On our wedding anniversary, I put aside work and planned to take my wife on a trip, to let her finally experience the extreme sports she had been dreaming of—bungee jumping, skydiving, surfing.

But my plan was flatly rejected by my wife.

Her reason was simple.

She was pregnant!

Too risky for her to do anything that extreme.

I was stunned.

For the past few months, I had been buried in a huge corporate project.

I hadn’t had the time or energy to sleep with her.

So how could the child in her belly possibly be mine?

Before I could even ask, she explained:

“The baby belongs to Jessica Reed and her husband.”

“??”

I stared at her in disbelief. “How could their child possibly end up in your body?”

“Jessica had several abortions before. Her body can’t carry anymore, so she and her husband asked me for help.”

“They… asked you for help?”

“Of course. And they paid me $10,000.”

My wife, Sarah Collins, excitedly pulled open the drawer, laid the stack of cash on the table, and looked at me with a smug smile. “Aren’t I amazing? I made ten grand in one shot.”

I shook with anger, my face darkening. “Amazing my ass!”

…

Ten minutes later, I forced myself to calm down.

I canceled the flight to Hawaii.

Even the Tiffany necklace I had ordered as an anniversary gift, I had returned.

Then I called Sarah’s parents.

Sarah snatched the phone from me, glaring angrily. “Ethan Miller, are you insane? Why are you calling my mom and dad?”

I glanced at her, my eyes drifting again to her belly. Calmly, I said, “I called them to let them know—I’m divorcing you.”

“What? You want a divorce?”

Sarah stared at me in shock.

“Yes.” I nodded expressionlessly.

“Ethan, are you out of your mind from working too much? We were fine. Why would you suddenly want a divorce?”

I sneered at the woman who had shared my bed for a year. Even now, she still didn’t realize what she had done wrong.

When I didn’t answer, Sarah’s eyes flickered. She finally guessed the reason.

“Just because I’m having Jessica’s baby, you want to divorce me?”

“Yes.” I nodded again.

“You’re a man, can’t you be more generous? Jessica can’t have children anymore, and I’m her best friend. She didn’t trust anyone else, so of course I had to help her. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

“Besides, I didn’t do it for free. The $10,000 is just for getting pregnant. If I can give them a son, they’ll give me another $20,000 bonus. I only thought of you—how hard you work, how tough it is to make money. I wanted to help ease our financial burden. I did this for you, for our family. Am I really wrong?”

By the end, Sarah’s eyes were glistening with tears.

She acted as if she were the one who cared about me, while I failed to appreciate her.

She looked utterly wronged.

“You honestly think you’ve done nothing wrong, and I’m the one with the problem?” I asked.

“I helped ease our financial burden. I made money for our family. What exactly is wrong with that?” Sarah retorted.

“As I thought. You really don’t realize your mistake.”

I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head.

Before, I had only thought Sarah wasn’t very smart.

But I never imagined she could be this foolish.

“I’ll be resting at home for ten months. As long as I deliver this baby, I’ll have earned $30,000. Tell me, how is that wrong?” she snapped.

“Don’t tell me you just magically got pregnant with Jessica’s husband’s child.”

My eyes grew colder.

“Of course it wasn’t magic.”

“Then how did it happen?”

“I… with him…”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sarah clamped up.

“Why don’t you finish your sentence?”

“Ethan, can’t you be a little more open-minded? It was just one night. The lights were off, and in my head, I was imagining you. I didn’t even think of him as Jessica’s husband.”

Hearing that nearly made me choke on my own breath.

What kind of person could even say something like that?

I shot up from the couch, glaring at her coldly. “You’re a real genius!”

I turned to leave.

If I kept talking to her, I might not be able to hold back.

Honestly, I had already shown incredible restraint.

Any other man would’ve beaten her by now.

She had cheated, and yet she had the gall to dress it up as some noble sacrifice “for the family.”

What a piece of work!

“Where are you going?” Sarah grabbed me.

“Get your filthy hands off me.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t want to see you again. Looking at your face makes me sick.”

“Ethan, you bastard! Even if I really made a mistake, you can’t curse me like this. When you married me, you promised to love me forever. Is this your so-called love?”

“Love my ass. Get lost!”

Barely controlling my fury, I shoved her hand away and stormed toward the door.

“Ethan, I swear if you walk out that door, I’ll never forgive you!”

“Idiot!”

I cursed, yanked open the door—only to find Jessica Reed standing there, her hand half-raised.

“Ethan…”

I ignored her, giving only a cold glance before leaving.

After I was gone, Jessica stepped inside.

Moments later, I could still hear Sarah crying and screaming, cursing me for being heartless.

That night, I drowned my sorrows with friends at a bar.

I told no one about Sarah’s absurd stunt.

Not because I wanted to protect her reputation—

But because I was too ashamed myself.

When the drinking ended, I considered getting a room at a hotel.

But then it struck me.

The house was mine.

Why should that woman stay there while I slept elsewhere?

So I went home at midnight.

To my surprise, Jessica was still there.

The two women were sharing late-night takeout.

As soon as Sarah saw me, she quickly set down her chopsticks and beamed.

“Darling, come eat some BBQ. Jessica brought it.”

From her reaction, it was as if nothing had happened.

Jessica also invited me to join.

I nodded.

Sarah, thinking I had come around, eagerly patted the seat beside her and even passed me some food.

During the meal, Sarah kept sneaking glances at me.

Seeing that I acted normal, she finally gathered her courage.

“Darling, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this once. Besides, this is Jessica’s lifelong matter. Without me, no one else could help her. Just think of it as a sacrifice I made for my best friend. Please?”

I said nothing, simply eating.

After drinking all night, I was starving.

When I didn’t respond, Sarah shot Jessica a look.

Jessica understood immediately.

She shifted closer to me.

“Ethan, it’s not entirely Sarah’s fault. We really had no choice. Something happened to me before, and the doctors said I could never get pregnant. But I love my husband so much. He adores children. We just wanted a child so badly.”

I snorted. “Couldn’t you adopt from an orphanage?”

“My husband says raising a child who isn’t his blood means nothing.”

“So you two conspired to trick my wife?”

“They didn’t trick me…” Sarah cut in.

“Shut up!” I glared at her.

Jessica raised her hand as if swearing. “Ethan, I promise, we didn’t trick Sarah. She just pitied me and wanted to help.”

Then, suddenly, Jessica stood and slipped off her jacket.

She wore a revealing black camisole underneath.

Her pale shoulders and stomach were bare, her fragrance overwhelming at such close distance.

The next second, before I could react, her cheeks flushed as she perched on my lap, arms around my neck.

“Ethan, if this really bothers you, I can make it up to you. We’ll call it even, and you won’t blame Sarah anymore, okay?”

I was taken aback, though my expression quickly hardened.

Sarah, seeing I didn’t immediately push her away, leaned in and whispered, “Darling, let me tell you a secret.”

I looked at her coldly.

“Jessica has plenty of tricks. She’s taught me many. Just give the word, and I promise tonight you won’t sleep a wink.”

“Sarah, don’t say it like that,” Jessica murmured, her face bright red.

Then she leaned closer, breath warm against me.

“Ethan, what do you think of my proposal? Does it work?”

At that moment, my entire worldview shattered.

One woman secretly carrying her best friend’s baby.

The other suggesting sleeping with me to settle the score.

What kind of twisted logic was this?

Still, I feigned hesitation and said, “Get off me first.”

Jessica slid off my lap.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I announced.

The two women exchanged knowing smiles.

“Darling, wash up well,” Sarah said playfully.

“I’ll be waiting,” Jessica added softly.

I stepped into the bathroom.

Out in the living room, the two of them whispered.

“Sarah, are you sure this will work?”

“Relax, it will. With your body and looks, how many men could resist the temptation of a married woman like you?”