The Unwanted Wife's Ultimatum

I was seven months pregnant, a text from my distant husband, Ethan, promised a New Year's Eve "surprise."

I desperately hoped it was a chance to mend our fraying marriage before the baby.

But stepping into the upscale lounge, the "surprise" became my worst nightmare.

Ethan was intimately draped around his executive assistant, Lily Vance, who was brazenly wearing my designer gown.

His friends snickered, their amusement signaling my reaction was the only surprise.

When confronted, Ethan showed no remorse, just cold annoyance.

Lily gloated that my dress looked better on her.

Then Ethan cruelly dismissed me, claiming I couldn't satisfy him, calling me "not exactly arousing."

Lily sneered he needed "a real woman, not a... vessel."

Overcome, I vomited, splattering her stolen dress.

She shoved me, I fell, hitting a table, and my water broke.

"The baby!" I gasped, but Lily convinced Ethan I was faking.

He dragged me to a VIP restroom, locked me inside, dismissing my pleas for help as "drama."

Alone, trapped, in agonizing labor, my phone lost, I heard their indifferent laughter, their intimacy, through the door.

Hours later, strangers found me, covered in blood, barely breathing.

I woke in a hospital, heart-shattering truth: my baby girl was stillborn.

And Ethan, the man who'd built an empire with me, had blocked the hospital's desperate calls about our child.

His utter callousness, his active neglect in our daughter's death, burned away every last shred of loyalty.

He would not, could not, get away with this.

In that sterile room, a cold, pure resolve ignited: he would pay for everything.

The text message from Ethan glowed on my phone screen, just an address for an upscale lounge downtown.

"New Year's Eve surprise. Come alone. You'll love it."

I was seven months pregnant, my belly round and full under my coat.

A surprise sounded nice, Ethan had been distant lately, working long hours, always stressed.

Maybe this was his way of making it up, a special night for us before the baby arrived.

I parked the car and walked towards the entrance, the cold air biting my cheeks.

The lounge was dim, loud music thumping, crowded with people dressed in their New Year's best.

I scanned the room, looking for Ethan.

Then I saw him.

He was in a VIP booth, his arm around a woman, his head bent close to hers as he laughed.

The woman was Lily Vance, his executive assistant.

Young, beautiful, and definitely not me.

My breath caught.

Lily was wearing a dress I knew, a custom designer gown Ethan had gifted me for our third anniversary.

It was sapphire blue, my favorite color, the one I'd saved for a special occasion.

On Lily, it looked different, tighter, more revealing.

Ethan's friends were there too, Mark included, all of them watching Lily and Ethan, some smirking.

They saw me standing there, frozen.

No one looked surprised to see me, only to see my reaction.

My heart pounded, a sick feeling rising in my throat. This was the surprise.

One of Mark's friends, a woman I vaguely knew, pointed at me.

"Look who it is, the mother-to-be."

Her voice was loud enough to carry over the music.

Mark snickered, "She's really let herself go, hasn't she?"

Ethan finally looked up, his eyes meeting mine.

There was no shock in his expression, no guilt, just a flicker of annoyance.

He slowly removed his arm from around Lily, but she leaned into him, possessive.

I walked towards them, my legs feeling like lead.

"Ethan? What is this?"

My voice trembled.

He stood up, blocking my view of Lily for a moment.

"Sarah, you made it."

He sounded casual, like this was perfectly normal.

"What is she doing here, wearing my dress?"

Lily smirked from behind him, running a hand down the blue fabric.

"It looks better on me, don't you think?"

Ethan sighed, a put-upon expression on his face.

"Sarah, don't make a scene. Lily is just helping out."

"Helping out?" I repeated, my voice rising. "Helping out with what, Ethan?"

He gestured vaguely. "You know, you can't... satisfy me right now, with the pregnancy and all. A man has needs."

His words hit me like a physical blow.

He looked at my belly, then back at my face, his expression cold.

"And frankly, you're not exactly arousing these days."

The people in the booth laughed.

Lily stepped forward, her eyes glinting with triumph.

"Out with the old, in with the new, right, baby?" she cooed at Ethan, then looked at me.

"He needs a real woman, not a... vessel."

Tears pricked my eyes, hot and shameful.

"How could you?" I whispered, looking at Ethan, the man I married, the man I built a company with from nothing.

"We promised each other, Ethan. Fidelity. Love."

He scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.

"Oh, grow up, Sarah. Everyone in our circle does this. It's not a big deal."

He actually believed that, or wanted me to.

"I still intend to come back to the family after the baby is born," he said, as if offering a generous concession. "This is just... temporary."

The smoke in the lounge, the smell of expensive perfume and stale champagne, suddenly overwhelmed me.

My stomach churned violently.

I gagged, covering my mouth, and turned away, vomiting onto the plush carpet, splattering the hem of Lily's stolen dress.

A wave of dizziness washed over me.

Lily shrieked, "My dress! You clumsy cow!"

She jumped up, her face contorted with rage.

Before I could react, she shoved me hard in the chest.

"You did that on purpose, you fat bitch!"

I stumbled backward, my arms flailing for balance, and then I was falling.

My hip hit the edge of a low table with a sickening thud, and I landed heavily on the floor.

A sharp, tearing pain shot through my abdomen.

Then, a warm gush of fluid between my legs.

My water. It broke.

"The baby," I gasped, clutching my stomach. "Ethan, the hospital. Now."

Panic, raw and terrifying, clawed at me.

For a split second, I saw something like concern in Ethan's eyes, a flicker of the man I used to know.

He took a step towards me.

But Lily grabbed his arm, her voice sharp and derisive.

"Don't be fooled, Ethan. She's faking it. She just peed her pants to ruin your night and get attention."

She laughed, a high, cruel sound. "Look at her, what a drama queen."