Their Secret Child, My Sterile Husband Chapter 05
Chapter 5 “No, Rebecca Is My Only Wife”
Jayden’s brows tightened, irritation flashing sharp and quick across his face. The tension that had been simmering inside him since that phone call flared hotter. He hated losing control, and this-Rebecca vanishing without a word-felt like exactly that.
Ariella reached out and gently tugged his arm. “Jayden, don’t stress,” she said softly. “Rebecca’s probably just upset and went out to cool off. She’ll be back soon. I’ve been pregnant before-pregnant women are emotional. Don’t let it get to you.”
Her tone was soothing, measured, almost reasonable.
Hearing that, the tight knot in Jayden’s chest loosened slightly. At first, he didn’t take Rebecca’s
disappearance too seriously. He assumed that once she had enough space, she would return on her own like she always had.
But one day passed. Then another.
Rebecca did not come back.
He told himself she might have gone to Edward’s old estate. The old man had always favored her-perhaps she went there to cry and complain. That thought irritated him more than it comforted him.
After several days, unease began creeping under his skin. The calm confidence he had been forcing into place started to crack. In the end, he decided to go to the estate himself, bring her home, and put an end to this ridiculous drama.
He drove there in a rush.
Striding into the study, he faced Edward directly. “Grandfather, where’s Rebecca? Is she here?”
Edward’s brows furrowed slightly. After a long pause, he reached to the tea table, picked up a folder, and handed it over without expression.
“She isn’t here,” he said quietly. “She’s gone. The divorce has been finalized.”
Jayden stared at the papers.
The moment he saw Rebecca’s signature-clear, decisive, unmistakable-his entire body went rigid.
“Divorce?” His voice sharpened. “How did I not know about this? What is going on?”
He looked up, disbelief flashing across his face. “Didn’t you always say she saved your life? That you valued her? How could you agree so easily?”
Edward let out a weary sigh. “I didn’t want this either. But haven’t you heard the gossip? Three years of marriage and not a single child. She came to me herself and said she couldn’t carry on the Richardson line. I had no choice.”
Jayden’s heart dropped violently.
But she had clearly been pregnant. She had even gone to the hospital for a prenatal checkup.
He had seen it with his own eyes. He had heard her say it. He had been absolutely certam that child was his
In his mind. Rebecca’s world had always revolved around him. Even when his friends whispered crude suspicions about her pregnancy, he never entertained them. He trusted her completely. He knew she would never betray him.
Then why had she told Edward she wasn’t pregnant?
He shut his eyes and forced himself to recall that day at the hospital-Rebecca’s pale face, her trembling hands pressed protectively over her abdomen, the way she had looked at him when she said, “Jayden. I didn’t.”
A restless unease began spreading through his chest, slow and suffocating. Every thought that surfaced seemed to push him toward the same terrifying conclusion. He had to find out the truth-no matter what t
was.
“Grandfather won’t interfere in your marriage anymore,” Edward continued tiredly. “All I want is a grandson. Marry whoever you want.”
“No.” Jayden’s voice cut through the room. “Rebecca is my only wife. I don’t agree to this divorce.”
His phone buzzed sharply in his hand.
A message from his assistant flashed across the screen.
“Mr. Richardson, we’ve confirmed something. Three days ago, Mrs. Richardson went to Devotion Point.”
The wind howled violently along the edge of the cliff.
Jayden drove like a madman, tires screaming against the pavement. Before the car had fully stopped, he was already out and running. Gravel crunched under his shoes as he rushed forward.
The assistant hurried after him. “Mr. Richardson! Someone saw Mrs. Richardson jump from here!”
The words barely registered.
Jayden reached the edge and looked down.
Endless empty air stretched beneath him. White clouds drifted lazily below, concealing whatever lay at the bottom. The vastness swallowed everything.
His knees gave out.
He collapsed at the brink.
He and Rebecca had once stood here together. She had laughed into the wind and said lightly, “If I die one day, scatter my ashes here.”
The memory struck him like lightning.
She knew.
Rebecca had found out everything.
And he had driven her here.
He could not begin to imagine what she must have felt in that final moment, standing alone at the edge before stepping forward. The thought hollowed him out from the inside.
For three days. Jayden refused to leave.
He watched the rescue team comb the cliffside relentlessly, eyes bloodshot, face drained of all color He did not eat. He did not sleep. He simply stared downward, as if willing her to reappear.
Three days passed.
Not a trace.
Ariella came to his side at last, gently taking his hand. “Jayden,” she whispered through tears, “what’s done is done. We have to look forward. We still have Lily. You can’t destroy yourself like this.”
Her fingers tightened around his. “If you can’t move on… then we’ll follow you.”
Jayden finally turned his gaze toward her.
His mind was chaos.
All this time, he had believed he loved Ariella deeply. The first time he met her at the Lee household, she had stood there timidly, glancing around cautiously, her eyes guarded and vulnerable. Something in that look had pierced straight through him.
