His Dying Muse, My Quiet Exit

On the day my husbands terminally ill first love gave birth to his child, my parents-in-law hired ten bodyguards to stand guard outside the delivery room. They were terrified I would show up and make a scene.

But I never showed up. Not even after the baby was born.

Inside the room, my mother-in-law, Martha, held the womans hand, her voice filled with emotion.

"Chloe, sweetheart, dont worry. As long as Robert and I are here, Elena won't dare to hurt you or the baby!"

My husband, Julian, looked at his weeping "white moonlight" with pure heartache, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Rest easy, Chloe. My dad has men blocking the hospital entrance. If Elena tries to cause trouble, well have her thrown out!"

Only when the hours ticked by and I still hadn't appeared did Julian finally let out a sigh of relief.

He honestly couldn't understand me. He was just trying to fulfill his dying first love's final wish to be a mother. Why did I have to be so difficult and dramatic about it?

Looking at the crying newborn in the nurse's arms, a relieved smile spread across Julian's face.

He figured if I came to apologize to Chloe tomorrow, he would let our past arguments slide. He might even graciously allow me to raise the child as my own.

But he had no idea that I had just submitted my final deployment papers to Doctors Without Borders.

In one week, I would deauthorize my local medical practice license, pack my bags, and disappear into a warzone. We would never see each other again, in this life or the next.

On the day Julian helped Chloe out of the luxury postpartum recovery suite, I had just finished handing over my remaining patients at the hospital.

As I approached the door of our shared apartment, the sound of laughter and joy drifted out.

"Oh, look at him! He has Julian's exact brow. Chloe, darling, you are the absolute savior of the Miller family!"

Martha was cooing at the baby in her arms, while Julian walked out of the kitchen holding a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup.

"You worked so hard, Chloe. I made this soup myself to help you recover. Youre still so weak; you need to nourish your body."

He sat on the edge of the bed, gently blowing on the soup before feeding her. They looked like a picture-perfect, loving family.

My father-in-law, Robert, was shaking a rattle to entertain the baby, his face stretched in a massive grin.

"This little guy is just as lovely as his mother. Thank God he didn't inherit Elenas boring, robotic personality. Having a workaholic doctor for a mother would have been a nightmare."

My hand froze on the doorknob.

I remembered the first time I met Robert. He had proudly patted my shoulder, telling everyone how boasting about a doctor daughter-in-law made him feel like a king.

Now, he was claiming a doctor didn't deserve to have a family.

I had only been away on a one-year medical exchange program, and already, this house had no room left for me.

I lowered my head, a bitter laugh escaping my lips.

Julian and I had been married for three years. We used to have a baby on the way, too.

But due to a terrible accident, I lost the pregnancy and suffered severe uterine damage. I was declared permanently barren.

When the doctor delivered the news, I cried until I choked. Julian had held me tight, swearing he would never want anyone else to bear his children. For my sake, he willingly chose to be child-free.

But now, he had broken his vow. He had shattered his own principles just to satisfy his first love's dying wish.

I still remembered the day I left for my overseas training. He had cried like a child, holding me so tightly at the gate that he almost missed his flight.

Throughout the year, we had called each other every single day on WhatsApp, sharing every detail of our lives. My colleagues used to tease me that after three years of marriage, we were still acting like teenagers in the honeymoon phase.

But a month ago, when I finally got a short leave to surprise himenduring a grueling nine-hour flight without a single complaintI walked into our neighborhood only to see Julian holding hands with Chloe.

And Chloe was heavily pregnant.

"Elena? When did you get back? Why are you just standing at the door?"

Chloe's soft voice snapped me back to reality. The other three people in the room instantly whipped their heads toward the entryway.

When Martha saw the resignation letter in my hand, her face immediately hardened into a scowl.

"Why on earth did I ever let Julian marry a freeloading curse like you? Resigning? Are you planning to sit on your lazy butt and let my son support you?"

Robert chimed in with equal disgust.

"You can't even keep a stable, prestigious job. What are you good for? If we knew you were this useless, we would have never let you cross our threshold!"

"Chloe's body is fragile right now, and raising a baby costs a fortune. Instead of helping Julian ease the financial burden, you're just adding stress. What kind of wife does that?"

I looked at them, finding the whole situation incredibly dark and hilarious.

"What about Julian, then? He knocked up another woman while his wife was away saving lives. What kind of husband does that?"

"Elena, that's enough! I did this for us!"

Julian stood up, his brow furrowed, his eyes turning ice-cold as he glared at me.

"You can't have kids. So I let Chloe have one for you. I was trying to give you the chance to be a mother without the physical pain. Why can't you appreciate my good intentions?"

"This was a win-win! Chloe gets to fulfill her lifelong dream before she passes away, and you get to be a mother. I don't get why you're being so incredibly bitter!"

"If Chloe hadn't pulled me out of that car wreck two years ago, I'd be dead! Both of her parents are gone, and she has late-stage cancer. In a few months, she won't even be in this world anymore."

"As a woman, shouldn't you have some empathy for her? Why are you always attacking her? Or do you honestly think I'm some cheap, cheating bastard?"

Chloe looked at Julian with tearful, adoring eyes, then turned her pitiful gaze to me.

"Elena, please don't fight. I know this is all my fault. I promise I will disappear from your lives as soon as I can, but please don't let me ruin your marriage."

Looking at the four of them standing united against me, I realized something.

They were the real family. I was just the outsider.

Julian spoke up again, his voice dropping into a threatening tone.

"Elena, my patience has limits. If you dare to target Chloe again, don't blame me for what happens next!"

"If you want to keep this marriage, fall in line. At the babys welcome party next week, Ill publicly introduce you as his mother in front of all our family and friends."

Next week?

I glanced at the sleeping infant in the stroller. Next week, I would be boarding a flight to the Middle East.

But before I left, I didn't mind giving them a little farewell gift they would never forget.

I nodded slowly, my face completely expressionless.

"Fine."

Without waiting for their reaction, I turned around, went into the bedroom, and closed the door to pack my things.

Since I had decided to leave for good, I didn't want to leave a single trace of my existence in this apartment.

The joyful laughter from the living room drifted through the door. My hands paused as I folded a sweater.

"Chloe, let's name him Leo Chloe Miller. That way, even if he has to call someone else 'mom' in the future, he'll never forget his real mother."

Even without looking, I could picture Julian's deeply emotional face as he said those words.

My heart had already been torn to shreds by him anyway. I felt nothing.

My mind drifted back to last month when I had rushed home, carrying souvenirs I had carefully picked out for Julian.

But at the entrance of our building, I ran into them returning from their evening walk, hand-in-hand.

Unlike Julian, who looked utterly terrified, Chloe had looked at me with smug confusion, questioning if I had gotten the wrong apartment.

"Are you lost? This is my home."

I hadn't said a word. My eyes were glued to her swollen belly.

I had been away for ten months. My husband had moved his first love into our bed, and she was pregnant. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they had been doing.

Julian had quickly scrambled to step between us, nervously stammering, "Chloe, this is... Elena. My wife."

Even after knowing who I was, Chloe didn't back down. Instead, she put on the air of the lady of the house, condescendingly inviting me in for tea.

As we brushed past each other, she whispered in a voice only I could hear:

"I heard you've been married to Julian for three years? A substitute is just a substitute, babe. You can't compare to the real deal."

"Now that Im back, it's time for you to pack up and get out."

The rage had consumed me. I couldn't hold back. I swung my arm and slapped her across the face with all the resentment, longing, and betrayal of the last ten months.

The neighbors heard the commotion and ended up calling the cops.

Because it was a domestic dispute, the police didn't press charges and told us to settle it privately at home.

The moment we got back, my in-laws arrived and immediately unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse on me.

They screamed that I had humiliated the family in front of the entire neighborhood. They called me an uneducated brute for hitting a pregnant woman, swearing they would ruin me if anything happened to the baby.

It turned out they had known about the affair the entire time. They had fully supported it.

In just one year, Chloe had become their dream daughter-in-law. I was the only one kept in the dark.

I tasted copper in my mouth from biting my lip so hard.

Julian had walked over, his eyes red, trying to grab my hand to play the peacemaker.

"Elena, I never wanted to betray you. But Chloe's health is failing. The doctors said she has six months at most. Her only wish was to have a child of her own."

"She saved my life. I couldn't let her die with such a massive regret..."

"I wanted to tell you, but you were so far away, and I didn't want to ruin your studies. I figured we could talk about it when you returned."

"If you're willing, we can raise this baby together, okay?"

Something so monstrous sounded so incredibly casual coming from his mouth.

I packed the last item into my suitcase. Just then, Martha pushed the door open.

Seeing the suitcase at my feet, she smirked, looking pleased.

"Well, at least you have some self-awareness. Since you weren't here, I let Chloe sleep in your bedroom. The study has been turned into a nursery. You can sleep on the couch tonight. If you don't like it, go pay for a hotel."

I was too exhausted to fight or look for a hotel, so I just nodded and decided to crash on the sofa.

But in the middle of the night, the baby's crying kept echoing from the master bedroom.

I tossed and turned, about to put in my earplugs, when I heard Chloe complaining.

"Julian, make the baby stop. He's keeping me awake."

Then came Julian's soft, doting laugh.

"You're my only baby, Chloe. I only care about keeping you happy. Let the kid cry a bit; it's good for his lungs."

I pulled the blanket over my head, trying desperately to block out their happy domestic sounds.

But the moment I closed my eyes, I remembered the way Julian looked when he first confessed his love to me. He had been so bright, so full of life, with eyes that saw only me.

But that Julian was dead.

I drifted through a sleepless night and left the apartment with my suitcase at dawn.

I went straight to the government office to deauthorize my domestic registry and finalize my international travel permits.

Because my deployment with the NGO was pre-approved, the paperwork went through incredibly fast. The clerk didn't ask many questions.

Right before I left, she handed me a small handful of fruit candies with a warm smile.

"Safe travels, doctor. Thank you for your service."

I smiled back, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. I booked a cheap hotel nearby to store my luggage.

After dropping my bags, I went out to find something to eat, only to run straight into Julian, Chloe, and his parents.

Chloe was wearing a brand-new Patek Philippe bracelet, looking radiant and smug. She didn't look like someone on her deathbed at all.

"Elena! I told Julian that was you, but he insisted you wouldn't be around here~"

Her eyes locked onto the flyer in my hand, and her smile widened.

"Oh... are you looking for a job? But why on earth are you looking at waitress gigs?"

"Even if you're mad at Julian, you shouldn't degrade yourself like this..."

I stayed silent. The flyer had just been shoved into my hand by a young girl shivering in the cold. I had accepted it out of pity.

Seeing my silence, Chloes eyes flashed with triumphant glee.

"You should have told us you needed work! I could have helped you find something decent."

"We're family, after all. If you have a good job, Julian and the baby will have someone to rely on after I'm gone. It would give me peace of mind."

My silence was taken as a confession of defeat.

Julians puzzled expression instantly hardened into pure disgust.

His brows knit together, his lips curling into a sneer of utter contempt.

"Why bother helping her? She chose to throw away a perfectly good residency at the hospital. If she ends up starving on the streets, she deserves it."

"Elena, I can't believe youd resort to playing the victim just to make me feel guilty about the baby. You are pathetic!"

I looked at his familiar face, now feeling absolutely nothing but detachment.

I remembered when we first got married. I had faced some heavy political drama at the hospital and wanted to quit medicine altogether.

Julian had held me in his arms, stroking my hair, whispering:

"We're a team, babe. Whatever you decide, Im with you."

"Who cares about the hospital? I'll support you forever."

Yet here he was, standing by and letting another woman humiliate me.

He had forgotten every promise he ever made. He had forgotten the love we once shared.

Even Robert and Martha shook their heads in disgust.

"Elena, youre just a barren woman who can't even carry the Miller family legacy, and you're never home. How could you ever compete with Chloe?"

"It's no wonder Julian had to look elsewhere. You only have your own lack of charm to blame!"

They spoke louder and louder, drawing stares from the pedestrians passing by.

My hands clenched into tight fists, my nails digging into my palms.

Before I could speak, Chloe stepped forward with a sweet smile.

"Were actually on our way to get family portraits taken. Elena, why don't you join us? After all, you'll be the one taking care of Julian and the baby in the future."

I gave her a flat look, refusing to say a word.

Julian scoffed, wrapping his arm protectively around Chloes shoulders.

"Chloe, you're too sweet for your own good, but some people just don't appreciate kindness."

"Elena, drop the attitude. Nobodys begging you to come. Frankly, youd just ruin the aesthetic of our family photos anyway."

With that, he pulled Chloe away toward the photo studio.

"We'll be off then! Good luck with the job hunt, Elena~" Chloe waved, throwing one last condescending smirk over her shoulder.

Watching them walk away, my heart remained entirely still.

To any passerby, they looked like a perfect, happy family.

If this was the life Julian wanted, I was more than happy to let him have it.

Three days before my scheduled departure, I received a text on WhatsApp from Director Jenkins.

He told me that the specialist I had asked him to contact was in the city for a medical forum, and he could squeeze in an appointment to look at Martha's chronic asthma.

Martha had suffered from severe asthma for years. Though it had been managed, she still had violent flare-ups that had sent her to the ER in the past.

Even while I was busy with my intensive training program abroad, I had spent my free time consulting colleagues and gathering case files to find a cure for her.

Despite everything, we had been family for three years. I wanted to do this one last thing so I could leave with a clean conscience, owing them nothing.

But when I told Martha I wanted to take her to the clinic, her face twisted in anger.

"Why the hell would I go to the hospital? Just because I scolded you, you're trying to curse me with a terminal illness?"

"Elena, how can you be so malicious? My latest check-up said I'm perfectly healthy!"

"This is a world-renowned asthma specialist who rarely takes appointments. You should really get a scan, just to be safe"

Before I could finish, Martha snatched her mug off the table and threw it at me.

"Cut the crap! As if an unemployed loser like you could book a world-class specialist! Youre nothing but a liar. When Chloe stayed up all night to get me a specialist ticket, where were you?"

She compared me to Chloe at every turn. Her attitude made it clear.

No matter what I did, I was wrong. No matter how hard I tried, I would never measure up to Chloe.

I let out a soft, hollow laugh.

"If you don't want to go, then don't."

I was stupid for caring in the first place.

Soon, the day of the baby's one-month celebration arrived.

I showed up late. The banquet hall was packed with distant relatives and acquaintances whose names I couldn't even remember.

The scale of this party was grander than my wedding with Julian.

Right at the entrance, there was a massive, blown-up portrait of their "perfect family." Julian, Chloe, the baby, and his parents.

I was completely erased.

The moment the relatives saw me, they began whispering and pointing. I didn't need to hear them to know what they were saying.

My aunt grabbed my arm, her face tight with fake curiosity.

"Elena, dear! When did you get back? Julian never mentioned it. And when did you guys have a baby?"

"I heard you finished your advanced fellowship. Are you getting promoted to Chief of Surgery at the hospital soon? Your future looks so bright!"

I didn't explain. I just gave her a polite nod.

But I could see the pity and mockery in her eyes. After all, I wasn't in the family portrait.

And the woman standing next to Julian, greeting guests as the hostess, wasn't me either.

A nosey cousin pointed to Chloe, who was currently feeding Julian a piece of cake.

"Elena, who is that woman?"

I smiled faintly.

"Julian's new wife."

The surrounding relatives gasped, immediately crowding together to whisper the fresh gossip.

Since Julian's family didn't care about my dignity, why should I bother saving theirs?

Just then, Julian stepped up to the podium and took the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate my son's one-month milestone."

"Before this, I never imagined myself as a father. I didn't think I could handle the responsibility."

"But the moment I heard his first cry, I realized what it truly means to protect someone."

My aunt shouted from the crowd, "Let the baby's mother come up and speak! Where is she?"

The atmosphere in the hall instantly froze.

Everyones eyes darted back and forth between me and Chloe.

The elephant in the room was finally being dragged into the light. The guests were waiting to see who Julian would claim.

I locked eyes with Julian, then slowly walked up to the stage.

Before he could react, I smoothly took the microphone from his hand.

"What are you doing? Don't you dare make a scene, or I'll destroy you," he hissed under his breath, grabbing my wrist.

I pulled my arm back with a cold glare.

If he hadn't done anything shameful, why was he so terrified of me speaking?

I turned to the crowd, my voice calm and clear over the speakers.

"First of all, thank you all for coming today."

"Many of you were there when Julian and I swore our wedding vows. Ive carried your blessings with me for three years. But as you probably noticed from the portrait at the entrance, things have changed."

Julian's face went completely pale.

He lunged forward, trying to snatch the microphone back.

I stepped aside quickly and kept speaking.

"To be honest, I was shocked too. I spent a year saving lives abroad, only to return and find my husband living with another woman who was carrying his child."

"They even had the audacity to ask me to raise this child as my own to 'help me experience motherhood.' But Im afraid I have no interest in raising another woman's baby."

"Julian, I want a divorce."