Three years into our long-distance relationship, I transferred to a hospital in Winona Harding's city without telling her.

What I never expected was that on my very first day, she'd walk in as my first patient.

And she wasn't alone. There was a man with her.

"Doctor, my wife's been having really bad morning sickness lately. Could you take a look and see what's going on?"

His hand rested on Winona's slightly rounded belly, his eyes full of concern.

When they noticed my hesitation, both of them glanced up with puzzled expressions.

I ducked my head and tugged my surgical mask as high as it would go, biting down hard on my lip. I forced my voice lower.

"How far along is the baby?"

"Three months."

Three months.

But just one month ago, Winona had been beaming with joy as we picked up our marriage certificate at the courthouse.

A cold laugh escaped me. I turned away from her and dialed the phone.

"Dad, take the marriage certificate I left in the safe and bring it to the courthouse. Have them verify whether it's real."

"If it's fake, freeze Winona Harding's bank accounts, terminate her position, and reclaim the riverside penthouse we gave her."

"If it's real, do the same."

……

After I hung up, I adjusted my mask one more time, making sure Winona wouldn't recognize me.

From their conversation, I picked up the man's name: Austin Henson.

A complete stranger. Winona had never once mentioned him to me.

I crushed the shock down deep and resumed my routine questions under their curious stares.

"Have you been keeping up with your prenatal checkups on schedule?"

Winona nodded, tilting her head toward Austin.

"Yes, every single one on time."

"For the first checkup, I even pushed back an out-of-town project and caught a red-eye flight back just to be there."

A strange, swelling pressure bloomed behind my ribs. My nose stung without warning.

Based on the timing of her pregnancy, that first prenatal checkup would have fallen the day after our wedding.

No wonder she'd changed out of her wedding dress before the reception was even over, frantically packing her bags.

"Christopher Simmons, something urgent came up at work. I need to catch the last flight back."

She'd grabbed my hand, guilt written across her face, her eyes reddening in front of me for the very first time.

"Once I get everything sorted out, I promise I'll take time off and we'll have a real honeymoon. A proper one."

I'd tried to stop her. One of my shoes flew off as I chased her, and still I couldn't catch up to her retreating figure.

A bride walking out in the middle of her own wedding. The guests were polite enough not to say anything, but the amusement in their eyes was impossible to miss.

That night's humiliation was something I never wanted to live through again.

I forced a stiff smile, my tone laced with sarcasm.

"Good to hear."

I flipped through the previous examination report one more time.

"Your last results showed mild anemia. Just to be safe, we should draw some blood and run another panel."

Winona's expression tightened at that, a flicker of unease creeping into her voice.

"Is it really necessary? Austin's a picky eater. He can't stand restaurant food."

"So lately I've been cooking every meal for him myself. I've even put on a few pounds. I shouldn't still be anemic, right?"

She nestled closer into Austin's arms, her eyes glistening, looking every bit the fragile, helpless thing.

Austin immediately took her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, then looked up at me.

"Sorry about that. Winona's afraid of needles, so blood draws always make her a little anxious."

Then he turned back to her, gently patting her back.

"But for your health, let's listen to the doctor and get it checked. It'll put both our minds at ease."

"And after the exam, I'm still counting on that homemade corn and rib soup of yours."

I dug my fingers into my palm, eyes locked on the computer screen in front of me.

Winona had always carried a fierce streak of individualism. For as long as I'd known her, she believed women shouldn't be chained to the kitchen.

The kitchen was her forbidden zone.

Once, when I was burning up with a fever and too weak to move, I asked her to mix me a packet of fever reducer. She refused without a second thought.

"I just got my nails done. You think I'm stepping foot in that grimy little room?"

My temperature spiked to a hundred and four that night. I drifted in and out of consciousness until the cleaning lady found me the next morning.

And yet this same woman—who had never so much as boiled water—had cast aside every one of those convictions for the man she loved.

Mid-thought, the color drained from Winona's face. She clapped a hand over her mouth and lurched to her feet.

Morning sickness again.

Austin was at her side in an instant, steadying her with one arm while his free hand dug into his pocket and produced a plastic bag. The motion was practiced, automatic—he'd clearly done this many times before.

He braced her shoulders and let her lean her full weight against him.

"Sorry about this. We need the restroom."

After they left, I finally let out the breath I'd been holding and opened my chat window with Winona.

Our last exchange was from two days ago, when I'd told her I had a surprise for her.

At this rate, that surprise was about to become a shock.

I was about to close the app when a new message popped up in my pinned conversation.

The certificate is real, but I found records showing she purchased a fake marriage certificate online a few months ago.

I closed my eyes. The picture was complete.

I'd barely finished typing my reply when someone knocked on the door.

"Doctor, we're back."

The two of them settled into the chairs across from me again, leaning into each other like it was second nature.

Austin tucked a strand of hair behind Winona's ear, then smoothed the collar of her blouse. As the fabric shifted, a fresh red hickey bloomed into view on her neck.

My brow furrowed. I kept my voice level.

"Has no one told you? The first trimester is high-risk. No intercourse."

A rosy blush crept up Winona's cheeks. She swatted Austin's arm twice, her voice dripping with playful reproach.

"This is your fault."

"Couldn't even wait until the three months were up. Now I'm embarrassed in front of the doctor."

A wave of nausea surged through my stomach, thick and violent, climbing all the way to the back of my throat.

Winona asked me a few more questions about prenatal care, then pulled out her phone and typed every answer into her notes app.

I caught a glimpse of the note's title: Pregnancy Guide for Austin & Me.

When she swiped back to the main screen, I saw more entries. Austin's Food Allergies & Restrictions. Austin's Exercise Schedule...

I looked away. Something cold settled in my chest.

Four years. I'd known her for four years, and she had never once kept records like that for me.

Last month, I'd swapped shifts with three different colleagues just to fly out and see her. After thirty-six straight hours on duty, I'd dragged myself onto that plane.

The moment I landed, I called her. She didn't pick up.

I kept calling. Again and again, until finally the line stopped going to voicemail.

But when I told her I was already in a cab on my way to her place, Winona's voice shot up an octave.

"Don't come right now!"

I sat in the back seat, bewildered. I'd told her my schedule a week in advance. We'd picked the date together.

She'd agreed without hesitation and promised to meet me at the airport herself.

But on the phone, Winona stammered and fumbled for words.

"I... I forgot about it..."

"I'm on a business trip out of town right now. Sorry, Christopher, I haven't had a chance to tell you."

"Why don't you head home first today?"

My brain had been foggy from pulling consecutive all-nighters, and at the time, I hadn't even caught the panic threading through her voice.

She must have been off somewhere with Austin, doing God knows what, having already tossed every promise between us into the gutter.

After I'd arranged their examination orders, Winona went to the exam room alone.

Only when her figure had completely disappeared down the corridor did Austin reluctantly tear his gaze away.

Then he spoke up out of nowhere.

"We've been talking all this time, and I don't think I ever caught your name, Doc."

I lifted my eyes to look at him.

"Simmons. You can call me Dr. Simmons."

Something flickered behind Austin's eyes. He smiled.

"What a coincidence."

A jolt ran through me, but I kept my expression neutral. "You know someone with that last name?"

Austin's smile lingered as he nodded, but then his face shifted, a look of open disgust settling over his features.

"My wife's ex-boyfriend was also named Simmons. Ancient history, though."

"From what I heard, the guy was ugly as sin, had a terrible temper, treated Winona like garbage, and was a total control freak."

"Lucky for her, she was brave enough to dump him. And now she's got a great husband like me."

My fingers tightened around the pen in my hand. A cold laugh echoed inside my chest.

"Your wife told you all that herself?"

"Of course."

He clenched his fist, indignation written across his face, as if he were outraged on Winona's behalf.

"He even used her career to threaten her, tried to force her into marrying him."

"She turned him down flat, obviously. Humiliated him while she was at it."

I raised an eyebrow. In my mind, I had already sentenced Winona Harding a thousand times over.

When I first met Winona, she was a broke college kid whose entire world revolved around her textbooks.

She told me she wanted to work in Havenport after graduation. Said it was the city she'd dreamed about since she was little.

So I convinced my father to pull strings and pave her a golden path straight into one of Havenport's top firms. I even bought her an apartment here.

I held her hand and told her, "Go after whatever you want. People who truly love each other don't let distance change what they have."

The night I proposed, she stood in front of all our friends and said it herself: without the Simmons family, she wouldn't be where she was.

She took the ring, slid it onto her finger with both hands, held mine, and promised she'd be with me for the rest of her life.

And then, just like that, she betrayed me so completely it was as if none of it had ever happened.

I looked at the young man sitting across from me, exhaled slowly, and felt every last shred of meaning drain out of the world.

I twisted the wedding band on my finger, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Must be nice, having a wife who loves you that much. I wasn't so lucky."

Austin's head snapped up, eyes bright with curiosity.

I went on.

"I'm actually married too. Within the first month after the wedding, I found out my wife was cheating on me."

"She'd been keeping a whole separate household behind my back."

BANG.

The moment the words left my mouth, Austin slammed his fist on the table.

"What a piece of work! Dr. Simmons, you're such a good guy, and she doesn't even know what she has."

I gave a helpless smile, then continued at the same unhurried pace.

"And recently, I found out she got pregnant by the other man. Behind my back."

This time Austin shot straight to his feet, chest heaving.

"Trash!"

"A woman like that deserves to be struck by lightning. She deserves to rot!"