Their Secret Child, My Sterile Husband Chapter 02
Chapter 2 “How Could You Be Pregnant?”
Jayden went quiet for a long moment, as if calculating which version of the truth would serve him best. Then his voice turned firm, almost cold. “Enough. I know whether this child is mine.” The certainty in his tone felt less like reassurance and more like a verdict.
I forced myself not to break down and stumbled away, their laughter looping mercilessly in my head. With every step down the corridor, something inside me dimmed, as though my love for him were a candle running out of air. By the time I reached the lobby, the flame was barely there at all. All that remained was smoke and the bitter scent of something burned beyond repair.
At the glass front doors, I saw a little girl in an exquisite lace-trimmed dress. Around her neck hung a heavy gold chain, and threaded onto it was the Richardson family’s antique signet ring-engraved with the crest that had been passed down through generations of firstborn sons. My heart dropped violently into my stomach. She was Jayden’s daughter…. and my sister Ariella’s child.
No wonder he had let me leave so easily. He had been afraid I would see them together, afraid the fragile lie would crack too soon. The girl looked up at me with eyes too sharp for her age. “Ma’am, please move. Youre in my way.”
I stepped aside at once, the words lodging in my throat. As she brushed past me, she muttered under her breath, “How does Dad’s company still hire people like this? Dressed like that, filthy.” Her voice was small but cruel, carrying an arrogance that had clearly been taught.
Watching her walk toward the elevators, I felt something settle inside me-not rage, not grief, but a chilling clarity. This sham of a marriage needed a clean, final ending. I would not stay and compete with my own sister for scraps of affection. I would not raise a child in the shadow of their secret.
On the drive back to the Richardson villa, I called Edward Richardson, Jayden’s father. My voice was steady when I asked for a divorce. My reason was simple and perfectly acceptable: three years of marriage, and I still hadn’t given the family an heir.
The Richardson family had only one son in each generation. Someone had to inherit the empire. After a long silence, he sighed heavily.
“Rebecca, you once saved my life. I have never forgotten that kindness,” he said slowly. “But the family cannot lose its bloodline. I cannot silence the gossip forever. If this is your decision… then take care of yourself.”
Hearing his agreement made my lungs expand for the first time in days. It was strangely easier to face an official end than to endure a quiet betrayal. The paperwork would take three days to finalize. Three days to untangle three years.
Three years ago, I had given up my oppotunity for doing research to marry Jayden. I had chosen love over ambition without hesitation. Now I had to reapply, rebuild, and reclaim the future I had abandoned. Until then, all I had to do was survive.
He didn’t come home for two days.
His assistant claimed there was an urgent crisis at the company that only Jayden could handle. I nodded calmly, said nothing, and walked out of the house before the silence swallowed me whole.
My hand wouldn’t stop drifting to my lower belly, fingertips brushing over it again and again as if I could
feel the fragile life growing there. This tiny heartbeat had once carried all my hope, all the happiness I’ thought we were building together. Now it felt like a cruel reminder of a promise that had never been real The tears fell anyway-slow at first, then heavy, each one landing like the quiet collapse of a dream
While he was gone, I scheduled an appointment.
I sat alone on a hospital bench, head bowed over the ultrasound image. In the swirling black-and-white haze. I touched the tiny, peanut-sized ring the doctor had pointed out. That faint flicker was my child.
How could I bring you into this cold, twisted world? How could I ask you to fight for love that was never meant for us?
Just before I was called in, a video notification popped up on my phone. My breath stalled as the screenlit up. In the clip, Jayden looked unrecognizable-wild, undone, consumed in a way I had never seen in three/ years of marriage.
With me, he had always been controlled, distant, measured-even in the most intimate moments. I had once mistaken that restraint for maturity. Now I understood it had simply been absence.
I didn’t realize I was shaking until a nurse gently reminded me it was my turn. My fingers trembled around the phone, tears blurring the screen. I wiped my face quickly and stood up.
“I’m ready,” I said. “Let’s begin.”
After the procedure, the world felt muffled, as if wrapped in cotton. My body was light and hollow at the same time. As I walked down the hospital corridor, I ran into the last person I expected to see.
Jayden.
Confusion flickered across his face the moment he saw me. He instinctively stepped toward me, but Ariella hooked her arm tightly around his, her grip possessive and deliberate. The movement pulled him back into place.
“Rebecca, Ariella isn’t feeling well,” he said quickly. “I brought her to get checked. What are you doing here?”
My gaze fell on the medical form Ariella was holding, angled just enough for me to read it: abrasion from excessive intercourse. The words sliced through me like glass. I didn’t need imagination to fill in the blanks; I had already seen enough.
I met her smug eyes and swallowed the truth I had almost spoken. If I told him now, what would it change? Nothing except giving him another chance to lie.
“I’m here for a prenatal checkup,” I said calmly.
“What?” Ariella shrieked, her composure cracking. “How could you be pregnant? That child-”
Jayden squeezed her hand sharply, a warning flashing in his eyes. He turned back to me, forcing steadiness into his voice. “Rebecca, what did the doctor say? Is everything okay?”
Before I could answer, a childish voice rang out from the room next door.
“Dad! Mom! What are you doing? I’ve been waiting forever. Come put the medicine on!”
Panic flashed openly across Jayden’s face.
“She’s never had a father,” he said quickly. “She was bullied before, and I helped her a few times, so she calls me Dad. I just let it slide. Don’t overthink it.”
I watched him scramble, watched the cracks spiderweb across his careful composure. On the brink of exposure, he looked no different from any ordinary liar caught mid-deception. And for the first time. instead of heartbreak-
I felt nothing at all.
Jayden went quiet for a long moment, as if calculating which version of the truth would serve him best. Then his voice turned firm, almost cold. “Enough. I know whether this child is mine.” The certainty in his tone felt less like reassurance and more like a verdict.
I forced myself not to break down and stumbled away, their laughter looping mercilessly in my head. With every step down the corridor, something inside me dimmed, as though my love for him were a candle running out of air. By the time I reached the lobby, the flame was barely there at all. All that remained was smoke and the bitter scent of something burned beyond repair.
At the glass front doors, I saw a little girl in an exquisite lace-trimmed dress. Around her neck hung a heavy gold chain, and threaded onto it was the Richardson family’s antique signet ring-engraved with the crest that had been passed down through generations of firstborn sons. My heart dropped violently into my stomach. She was Jayden’s daughter…. and my sister Ariella’s child.
No wonder he had let me leave so easily. He had been afraid I would see them together, afraid the fragile lie would crack too soon. The girl looked up at me with eyes too sharp for her age. “Ma’am, please move. Youre in my way.”
I stepped aside at once, the words lodging in my throat. As she brushed past me, she muttered under her breath, “How does Dad’s company still hire people like this? Dressed like that, filthy.” Her voice was small but cruel, carrying an arrogance that had clearly been taught.
Watching her walk toward the elevators, I felt something settle inside me-not rage, not grief, but a chilling clarity. This sham of a marriage needed a clean, final ending. I would not stay and compete with my own sister for scraps of affection. I would not raise a child in the shadow of their secret.
On the drive back to the Richardson villa, I called Edward Richardson, Jayden’s father. My voice was steady when I asked for a divorce. My reason was simple and perfectly acceptable: three years of marriage, and I still hadn’t given the family an heir.
The Richardson family had only one son in each generation. Someone had to inherit the empire. After a long silence, he sighed heavily.
“Rebecca, you once saved my life. I have never forgotten that kindness,” he said slowly. “But the family cannot lose its bloodline. I cannot silence the gossip forever. If this is your decision… then take care of yourself.”
Hearing his agreement made my lungs expand for the first time in days. It was strangely easier to face an official end than to endure a quiet betrayal. The paperwork would take three days to finalize. Three days to untangle three years.
Three years ago, I had given up my oppotunity for doing research to marry Jayden. I had chosen love over ambition without hesitation. Now I had to reapply, rebuild, and reclaim the future I had abandoned. Until then, all I had to do was survive.
He didn’t come home for two days.
His assistant claimed there was an urgent crisis at the company that only Jayden could handle. I nodded calmly, said nothing, and walked out of the house before the silence swallowed me whole.
My hand wouldn’t stop drifting to my lower belly, fingertips brushing over it again and again as if I could
feel the fragile life growing there. This tiny heartbeat had once carried all my hope, all the happiness I’ thought we were building together. Now it felt like a cruel reminder of a promise that had never been real The tears fell anyway-slow at first, then heavy, each one landing like the quiet collapse of a dream
While he was gone, I scheduled an appointment.
I sat alone on a hospital bench, head bowed over the ultrasound image. In the swirling black-and-white haze. I touched the tiny, peanut-sized ring the doctor had pointed out. That faint flicker was my child.
How could I bring you into this cold, twisted world? How could I ask you to fight for love that was never meant for us?
Just before I was called in, a video notification popped up on my phone. My breath stalled as the screenlit up. In the clip, Jayden looked unrecognizable-wild, undone, consumed in a way I had never seen in three/ years of marriage.
With me, he had always been controlled, distant, measured-even in the most intimate moments. I had once mistaken that restraint for maturity. Now I understood it had simply been absence.
I didn’t realize I was shaking until a nurse gently reminded me it was my turn. My fingers trembled around the phone, tears blurring the screen. I wiped my face quickly and stood up.
“I’m ready,” I said. “Let’s begin.”
After the procedure, the world felt muffled, as if wrapped in cotton. My body was light and hollow at the same time. As I walked down the hospital corridor, I ran into the last person I expected to see.
Jayden.
Confusion flickered across his face the moment he saw me. He instinctively stepped toward me, but Ariella hooked her arm tightly around his, her grip possessive and deliberate. The movement pulled him back into place.
“Rebecca, Ariella isn’t feeling well,” he said quickly. “I brought her to get checked. What are you doing here?”
My gaze fell on the medical form Ariella was holding, angled just enough for me to read it: abrasion from excessive intercourse. The words sliced through me like glass. I didn’t need imagination to fill in the blanks; I had already seen enough.
I met her smug eyes and swallowed the truth I had almost spoken. If I told him now, what would it change? Nothing except giving him another chance to lie.
“I’m here for a prenatal checkup,” I said calmly.
“What?” Ariella shrieked, her composure cracking. “How could you be pregnant? That child-”
Jayden squeezed her hand sharply, a warning flashing in his eyes. He turned back to me, forcing steadiness into his voice. “Rebecca, what did the doctor say? Is everything okay?”
Before I could answer, a childish voice rang out from the room next door.
“Dad! Mom! What are you doing? I’ve been waiting forever. Come put the medicine on!”
Panic flashed openly across Jayden’s face.
“She’s never had a father,” he said quickly. “She was bullied before, and I helped her a few times, so she calls me Dad. I just let it slide. Don’t overthink it.”
I watched him scramble, watched the cracks spiderweb across his careful composure. On the brink of exposure, he looked no different from any ordinary liar caught mid-deception. And for the first time. instead of heartbreak-
I felt nothing at all.
