Three Years Trying for a Baby

1
For three years, my husband and I tried for a babynot one positive test.
Everything changed one afternoon when my best friend, a doctor, saw me take my folic acid.
She snatched the bottle, crushed a pill, and said grimly: Maggie, this is birth control.
Lab tests confirmed itId been on birth control for three years, pushed by Chadwick before intimacy every time.
I was about to confront him with the report when Mia, an old college friend, posted in a group chat:
A positive pregnancy test photo.
Hubby, lets betwill it be a little Chadwick or a little Mia? My moneys on Chadwick.
Two minutes later: OMG wrong chat! Cant unsendplease pretend you saw nothing.
A cold laugh broke from me. All my remaining restraint vanished.
I texted the one Id never truly forgotten, the ache of my youth:
In one month, Ill go with you.
...
The group chat fell silent.
Then, someone broke the ice: Well, congratulations are in order!
When did you two get married?
You should have said something! We would've all come to celebrate.
A notification popped upa digital cash gift, the note reading "For the wedding fund."
One by one, others followed suit.
Mia sent a series of shy emojis. Thank you all for the good wishes, but please don't make a big deal out of it. Just ignore it, really.
How could we? Even if we missed the wedding, we can't forget our friends.
Exactly! You and Chadwick finally made it. We have to celebrate that.
This was Chadwick's old college friend group. Hed added me after we got our marriage license. "These are my closest friends," he'd said. "It's time you met them."
When theyd asked who I was, Chadwicks only reply was: A friend.
If she's a friend, introduce her! Set her up with one of the single guys here.
Chadwick went silent. So I did too, lurking in the chat for years.
Back then, it was Mia who had jumped to my defense: Can you guys not act like you're dying of thirst every time you see a woman? Find your own dates.
Our families, the Fangs and the Guans, were legacy families. They had always pushed for a lavish wedding.
But Chadwick always brushed them off. "I'm in a critical growth phase in my career right now," he would say. "I don't have time for a simple wedding, let alone a grand one. Let's talk about it later."
"Later" stretched into five years. Id long since given up hope for a grand wedding. It didnt matter anymore.
Chadwicks friends never knew he was married. And they certainly didn't know he'd married someone other than Mia, the woman who had been his other half, the "golden couple" of their university days.
My phone buzzed incessantly, the screen a constant, cruel glow in my hand. I stared at it, my soul feeling detached from my body as tears streamed down my face, one after another. There was no outlet for the searing cocktail of grief and fury brewing inside me.
For a fleeting moment, I hoped Chadwick would jump in and deny it all.
But as the chat lit up with activity, the man of the hour, the one everyone was tagging, remained silent.
Mia gracefully accepted the cash gifts. Thank you, everyone. Well consider it a welcome present for the baby.
Once the baby is born, well have to get all you guys together for a real celebration.
You all have to come! The little one would want to thank you in person~
It was clear. They were keeping the baby.
A suffocating weight pressed down on my chest. I threw open the balcony doors, gasping for air, my heart feeling like it was about to seize. The cold wind bit at my skin, slowly bringing me back to my senses. I took screenshots of the entire chat history, then quietly left the group.
I was still sitting in a corner of the balcony, lost in a daze, when Chadwick came homeuncharacteristically early.
He pulled me up from the floor and shut the window. "It's the middle of winter. Are you trying to get sick, sitting on the cold ground with the window wide open?"
I stared at him. He was fussing over my clothes, his expression one of concern, but he felt like a stranger. Different from before.
Was it guilt? Did he actually feel a shred of remorse for what hed done?
A wave of revulsion washed over me. I sidestepped, moving away from his touch.
"Don't touch me."
He froze, then finally met my eyes. His gaze was dismissive, as if I were the one being unreasonable. "This is about the group chat, isn't it?" he said, his tone light.
"Maggie, didn't we agree before we got married? This was just to make our parents happy."
"They're satisfied with how things are. I'm satisfied. What more do you want?"
My marriage to Chadwick was a transaction, born of necessity, not love.
The Guan and Fang families were allies, friends for generations. I had spent my teenage years studying abroad while Chadwick stayed here. We barely knew each other, our connection a pale shadow of our parents'.
When I returned, our families orchestrated a campaign to force us together. There were tears, threats, and dramatic pronouncements. "The two of you together is the perfect match."
"We've paved this golden road for you, and you refuse to walk it."
"And that boyfriend you've been seeing? I will never, ever approve of him. Not unless your father and I are dead."
For a time, their entire existence revolved around us. They confiscated our phones and credit cards, stationed security outside our doors, and did nothing but watch us.
I had no choice but to break up with my boyfriend and submit to their will.
Right before we signed the papers, Chadwick told me coldly, "We're soldiers in the same war. Just play the part for them. Don't take any of it seriously."
I knew he was still in love with Mia. I just never imagined he would be so blatant in his betrayal.
Or that he would feed me birth control pills for three years to make sure I never conceived his child.
It may have been a sham from the start, but five years is a long time. It would be a lie to say I wasn't hurt.
And it would be a lie to say I wasn't disgusted.
"So," I asked him, my voice flat, "you want to keep this child?"
Even as I asked, I knew the answer. Mia would never have accepted those gifts without Chadwicks permission. She wasn't one to set a trap for herself.
Chadwick clenched his jaw. "Maggie, I want a child."
I couldn't stop myself. I slapped him across the face.
The absurdity of it all hit me at once. Laughter and tears erupted from me in a hysterical torrent.
I stormed into the bedroom. The lab report from the pharmacy was lying on the desk, right next to the diagnostic report from my doctor. I snatched them up and threw them at his face.
"Chadwick, read it yourself."
"The 'folic acid' you've been giving me it's birth control, isn't it?"
A flicker of panic crossed his face. He fumbled with the papers, his eyes darting between them. His voice trembled when he spoke. "Maggie..."
"You fed me birth control for three years, and now you have the nerve to tell me you want a child?"
"If you were so desperate to have a baby with Mia, you could have just told me. I would have helped you hide it from our parents."
"But instead, you disguised poison as medicine and tricked me into taking it."
"I can accept anything, Chadwick. But I cannot accept you hurting me."
Looking back on our five years of marriage, it all felt surreal. Most of the time, we were polite strangers coexisting. But there were moments moments of intense connection.
Sometimes, when he drank, he would melt against me, his voice thick with alcohol, whispering, "Wife are you happy? I'm so happy." Then he would pull me into a bone-crushing hug.
Id get up to make him soup to sober him up, but hed pull me back down. "Nothing sobers me up like having you here," hed slur. "Just stay with me."
At first, I wondered if he was mistaking me for someone else. But over time, I grew to accept it, to willingly breathe in the cloying scent of alcohol on his breath.
He would surprise me with small romantic gestures. On holidays, he charmed both sets of parents flawlessly. He'd often stand in my family's living room with an arm around my waist and say, "Don't worry, Mom, Dad. Maggie is wonderful. Marrying her was the best decision I ever made."
Even though a part of me always knew it was an act, in those moments, I would get the dizzying feeling that fate really had bound us together for life. If not as lovers, then as family.
How could he be so cruel? How could he watch me take those pills for three years and say nothing? If Chloe hadn't noticed, I would still be taking them.
The reports trembled in his hands, his gaze distant. The words sounded like they were clawed from his throat. "I was afraid you'd be upset."
"You won't have to take them anymore."
Two short sentences. No apology. No concern. Just the cowardly evasion of a man caught in the act.
I scoffed. Was he afraid I'd be upset, or was he afraid that if he told the truth, he wouldn't get what he wanted? His selfishness and hypocrisy were suffocating. I felt sick.
"You make it sound so simple, Chadwick. Do you have any idea how much I suffered? The sleepless nights I spent, convinced something was wrong with my body?"
I gently took the doctor's report from his hand and pointed to a line on the page.
"The doctor said I've taken so much birth control that my hormones are a wreck. It's very likely I'll be infertile."
"You were so focused on having a child with the woman you love. Did it ever occur to you that I deserved the right to be a mother, too?"
"Well, you must be satisfied now. You don't have to drug me anymore. I can't get pregnant anyway."
My voice broke, and the tears came faster now, my body shaking with uncontrollable sobs.
"But there's no 'us' anymore. Chadwick, I hate you."
After the lab results came back, I had immediately made an appointment to get myself checked out. The truth was stark and unavoidable. I hadn't escaped the damage. The moment the doctor told me I would have trouble conceiving, a deep, cold hatred for Chadwick took root in my heart.
Now, that hatred was in full bloom.
I would never forgive him.
I went into the bedroom and locked the door. On my laptop, the screen glowed.
Another message from Leo.
He had been waiting for me, all this time, on the other side of the world.
Ever since we were forced apart, he had sent me an email every single week. Today's had arrived right on schedule. I hastily wiped the tears from my face and forced myself to focus.
Attached was a blurry photo of a black hole.
Observed another collapsing star today. How have you been, Maggie? I miss you.
When I retire, to keep myself from becoming a sad black hole, I swear I'll come back and spend the rest of my days with you.
But that's so far away. Missing you is breaking my heart.
Leo grew up in the States, and his humor had a dry, Western edge to it. Over the past five years, his emails had filled my entire inbox, a mountain of correspondence. The photos he sent, the words of love he wroteI saved them all in a separate folder, terrified they might one day disappear.
But I had never once replied. It had been a one-man show for five long years. Unlike Chadwick, I knew my place. I was a married woman, bound by duty and honor. I always believed that with time, Leo would move on. But he never did.
I sat there, scrolling through his old messages, the memories flooding back. For a second, two versions of me were at war inside my head.
My phone pinged. A transfer notification from Chadwick. Ten million dollars. The message read:
I was wrong. This is for you, as compensation.
When I realized that ten million dollars couldn't even begin to touch the hatred I felt, I knew. For the rest of my life, I had to live for myself.
The decision was made. A thrill of excitement shot through me.
I opened my email and replied to Leo. It's not far away. Give me one month. I'll go with you.
After our fight, Chadwick and I had unspokenly started sleeping in separate rooms. I took the master bedroom, he took the guest room.
Often, when I got up in the middle of the night, I would see the door to his room open, the bed empty.
He was probably spending the night at Mia's.
But it no longer mattered where he spent his nights.
I began to pack my things, shipping them out in small batches. Leo would receive them on the other end.
One day, Chadwick brought home a gift. It was an ornate, vintage-style tiara I had admired in a shop window for ages. He also opened a bottle of his finest red wine and cooked an entire dinner for me.
"Maggie," he began, "Grandpa's birthday is in a few days. Can we call a truce until then?"
It was about keeping up appearances for the families again. We were well-practiced actors at these grand occasions.
"Fine," I agreed.
Ever since my grandfather-in-law turned seventy, his birthday had been a massive affair. We went to one of the city's most exclusive restaurants, which had been booked out entirely for the event. My family, Chadwick's family, and a sea of business partners and friends filled the space.
Before we went in, Chadwick held out his hand. As usual, I placed mine in his. But this time, he pried my fingers apart and laced his through mine, his grip firm. I tried to pull away, but he only squeezed tighter, the pressure making my knuckles ache. When I finally stopped struggling, he gave me a satisfied smile and led me into the restaurant.
Mia was there, of course.
She was bustling about, helping the Fang family with arrangements.
The smile vanished from Chadwick's face, replaced by a flicker of anxiety.
During dinner, the inevitable topic came up: babies. My mother and my mother-in-law began their tag-team interrogation.
"Are you two lying to us? You've been married for five years and trying for three. Why is there still no news?"
"Maybe you two should get checked out by a doctor."
"Yes, a check-up is a must. I'll schedule it for them tomorrow. I want to know what's really going on."
My smile felt frozen on my face. The thought of what Chadwick had done brought a fresh wave of tears to my eyes. I looked down, quickly flicking one away with my pinky finger.

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "316254" to read the entire book.