Their Secret Child, My Sterile Husband Chapter 07
Chapter 7 “Lily Is Not My Child”
The assistant’s voice droned on as she handed Jayden the phone, but he barely heard her. His eyes locked onto the screen.
The video showed a hospital corridor.
On a long bench sat Rebecca, alone, her hands trembling as she stared down at her phone. Tears streamed silently at first, then harder, her shoulders shaking as if something inside her were breaking apart piece by piece.
When a nurse approached her, Rebecca looked up with a face drained of all color. Panic flashed across her tear-streaked features, raw and helpless. In the end, she stood like someone walking to her own execution, hope hollowed out of her eyes, and followed the nurse into the operating room.
Jayden felt as if someone had slammed a fist straight through his chest.
That day.
He remembered it too clearly.
–
He and Ariella had gone too far, too recklessly. She had cried in pain afterward and insisted on going to the hospital. And there, in that same corridor, they had run into Rebecca.
He could still see the disbelief in her eyes. The devastation. The silent question.
He hadn’t cared.
He had walked away with Ariella without a second glance.
“Wonderful,” he muttered hoarsely. “Ariella… just wonderful.”
The assistant hesitated before placing another document in his hand. “Mr. Richardson… this one concerns
Miss Lee.”
Jayden pulled it free.
The words blurred at first-then sharpened.
A DNA report.
His expression darkened instantly, fury rising like a tidal wave.
The document was unmistakable.
Lily was not his biological child.
Years ago, after learning of his engagement to Rebecca, Ariella had secretly gone to a donor bank. With the help of a doctor, she had undergone artificial insemination. She had gotten pregnant deliberately.
Everything that followed-every tear, every plea, every claim-had been built on that lie.
“Mr. Richardson,” the assistant continued carefully, “Mrs. Richardson endured a lot these past years. Even if
you felt sorry for Miss Lee back then, bringing her into this house wasn’t the right move If you wanted to help her, you could have settled her somewhere else.”
Jayden didn’t interrupt.
“To have your child, Mrs. Richardson suffered in silence. You know how much she had gone through. And now she’s lost that child… For a mother, that kind of loss is devastating.”
Jayden closed his eyes and drew in a slow, painful breath…
He knew.
He had known Rebecca’s treatments were brutal. He had seen the bruises. He had heard her suppress her cries at night. And yet he had still brought Ariella back under this roof, convincing himself it was compassion.
He had believed that since Rebecca was finally pregnant and Ariella had once been through it, maybe she could offer guidance. He had thought he was balancing things fairly.
He had even promised more than once that the Richardson empire would one day belong to Lily.
He had underestimated Ariella.
A muffled sob snapped him out of his thoughts.
He turned.
Lily stood nearby, her small body trembling, bruises mottling her arms.
“Lily,” he said, kneeling quickly. “What happened? Why are you covered in bruises?”
She buried her face against his chest, voice cracking through tears. “Dad… I fell. It was an accident. Don’t be mad. Mom cried so much when she saw me like this. You should check on her…”
Jayden’s heart clenched.
The way the child was protecting her mother told him more than any confession could.
He gently pulled Lily back and looked into her wide, frightened eyes. She was hiding something. He could see it clearly.
Jayden stood slowly and walked inside.
“Jayden, thank God you’re back,” Ariella rushed toward him. “Lily took a bad fall. My heart is breaking-”
He looked at her as if she were a stranger.
“Why would you hurt a child?” he cut in coldly. “She’s innocent. What did she do to deserve this?”
Ariella froze. “Jayden… what are you saying? I don’t understand. She really fell. I would never-”
He flung the file straight at her face.
The papers exploded across the floor, photographs scattering everywhere-clear images documenting her
visits to the donor clinic, timestamps, signatures, records of the insemination procedure.
“Still pretending?” Jayden’s voice was ice. “You’ll do anything to get what you want. Sending that video to Rebecca wasn’t enough? Now you’re using a child too? How can you be this cruel?”
Ariella’s face drained of color.
Her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed.
“Jayden, listen to me. I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I swear I didn’t,” she sobbed. “I just love you too much. I was scared of losing you. I just wanted you to look at me more.”
Her hands trembled as she reached for him.
“I love you too much. I was just afraid of losing you. I swear I never meant to kill her-never meant to hurt your child. Please, Jayden… please forgive me. Please… forgive me…”
Jayden felt something inside him snap completely.
He didn’t want to hear another word.
He shoved her away.
Hard.
