Contract Lover

Celine POV

“Morning. Can I please get a cappuccino with extra foam?”

“Of course,” she said cheerfully. “Anything else?”

I shook my head. “That’s all, thank you.”

She scribbled the order and moved away. I shifted to the side, waiting, letting my eyes wander around the café.

And then I saw him.

My whole body went still at the sight of them.

My husband was kissing another woman.

It wasn’t a peck on the cheek—it was an intimate kiss. Her hands were hooked around his neck.

For a second, I thought I was imagining it—that it wasn’t him, that it was someone else wearing his suit, his watch, his wedding band.

But then he pulled back, and our eyes met.

“Celine?” he stuttered, clearly flustered.

I blinked, still holding the coffee cup. “What… what is this?” I asked, still dumbfounded.

The woman stepped back with a smirk, adjusting her dress.

Nathaniel cleared his throat. “It’s not what you think.”

I scoffed. “Not what I think? Then what is it? Because I clearly saw your lips on her.”

“It was just a peck,” he said quickly. “A friendly one. She’s a colleague, that’s all. We were talking about a project and…”

“Are you serious right now?” I asked in disbelief.

“You couldn’t even come up with a believable excuse?” I scoffed, my shock now replaced with anger.

People had started staring. A few heads turned from nearby tables. I didn’t care. Let them look.

“You’re making a scene,” he said, glancing around. “Lower your voice.”

“You started the scene by kissing her,” I shot back.

“It’s nothing,” he repeated, his jaw tight. “You’re overreacting. She leaned in. It surprised me. I didn’t even—”

“Didn’t even what?” My chest felt like it was splitting open. “Didn’t even think about your wife, huh?”

“Celine, stop.” He reached for my arm, but I jerked back before he could touch me.

“Don’t! Don’t touch me.”

His eyes shifted nervously around the room, as if the watching faces bothered him more than the fact that his wife had just caught him cheating.

“Can we not do this here?” he muttered, already moving toward the door. “We have an appointment. Let’s go.”

“An appointment?” I laughed again. “You cheat on me, and this is all you have to say?”

“I didn’t cheat,” he snapped. “I told you, she’s a colleague. It was a misunderstanding.”

“Right,” I said. “A misunderstanding with your tongue down her throat.”

“Celine,” he called my name while taking a deep breath. “Please, let’s not blow this out of proportion. Can we not do this here?” he asked, almost pleading.

I sighed as I looked around. He was right. As much as I was mad about the fact that I caught him cheating, I also didn’t want the world to know.

So I grudgingly followed him.

We walked to his car, and he drove off. I looked at him, waiting for him to say something, but he didn’t.

“Are you really going to pretend that the scene at the café didn’t just happen?” I asked finally.

He exhaled slowly, like I was exhausting him. “I told you, she’s a colleague.”

“You don’t kiss your colleagues.”

“It was a mistake. She kissed me.”

“And you didn’t stop her.”

“I did,” he sighed. “You just showed up before I could.”

“Are you being for real, Nathaniel?”

He didn’t look at me. “Maybe if we didn’t have this… issue, you wouldn’t be so paranoid over nothing.”

“What issue?” I demanded.

“You know what I mean. Six years, Celine. Six damn years! Everyone keeps asking why we don’t have kids, and I have to smile and lie every damn time. It’s humiliating.”

“Oh, now you’re going to push the blame on me, right? I’m the one humiliating you?” I scoffed. “What about me, Nathaniel? You think this is a joke for me?” I asked, my voice quivering.

“I’m just saying—”

“Don’t. Don’t say another word,” I said as I turned to the window, trying so hard to fight back the tears.

The drive was quiet; no one dared to say anything. Nathaniel just focused on the road. He didn’t speak. I watched him through the rearview mirror and tried to read the man beside me, but I was blank.

It barely took us five minutes before we arrived at the hospital. Thankfully, we were the only ones on the waiting list, so we were directed to Dr. Chen’s office and headed straight there.

Dr. Chen’s office was small, lined with books and certificates that I had seen too many times before.

“Good morning,” he greeted with a warm smile, standing to shake our hands. “How are my favorite couple today? You both look well. Celine, are you still keeping up with those evening walks I recommended?”

I forced a fake smile and nodded.

“And Nathaniel,” the doctor chuckled, “still working out too much, I bet?”

Nathaniel gave a short nod, clearly not in the mood for jokes.

Dr. Chen adjusted his glasses and sat back down, flipping through the file in front of him. 

“Now, I know this journey hasn’t been easy…”

“Doctor,” Nathaniel cut in, “please, can you just go straight to the point and tell us about the results?”

Dr. Chen hesitated, tapping his pen against the folder. “I understand…” he said as he glanced at me, then back at Nathaniel, as though searching for the right words. “I prefer easing into it, but… you’re right. Let’s go straight to the point.”

Nathaniel leaned forward. “So? What’s the problem?”

The doctor sighed. “Mr. Hart, you don’t have a low sperm count, and your sperm is okay.” Then he paused, staring at me.

“Mrs. Hart, I’ll be straightforward. Based on the results, it appears that your body is not producing eggs.”

I blinked. “Pardon?”

But before the doctor could respond, Nathaniel stood up from his chair angrily.

“I just knew you were the cause of this!” Nathaniel yelled.

“You are infertile, Mrs. Hart.”