The first time I discovered Milena cheating was in our marital home. Young and hot-headed, I demanded a divorce on the spot. She cried and said she was drunk and mistook him for someone else, kneeling before me and begging for forgiveness. "If you want a divorce, I'll jump from the 10th floor right now." That one sentence made me soften for five years. During those five years, she was gentle and considerate toward me, as if the affair had never happened. But on my mother-in-law's sixtieth birthday, she suddenly asked Milena. "Milena, where's my grandson? Why didn't he come?" I froze, thinking she was confused, and hurried to answer with a smile. "Mom, you forgot—Milena still has two months until her due date." My mother-in-law calmly glanced at me and murmured under her breath. "Oh, so you still don't know." My heart tightened. I instinctively looked at Milena. She calmly set down her teacup and said: "Actually, I have a son. He's five years old." The shrimp in my hand instantly dropped to the floor. My brain buzzed. My vision blurred. "What?" My lips trembled as I asked instinctively. "Five years ago, that night with John, I got pregnant." Milena didn't hide anything. When she said this, she even seemed relieved. "It's good that you know. I've been exhausted hiding this for five years." I felt helpless and looked at my mother-in-law. "Mom, stop joking around with Milena. It's your birthday. You're both messing with me, right?" But my mother-in-law just calmly took a sip of tea. She said nothing in response to my question. My heart sank. Milena continued, "I'm not joking. When I found out I was pregnant, the doctor said that aborting the child would be bad for my body." "There was a high chance I'd never get pregnant again." She placed her hand on her swollen belly. Inside was my child, already eight months along, close to the due date. "Jeff, you should be grateful I didn't abort him." "Otherwise, we'd never have children of our own in this lifetime." No matter how much I wanted to disbelieve, Milena and my mother-in-law's attitudes made it clear they weren't lying. No wonder she went on that six-month business trip back then. Every day she video-called to check in with me, but it was actually to give birth to someone else's child. For the next five years, she went on business trips for a week every month—actually to spend time with John and their son. And I actually believed it all. I forced a bitter smile, my eyes stinging. "Weren't you hiding it well? Why tell me today?" Before Milena could speak, my mother-in-law slammed her forks on the table, her tone agitated. "Because I wanted to see my grandson!" She took a deep breath and spoke to me earnestly. "Jeff, I've been good to you, haven't I? I know you're a good kid, but my grandson has been hiding for five years. It breaks my heart." My hanging fingers clenched sharply. My pupils trembled. So everyone knew about this—everyone except me. My mother-in-law took out a document from the safe. The contract listed assets totaling ten million dollars. "Jeff, we won't shortchange you. All you need to do is accept this child. You don't need to worry about anything else." "Milena promised me she won't have any more contact with John..." Before my mother-in-law could finish, Milena interrupted her. "If you can't accept this, we can get divorced." She pulled a divorce agreement from her bag. The signature was already filled in. I stared at the paper as if I wanted to bore a hole through it. Five years ago, I had mentioned divorce. It was Milena who begged desperately, even threatening suicide. Just when I'd finally let go of my resentment. She told me she wanted a divorce. The atmosphere grew silent, with only the sound of the clock ticking, until the door was pushed open. A crisp voice rang out. "Mom, I brought Mark to celebrate your birthday..." John walked in holding the hand of a five-year-old child. When he saw me, the smile on his face instantly froze, replaced by hesitation. "Mr. Jeff..."
The moment Milena's mother saw Mark, her face lit up with a smile. She scooped up the little boy. "Mark's here! Come over here." I sat in my seat, motionless. Before, I hadn't really looked at John's face. Milena had protected him very well. Now they were one happy family—and the most absurd part was that Milena was still carrying my child. "Milena, is this the explanation you promised me?" "Did you have fun lying to me for five years?" Everyone present turned pale. John protectively held the child, looking tense. "I can take the humiliation, but not my son. He's also Milena's biological child." "He's also Mother's grandson. If you won't let the child in the door, then Mark will act like he never had a mother!" His words were firm and forceful, as if I were the one oppressing him. John threw down these words and left with the child. Milena jumped to her feet, suppressing the discomfort in her belly, and chased after them. Milena's mother glared at me fiercely and threw the agreement in my face. "Jeff, is ten million enough to buy your future?" "The child must enter our family. You're not allowed to interfere." Watching their retreating figures, I felt dazed. I crouched down and picked up the agreement from the floor. Besides the enormous compensation, there was only one requirement. I had to play dumb and deaf, and not interfere in matters between Milena and John. My chest tightened. I tore the document to pieces. I never imagined Milena would hide this from me for five agonizing years. It was the third month after Milena and I got married. I had just returned from a business trip. When I walked through the door, I saw the whole house in disarray. Torn clothes, underwear, and mysterious stains on the carpet. Milena and a strange man lay naked in the bed I shared with my wife. Seeing this scene, I couldn't accept reality. Milena wrapped herself in the sheets, stumbled over, and knelt while clutching my leg, her voice trembling with pleading. "Jeff, believe me, I was drunk and mistook him for you." "I didn't mean to. I really didn't." She was incoherent, hands clasped together, explaining to me over and over. "I'll never drink again. As long as you don't divorce me, I'll agree to anything." This incident also reached her mother. That day, her mother slapped her more than ten times. Her mother bent over, head lowered, apologizing to me. "Jeff, she only made one mistake. She still loves you." At that time, I didn't want to hear anything. I only wanted to divorce her. When Milena saw I still hadn't changed my mind. She climbed onto the window ledge, ready to jump. "If you divorce me, I'll jump from here." "Without you, I won't live anyway!" Those words made me soften. I couldn't watch her hurt herself in front of me. So I pulled her down from the ledge. "We won't divorce. But there won't be a second time." After that incident, the knot in my heart hadn't completely dissolved. To make it up to me, she brought everything good before me. The house, the car, company shares—everything she had. Even my friends envied me. "Jeff, what good deed did you do in your past life to marry a wife like this?" As time passed, people around us got married and divorced one after another. They started betting on how many more years Milena and I would stay together. Later, she told me that because of company business, she needed to stay abroad for a year. We video-called every day. She knew I felt insecure, so she even made time to come back and see me. She always told me not to give up my career because of her. I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But I never imagined that her talk of being busy, her business trips— It was all to give birth to someone else's child. Only I was stupid enough to believe it for five years. Tears blurred my vision. I wiped the corner of my eyes. Looking at the divorce agreement on the table with Milena's signature already on it. I silently put it away. If that's how it is, then I'll grant them their wish.
Milena and her mother still brought John and his son back. Milena's mother protected her precious grandson. "As long as I'm here, Mark is my grandson. I won't let anyone bully him." Her gaze kept glancing at me, full of vigilance. Hearing this, a trace of smugness flashed in Mark's eyes. Gone was his earlier unease. He puffed out his chest. "Mr. Jeff, don't worry, I won't take your place." "I just hope my son can stay by his mother's side instead of bearing the stigma of being illegitimate." I pulled at the corner of my mouth with a mocking smile. "That stigma isn't unfair. No matter what, it won't change." Mark's face went pale. Then he looked at Milena with a wounded expression. Milena frowned. "Jeff, where are your manners?" Her cold words made my heart tremble. My hands hanging at my sides clenched powerlessly, then loosened. My voice was hoarse. "Five years ago, I said there wouldn't be a second time..." Milena squeezed her son's palm and answered carelessly. "Didn't I already give you the divorce agreement? I agreed to divorce. I'm not stopping you." "But you seem to have forgotten I'm still carrying your child." Her hand rested on her swollen belly. "Jeff, I just want to bring Mark back. He's only a five-year-old child. He can't live without his mother." "Can you not be so petty? Besides, wouldn't it be good for our child to have an older brother?" She didn't seem to think she'd done anything wrong. Her nonchalant words shattered the last hope in my heart. Before I could say anything else, she told me. "Mom and I have discussed it. We're planning to hold a banquet next week." "To have Mark acknowledge you as his father. That way, people won't gossip anymore." I suppressed the sadness in my heart. I never expected she'd already thought of this. "I won't agree." Milena laughed coldly. "Fine. Then I'll go to the hospital right now for an induced abortion." I looked up sharply and roared. "Are you insane?! The baby's not even eight months yet!" Milena's expression was calm, but her words were brutally cruel. "I'm the child's mother. I have that right. Once born, it's a child. Before birth, it's just a lump of flesh." "Think carefully—either let Mark acknowledge you as his father, or I go to the hospital for an induced abortion." After dropping these words, Milena left with John and his son. For a long stretch of time, we had no contact. She didn't come home either. Perhaps because everything was out in the open now, Milena's rarely-updated social media started posting frequently. Mostly photos of her with John and his son. Even the captions were suggestive, as if they were the real family of three. After friends saw her posts, they called one after another to ask. "Jeff, who is that person? That child looks so much like her, could it be..." "And who's that man?" Faced with my friends' questions, I had no mood to answer. Only those who knew about the incident five years ago advised me. "Are you and Milena having relationship problems? I told you five years ago you shouldn't have forgiven her." "If there's a first time, there will be countless more." I smiled bitterly. What everyone else could see clearly. Only I was this stupid.
A week passed quickly. The banquet to bring Mark home was held on a grand scale. Almost everyone who mattered in our circle came. Milena held my arm, lowering her voice to warn me. "You should have thought it through these past few days. Don't cause any trouble." I said nothing and didn't look at her. Not until the five-year-old boy came forward, grabbed my hand, and called me "Dad" in front of everyone. Only then did I speak. "I'm not your father. And I won't acknowledge you as my son." My words instantly caused an uproar. People looked at each other, suddenly understanding something. The looks they gave Milena were full of mockery. Milena lost face. Her expression shifted between pale and flushed. She gripped my wrist. "What do you mean?" "If you don't acknowledge Mark today, I'll go to the hospital right now!" Her attitude was resolute. I couldn't imagine that as a mother, she could say such things. She knew how hard it had been to conceive this child. Drinking bitter medicine, getting shots to prevent miscarriage. Now, for the sake of an illegitimate child, she'd throw it all away just like that. "I won't raise another man's son." John in the distance instantly looked aggrieved. At that moment, the previously silent hall's screen suddenly lit up. The large screen began displaying intimate photos of Milena and John in bed. The photos were timestamped from five years ago. The scene instantly became chaotic. Milena also froze in place, staring blankly at the screen. John immediately pointed at my nose, his face flushed red. "Jeff! I know you have a problem with me, but how can you show these kinds of photos at an event like this!" "Yes, five years ago was all my fault. Milena was drunk and mistook me for you." "But what does that have to do with now? No matter how dissatisfied you are, you can't deny that Mark is Milena's biological son." John's words made everything clear to everyone. "So it's an illegitimate child. I wondered why it felt so strange." "Well, they put on quite a show for us." Suppressed laughter spread. Milena frantically had someone turn off the screen and slapped me hard across the face. The metallic taste of blood spread in my mouth. I felt dazed. I looked up into Milena's hate-filled gaze. She was so angry her chest heaved violently. She clutched her aching belly, her face twisted in pain. Seeing this, Milena's mother immediately called emergency services. When they arrived at the hospital, Milena's face was deathly pale. Just as the doctor was about to administer the injection to prevent miscarriage, Milena suddenly spoke. "Help me induce labor. I don't want this child anymore." My head buzzed. "I didn't upload those photos!" Milena pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Whether it was you or not, Jeff, I just want to teach you a lesson so you'll never dare bully them again." Thinking of the child, I still lowered my head and pleaded. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. The child is innocent. It's a life..." But no matter how I begged, it was useless. Milena still went into the operating room. The induced baby came out as a stillborn. It was a daughter who never got to open her eyes to see the world. I covered my face, crying and laughing, and placed the divorce agreement in her bag. Carrying my dead daughter, I left. Looking back five years ago led me into the abyss. This time, I won't look back again.
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