misunderstanding this."

His voice was a fragile whisper, dripping with manufactured victimhood.

Kate furrowed her brow, stepping slightly to the side to shield his body with her own.

She tossed her car keys onto the credenza. The metal smacked against the wood with a jarring clatter.

"Nolan, what kind of psychotic episode are you having tonight? Are you spying on me?"

She marched toward me, her tone laced with heavy impatience.

I tossed my phone onto the glass coffee table.

The screen was frozen on a screenshot from that morning, showing her delicately helping Joshua out of the passenger seat right in front of the clinic.

"I went to your office to bring you lunch. Your receptionist told me you were on maternity leave."

I kept my voice deadpan. "I didn't even know my own wife was pregnant, yet another man is already escorting you to your prenatal checkups."

Kate glanced at the glowing screen. For a fraction of a second, guilt flashed across her face.

But she quickly squared her shoulders, her arrogance returning in full force.

"Joshua has a weak constitution. He actually fainted a few days ago."

"I took him to the clinic for a full blood panel, and I just happened to get my checkup done while we were there."

She looked down at me as if I were a speck of dirt on her designer shoes.

"When you were in that car wreck three years ago, he practically lived at the hospital taking care of you."

"Now that he's unwell, what is wrong with me, as your wife, stepping up to repay that debt of gratitude?"

Her self righteous speech actually made me laugh out loud.

"Repay my debt? So you kept it a total secret from me, took time off work, and hid your pregnancy just to keep him company?"

Joshua stepped out from behind her, fat tears rolling down his pale cheeks.

"Nolan, please don't be mad at Kate. I begged her to keep my health issues a secret. I didn't want to worry you."

He took a step forward, reaching out as if to grab my hand. I sidestepped, refusing to let him touch me.

Without my support, he dramatically stumbled forward, collapsing onto the plush living room rug.

Kate's face twisted in pure rage. She immediately dropped to her knees to help him up.

"Nolan! What the hell is wrong with you! You know his health is fragile, he can't handle this kind of stress!"

She roared at me, the veins in her neck bulging.

I looked down at my hands. I hadn't even made physical contact with the man.

"Are you legally blind, Kate? I never even touched him."

Joshua leaned his weight heavily against Kate's chest, shaking his head weakly.

"Kate, I'm fine. I just lost my balance. It's not Nolan's fault."

"My chest just feels a little tight. I think I've been standing for too long today."

Kate wrapped her arms protectively around his shoulders, whipping her head around to glare at me with absolute venom.

"Look at how bitter and toxic you've become. Where is the refined gentleman I married?"

She pointed a perfectly manicured finger right at my face.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. If anything happens to Joshua's health, I will hold you personally responsible."

I stood there, quietly watching her unhinged display.

This was the woman who had once sworn to love me for the rest of her life. Now, she was verbally eviscerating me over the pathetic lies of another man.

I took a deep breath, swallowing the intense nausea churning in my gut.

"Kate, take him and get out of my house."

She froze, clearly stunned that I had the nerve to kick her out.

She let out a sharp, condescending laugh, her eyes sweeping over me with utter disgust.

"Get your facts straight, Nolan."

"This house might have been left to you by your dead parents, but I am the one making the money to keep the lights on."

"You sit around here all day doing absolutely nothing. What right do you have to kick me out?"

My fingernails dug so deeply into my palms that the skin nearly broke.

Joshua gently tugged at her sleeve.

"Kate, I should just go. I don't want to be the reason you two fight. I can just stay at a cheap motel, it's fine."

Kate grabbed his hand, her voice softening into a sickly sweet croon.

"Your body is far too weak to stay in some rundown motel."

She turned back to me, her eyes hardening into ice.

"Joshua's current apartment has a terrible mold problem. He is going to stay here with us for a few days, at least until I can find him a suitable luxury rental."

I stood my ground, staring directly into her eyes.

"Absolutely not."

My defiance clearly infuriated her.

She took a threatening step toward me, radiating oppressive authority.

"I wasn't asking for your permission, Nolan. I was notifying you."

"If you refuse to apologize to Joshua right now, I won't be coming home for the next few days. You can sit here and reflect on your toxic behavior."