Five years ago, my husband Aaron’s first love got pregnant with his child. I asked for a divorce. He begged me through tears: “I’ll send her to Europe. They’ll never come back, and I’ll compensate you with half of everything I own. Please don’t divorce me.” My heart softened, and I agreed. Five years later, I went on a business trip to a neighboring city and found a little boy. I took him to the police station. When the officer called the boy’s family, a familiar voice came through the phone. “Baby, don’t be scared. I’m coming to get you right now.” Less than half an hour later, Aaron—who was supposedly abroad on business—burst into the police station. The moment he saw me, he froze. I smiled and stood up. “Aaron, I had no idea you had another son behind my back. Looks like the other half of your assets won’t be safe either.” “Claire, let me explain…” Aaron shielded the child behind him. That instinctive gesture felt like needles stabbing into my eyes. “This isn’t the place to talk.” I cut him off and picked up my bag. “Have that woman come pick up the child. We need to talk.” “Ruby’s not well…” “Aaron.” I stared at him coldly. “Do you want me to call Grandpa right now, or should I have my lawyer send the papers directly?” Aaron shut his mouth. The agreement I held was enough to knock him off his position as CEO of the Hayes Group and strip him of everything. The boy, whose name was apparently Miles Hayes, suddenly poked his head out and shouted at me: “Mean lady! Don’t bully my dad!” Children speak without thinking, but their words cut deepest. Aaron quickly covered the child’s mouth and looked at me in panic. “Well trained,” I said with a bitter smile. “Ruby hasn’t learned much over the years, but she’s certainly perfected the art of manipulation.” With that, I turned and walked out of the police station. The snow outside was heavy and bone-chillingly cold. I remembered five years ago when Ruby showed up at our door, heavily pregnant. Aaron knelt before me, his eyes bloodshot, saying the Hayes family line was thin and begging me to let the child live. I had just had a miscarriage then, at my most vulnerable. I signed the papers and made two conditions: First, Ruby and the child would go abroad and never return. Second, fifty percent of Aaron’s shares in Hayes Group would be transferred to my name. Grandfather Hayes was so furious he nearly beat Aaron to death with his cane. But to appease my anger, he allowed it. Aaron swore at the time: “Claire, I was confused for a moment. You’re the only one I love.” “The money is yours, my life is yours. Just let her have the baby, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” These past five years, he really did “make it up to me.” No matter how busy he was, we video-called every single day. He never missed a gift for any holiday. He even turned down contracts worth millions just to spend weekends with me. I thought time really could heal everything. The snow stopped. Aaron had the driver take the child home first. But he didn’t dare leave, and he didn’t dare let me leave either. So we sat in a café next to the police station. “Claire, it’s not what you think.” Aaron clasped his hands against his forehead, his voice low: “Ruby… she really did go abroad.” “But she couldn’t make it there. Miles has asthma and a heart condition.” “Medical costs abroad are too high. She couldn’t afford it on her own.” “So you brought them back?” I stirred my coffee. “Bringing them back is one thing, but you also set them up in a luxury apartment owned by Hayes Group and visited once a week. Aaron, are you running a charity or keeping a mistress?” “I just went to see the child!” Aaron defended himself frantically. “Claire, the child is innocent. Miles’s health is poor. Every time he has an episode, he cries for his father. What could I do? I couldn’t just watch him die!” “But you could watch me be played for a fool?” I shot back. “Aaron, did you think as long as you didn’t bring them in front of me, it didn’t count as breaking our agreement? What about all those promises you made?”
Aaron fell silent. Just then, his phone rang. Aaron glanced at the screen but didn’t answer. Immediately after, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered. A soft, fragile voice came through: “Claire, this is Ruby.” “I know you’re with Aaron right now. Could you… let me speak with you?” I put it on speaker and placed the phone on the table. “Claire, everything is my fault.” Ruby’s voice carried a crying tone, but it wasn’t grating—instead, it sounded pitifully vulnerable. “I’m useless. I couldn’t support Miles, so I had the nerve to come back and beg Aaron.” “Aaron is a good man. He just pities the child… Please don’t blame him.” “If you can’t accept us, I’ll take Miles and leave right now.” “Even if we die out there, I won’t cause you any more trouble…” Suddenly, a child’s coughing came through the phone, along with Ruby’s panicked attempts to soothe him. Aaron’s face changed. He grabbed my phone and shouted into it: “Ruby, is Miles having another attack?!” “Don’t move! The medicine is in the cabinet… I’ll be right there!” He hung up and looked at me with desperation in his eyes. “Claire, Miles’s asthma is acting up. It could be life-threatening.” “I have to go… We can talk about this when we get home, okay?” I looked at the man before me. One second he was confessing to me, the next he heard something from her side and lost his mind completely. I knew him too well. Ruby didn’t need to throw tantrums or flaunt herself in front of me. All she needed was to show her fragility, and she had Aaron wrapped around her finger. “Go.” I leaned back in my chair, expression indifferent. “Aaron, if you walk out that door, we’re really done.” Aaron hesitated. He looked at me with internal struggle, but finally, he gritted his teeth. “Claire, this is a matter of life and death. I can’t ignore it.” With that, he left without looking back. I watched his retreating figure, then picked up the cold coffee in front of me and drank it all. Bitterness spread through my entire mouth. I took out my phone and called Grandfather Hayes. “Grandpa, I’m in the neighboring city. I’m coming to see you.” I went directly to the Hayes Group branch office in the neighboring city. Grandfather Hayes was inspecting the workplace. When he saw me arrive, he wasn’t surprised. Everyone was dismissed from the office, leaving only him and me. “Claire, why do you look so pale?” Grandfather held his tea, his sharp eyes scrutinizing me. “You already knew, didn’t you, Grandpa?” I got straight to the point. “Ruby has been back in the country for three years, living in a Hayes Group apartment, spending Aaron’s money.” “You have eyes everywhere in the company. There’s no way you didn’t know.” Grandfather paused in his tea-drinking and sighed. “Aaron is foolish and soft-hearted.” He set down his teacup. “I remember that child. Though he’s illegitimate, he still carries Hayes blood.” “His health is poor. It’s only natural for Aaron to take care of him.”
“Natural?” I laughed bitterly. “Then what about the agreement Aaron and I signed? Is it just scrap paper?” “Claire!” Grandfather’s tone grew heavier. “You are the lady of the Hayes family. You need to think long-term. As long as that woman doesn’t enter the family and doesn’t threaten your position…” “Why not give Aaron some face in public?” “Besides…” Grandfather’s gaze swept over my flat stomach, his meaning clear. “These past five years, there’s been no movement from your belly. The Hayes family empire needs an heir.” “Aaron keeping a backup outside is for the family’s sake.” I felt cold all over. In their eyes, my inability to conceive was the original sin. Aaron’s infidelity was soft-heartedness, the illegitimate child was securing the bloodline, and my anger was being unreasonable. “What if I insist on divorce?” I stared at Grandfather. His face darkened. He slammed his teacup on the table. “Nonsense!” “Do you think divorce is child’s play? Hayes Group’s stock price can’t withstand turmoil right now.” “Those shares you hold are the family’s guarantee to you, but also our leverage over you.” “You think you can walk away with Hayes family money? Not that easy!” Grandfather narrowed his eyes. I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms. In this wealthy family, there was no warmth—only calculated interests. Someone knocked on the office door. The secretary entered awkwardly. “Chairman, Mr. Hayes is here… and he brought the child.” Then Aaron walked in. He was carrying Miles, with Ruby following timidly behind. “Grandpa.” Aaron didn’t even dare look at me. He went straight to Grandfather with the child. “Miles heard you was here and insisted on seeing you.” Though Miles looked pale, he obediently called out, “Hello, Grandpa Hayes.” Grandfather’s stern face immediately softened. “Good child. Very well-behaved.” Grandfather reached out and patted the child’s head. Ruby stood in the corner, stealing a glance at me. That look didn’t match her fragile appearance—instead, it carried a hint of smugness. As long as Grandfather acknowledged this great-grandson, even if she couldn’t enter the family, she’d be credited with a great contribution to the Hayes family. And I would eventually be swept out the door. Aaron looked at me with newfound confidence: “Claire, even Grandpa says so. Just consider it for the family’s sake…” The nausea in my stomach could no longer be suppressed. I covered my mouth and rushed to the restroom, vomiting violently. When I returned, Ruby was suddenly kneeling before me, crying. “Claire, I know I shouldn’t have come back, but Miles needs heart surgery.” “The best specialist in the country is in this city. I’m trying to save my child’s life!” She looked up, her face the picture of pitiful vulnerability: “As soon as Miles’s surgery is successful, I’ll take him and leave immediately. I won’t get in your way.” “Claire, you’re a woman too. You’ve had a child before. Please, have mercy on a mother’s heart…”
Yes, I’d had a child, though I couldn’t carry it to term. But I couldn’t sympathize with Ruby. In the end, she was still the other woman who destroyed someone else’s relationship. “Claire… Miles’s surgery is scheduled for next week.” Aaron bit his lip: “But the surgery and follow-up treatment require a huge sum of money. The company’s liquid assets are all tied up in your new project…” I looked up at him. “So?” “I want to pause your project temporarily and… redirect the funds to Miles’s treatment.” Aaron avoided my gaze. “This is a matter of life and death…” That project was my blood, sweat, and tears—three months of all-nighters to help Hayes Group break into new markets. I trembled with rage. “Aaron, do you know what pausing the project means?” “It means tens of millions in upfront investment down the drain!” “Money can be earned back, but I can’t watch my son die!” Aaron shouted. “Enough!” Everything went black. My chest felt crushed by a boulder, my blood churning. That intense nausea and dizziness hit me again, more violently than ever before. I clutched my chest. My body went limp and I collapsed. When I woke up again, I was in the hospital. Aaron sat by the bed, holding a document, his expression blank. Seeing me awake, he jumped to his feet. “Claire, you’re awake?!” He leaned closer. “Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Does your stomach… does your stomach hurt?” I frowned and shook off his hand. “Aaron, what are you pretending now?” Aaron said nothing. He just handed me the document. I took it and looked. Intrauterine early pregnancy, six weeks. I froze. “The doctor said… your body is too weak. The previous miscarriage damaged your foundation.” Aaron’s eyes reddened, his voice choking: “This pregnancy wasn’t easy. Just now, with the emotional stress, there were already signs of threatened miscarriage…” “You must stay in bed to preserve the pregnancy. You absolutely cannot be upset again.” “This is a miracle… Claire, this is a miracle from heaven.” He was so excited he wanted to hug me but didn’t dare touch me. “If Grandpa finds out, he’ll be thrilled!” Watching him so overjoyed, I found it utterly ironic. “Aaron, are you happy?” I looked at him coldly. “Of course I’m happy! This is our child!” “But I’m not happy.” I touched my stomach, my eyes cold: “I don’t want this child anymore.” I pointed toward the door: “Rather than let him be born to face a father who plays favorites and an illegitimate half-brother who’ll fight for the inheritance…” “Better to terminate now.” “No!” Aaron roared, his eyes bloodshot. “This is my child! What right do you have to abort him? I won’t allow it!” “You won’t allow it?” I laughed. “Aaron, right now the child is in my body. I can keep it if I want, terminate it if I want.” “You want me to keep this child? Fine.” I sat up straight, my eyes sharp. “Choose one. Either send Ruby and that child back abroad permanently, never to return or contact us again. Or I walk into the operating room right now and terminate this pregnancy.”
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