His Donated Sperm Made Another Woman a Mother

The call from Ethan Brooks jolted me from sleep at two in the morning. His voice was hoarse and tense, edged with panic. "Aria, it's an emergency." I stiffened. "Aren't you supposed to be on a business trip? What's wrong?" A heavy pause followed. He was scrambling for words. "Iris Hale... she's eight months pregnant." My thoughts shattered. "The two of you—?" "No," he snapped, too quick. "Nothing like that ever happened between us." My relief was cut short as he continued, his voice strained. "The doctors just called," he said. "She fainted and listed me as her emergency contact. She's still in the ER." When I arrived, the physician had just stepped out. The situation turned out less critical than I had feared. "The baby is stable," the doctor said. "We suspect malnutrition caused the collapse." Ethan slumped against the wall, his voice choked. "She made a reckless choice." I turned to him. "What choice?" "She used my donated sperm." I spun around. "What?" "Remember that genetic research project I joined in Aurelia years ago? We all submitted samples. She... used mine." He swallowed hard. "She claims she is not after status or money. She just wanted to give me a child." "She knew about your infertility," I said slowly. "She knew how badly I wanted one." Her words hit me like a slap. My mind raced, caught between rage and absurdity. Our marriage's best-kept secret was a chasm we had never dared to name. And now, unbelievably, someone had torn open our marriage in this twisted, heart-wrenching way. In the hospital bed, Iris's eyelids fluttered open. She saw me first. She clawed her way upright, and her fingers dug into my arm. Her voice scratched like gravel but did not waver. "Mrs. Brooks, I never wanted to take him from you." "I know my place, but this baby deserves to live." "I love him, but you come first." "Just let me give him this one thing. Then I will disappear." "Please." I could not move. Her stare sucked the air from my lungs. Behind me, Ethan murmured heavily. "Aria, the baby is blameless. So is she." A bitter laugh escaped me. "Ethan, you waited eight whole months to tell me? You really know how to manipulate me." He stayed silent. I had always known that Iris was not like the others. She was the orphaned daughter of Ethan's beloved mentor, entrusted to his care at nineteen, and she had always lingered on the edges of our life together. All these years, he had not only covered her tuition and living expenses but had even put her up in an apartment just three stops away and often played chauffeur for her himself. Iris never bothered hiding her game, nor did she hide her little so-called coincidences. There were the late night SOS texts and the times she showed up at our door dressed like she was going clubbing, claiming that her pipes had burst. There was the way she conveniently fell ill whenever I traveled for work, needing his attention. Each time, she pushed the envelope further. But Ethan, God help me, never put his foot down. He would scowl and say that something did not feel right, but he never drew a hard line. "She is my teacher's only child, and she is all alone," he would say. "I cannot be cruel." He thought he was being honorable. What a joke. For a woman who had pined for him for years, the smallest c***k was all she needed to build castles in the air. I nodded. "That baby has nothing to do with me. Do whatever you want."