Chapter 2

I walked through the front door of my own home and felt like a stranger. The sound of laughter echoed from the living room, a warm, happy sound that made my stomach clench. They were all there: Ethan, his parents, and Chloe, sitting together like a perfect family. Chloe was holding the baby, bouncing him gently on her knee.

"Oh, look who decided to show up," Mrs. Hayes said, her voice dripping with disapproval. "Finally done playing doctor for the day?"

I ignored her, my eyes fixed on Ethan. He stood up, a strained smile on his face. "Ava, you're here."

"This is my house, Ethan. Where else would I be?"

The memory of his promise hit me with the force of a physical blow. We were standing in a sterile hospital room a year and a half ago, the air thick with the smell of antiseptic. The doctor had just left, his words still hanging in the air. 'The damage is extensive... I'm so sorry, Mrs. Hayes, but you won't be able to conceive.'

I had crumpled, the world falling out from under me. A car crash, a drunk driver, had taken more than just my mobility for a few months; it had stolen my future, my dream of having a child with the man I loved.

Ethan had held me, his arms a supposed fortress against my grief. "It doesn't matter, Ava," he had whispered into my hair. "I love you. Not your ability to have children. If we can't have kids, then we won't. I'm fine with it being just us. I promise. Just us, forever."

Just us. The words were a bitter poison in my mouth now as I looked at the baby in Chloe's arms. His baby.

My year-long surgical fellowship abroad was supposed to be my recovery. A chance to focus on my career, to heal from the trauma, to come back ready to start our new, child-free life together. The farewell at the airport had been tearful. He' d held my face in his hands, his eyes sincere. "A year will fly by," he' d said. "I'll be right here waiting for you. I love you, Dr. Ava Miller."

The lie was so perfect, so convincing.

I had found out by accident. A stray email notification on our shared tablet, an email from Chloe to her friend that he had left open. 'Ethan is so amazing. He's paying for everything. He says he's doing it for his dying ex, a final wish, but I know he wants this baby as much as I do. Ava doesn't have to know until she gets back. She'll have to accept it then.'

My world had tilted on its axis. I spent the last month of my fellowship in a daze, going through the motions, a cold, hard knot forming in my chest.

Now, standing in my living room, Chloe looked up at me, a smug, triumphant smile on her face. She looked anything but terminally ill. Her skin was glowing, her eyes bright. "Ava, you're back. Come meet Leo. Isn't he beautiful? He has Ethan's eyes."

Her words were a deliberate provocation, a claim of ownership.

"You look well, Chloe," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "For someone who's supposedly on their deathbed."

The smile faltered for a second before it returned, sharper this time. "The joy of motherhood, I suppose. It's giving me strength. Something you wouldn't understand."

That was it. The snap of a cord pulled too tight. Years of compassion, of training, of holding my emotions in check, vanished. I moved before I could think, my hand striking her across the face. The sound of the slap was loud in the suddenly silent room.

The baby started to cry.

Chaos erupted.

"Ava!" Ethan shouted, rushing to Chloe's side.

"How dare you!" Mrs. Hayes shrieked, her face purple with rage. "You come into this house and assault a sick woman? A new mother?"

"She's a liar," I said, my hand stinging. "You're all liars."

I looked at Ethan, at the man who had promised me forever. "You told me it would be just us. You lied to my face for a year."

The truth was laid bare, ugly and raw in the middle of our perfect living room. I finally understood the full scope of their deception. They hadn't just tolerated this; they had encouraged it. They had conspired against me while I was thousands of miles away, grieving the family I thought I'd lost.

Ethan looked away, unable to meet my eyes. He was cradling Chloe, who was putting on a great show of being fragile and hurt.

"I was going to tell you," he mumbled. "I was just waiting for the right time."

"The right time?" I laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "When would that have been, Ethan? After I unpacked my bags? After I got used to seeing her in my house, with your son?"

"It's not like that," he pleaded, his voice desperate. "Chloe is sick, Ava. She was going to die. This was her last wish, to have a child. And you... you can't have children. I thought... I thought this could be a good thing for both of you. A win-win. She gets to fulfill her dream, and you get a child without the pain of childbirth. He can be our son, Ava. We can raise him together."

The sheer audacity of his words stole my breath. He wasn't just a cheater. He was a monster, wrapped in the skin of a well-intentioned man. He had taken my deepest pain and tried to turn it into his convenient solution.