1

Cait's phone buzzed. A new message from her mother-in-law, Chelsea.

{What are you waiting for? Isn't it time to get pregnant again? This family has waited long enough for an heir.}

Cait sighed and dropped the phone on the bed.

For months, Evan's family had been pressuring her to give birth to a boy — an heir for the family fortune — as if her five-year-old daughter didn't count.

What they didn't know was that it wasn't that she didn't want another baby. She had tried. Three times.

Three miscarriages.

And after the third, Evan stopped touching her. Stopped coming home. And when he did, he was cold.

It was two days before her ovulation. If she wanted to ease the pressure from his mother, tonight was her only chance.

Hopefully, he comes home tonight.

By 9:30 PM, the front door opened. Evan was back.

As he went to shower, Cait put on the lingerie she had been saving. She sat on the edge of the bed, her heart pounding. She wanted to try again, yes — but more than that, she wanted to ask him why he had become a stranger in their 8-year marriage.

The bathroom door opened. Evan came out in a towel, his hair still wet. He stopped when he saw her.

"Cait? What are you doing?"

She stood up, nervous. "You... you barely come home anymore. I thought maybe tonight we could..."

She moved closer and touched his arm, trying to be bold. She tried to kiss him, to remind him of how they used to be.

Evan didn't push her away, but he didn't pull her close either. He just stared at her for a second, then gave a tired sigh.

"Fine. If that's what you want."

It wasn't lovemaking. There was no tenderness, no words. It was quick, cold, and silent — obligatory intercourse. A duty to perform. She stared at the ceiling while he went through the motions, just to give his family the heir they kept demanding.

When it was over, he got up and went back to the bathroom without looking at her. Cait lay there alone, feeling more empty than before.

It was then his phone lit up on the nightstand.

A message preview: Traci Woodley: <Can't wait to see you tomorrow night. Same hotel?>

Cait's hands went cold. She had seen that name before — his secretary. She opened the chat before she could stop herself.

Photos. Hotel receipts. Messages for months. <I know you don't love her. When will you leave her?"

<Soon. She can't give me a son anyway.> Evan had responded.

Her husband had a mistress.

She couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Evan." Her voice was shaking, but louder this time.

He came out of the bathroom, saw his phone in her hand, and his face went blank.

"Traci Woodley? How long?"

Evan didn't even look guilty. "It's not what you think."

"Then what is it? You stopped coming home because of her? I lost our babies, Evan. I bled alone. And you were with her?"

He took his phone back, his voice cold.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Cait. You just can't give me what this family needs."

Cait whispered, tears in her eyes, "I tried to salvage this marriage, Evan. For eight years. For our daughter. I forgave you barely coming home, I forgave everything — even this. Can't we fix this?"

He looked at her with no emotion at all.

"Then try harder. Conceive a son. Give me an heir. If you can do that, I'll move back home properly and end things with Traci. If not, don't bother calling me to come back."

He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

The sound of the shower running again was louder than any answer he could have given.

Cait sat on the bed, tears finally falling. In that moment, she wasn't just heartbroken — she was shattered.

---

Two weeks later, Cait was confirmed pregnant at the hospital.

She hurried home as quickly as she could to share the goodness to Evan, because he was still home when she left for the hospital.

Just as she wanted to enter the living room, she heard Chelsea yelling and pause at the door.

"You're no longer young, Evan! What have you and Cait been doing? Why are you delaying the second one?”

Evan sighed.

Chelsea’s voice came up again. "Let that woman of yours have a child if Cait is unable to do it. I'll take the son as long as he has Creed ancestry.”

Evan quickly retorted, "It's not the same."

Chelsea laughed. "How is it not the same?"

Heart pounding, Cait continue listening.

At least Evan stood up for her. She remained his sole wife, despite his mischievous behavior.

But Evan then spoke once more. "Did you forget, mom? When Cait gave birth to Katie, an amniotic fluid embolism occurred.”

Chelsea’s voice became icy, then harsh. "And so? Other women have three or four children without any issues. She's just bad luck."

Chelsea’s tirade was stopped by Evan. "Giving birth is dangerous. You saw what it did to Cait. Traci is young, nevertheless. She can't be asked to take that chance.”

Cait felt as though she had been hit by lightning. 

Evan was cold, had cheated, she had deceived herself that perhaps this pregnancy would bind him to her. Perhaps she would always be Mrs. Creed.

But the reality was worse than she had thought. She was merely a womb to this family. She had almost died giving birth to Katie, and even after the miscarriages, she was still willing to try again for pregnancy despite the danger.

He never gave a damn about her, but he was afraid pregnancy would ruin Traci? Wow!