His Donated Sperm Made Another Woman a Mother

Chapter 4

Less than thirty minutes later, the doorbell chimed.

Ethan barged in with his clothes rumpled and his face dust-streaked like he had raced across the city. "Aria, do not do anything reckless," he pleaded, breathless.

I did not turn around. I just slammed my phone onto the coffee table. "I am finally seeing things clearly."

He crossed the room and collapsed into the armchair opposite me, and the silence stretched between us like a live wire.

"She needs time to heal," he finally said. "We agreed on one month. Then I will pay her off to disappear abroad. The baby stays with us, and she will never come back."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

"Ethan, have you always convinced yourself that you are blameless?"

He went rigid like I had slapped him.

I leaned forward and spat each word like venom. "You knew she was scheming to take over this house. You knew she tricked you into getting her pregnant. Yet you strung her along, let her moon over you, and held her hand through the labor. And now you claim you will ship her away?"

"I messed up," he admitted and ran a hand through his hair. "But Aria, that baby is alive. We cannot just—"

"What about me?" My voice shattered, raw and jagged. "Did I cross your mind even once? Or have you forgotten why my body cannot carry a child? Am I not worth fighting for?"

His throat worked, but no words came out.

Tears blurred my vision as I gestured wildly. "Oh, she is too fragile and needs special care. Fine. Book her a suite at a luxury postpartum resort and hire a damn army of nannies. But no. The second she whimpered 'I only trust you,' you handed her our keys and tossed me into the street."

"Be honest. Do you actually want that child, or do you just want an excuse to keep playing hero for her?"

His silence was a knife twisting in my ribs.

Then his phone buzzed, as if on some twisted timing.

He eyed the screen with his jaw tight, but he caved and picked up.

"Ethan..." Iris's voice was a threadbare whisper, trembling like she would crumble any second. "I am so dizzy, and my stitches tore. Please, I need you."

Ethan's gaze flicked to me and then back to the phone, his internal war written across his face.

"Aria, I... she is still recovering from childbirth," he muttered as he stood up.

I stayed silent and watched his hurried exit, because her voice was a leash yanking him away.

The door snicked shut. I exhaled a laugh that tasted like ashes.

One whimper from Iris, and I was erased.