Chapter 2

The morning after, I headed out with the thermos while Wren was still fast asleep.

Even though our marriage was already falling apart, I still went to Hazelby Hospital, where my mother-in-law, Lydia Brown, had been hospitalized for over six months with severe kidney failure. I had been staying up night after night to take care of her.

I figured I could treat it as the last thing I did for her as her son-in-law, and maybe it would also bring my 12 years with Wren to an end.

I pushed open the door to Lydia's room to find her praising me in front of another patient's family.

Lydia gushed, "Theo has been taking care of me through all this. He's been more devoted than any son could be."

When she saw me, her face lit up, and she quickly told me to sit down.

I poured the soup I'd stayed up all night making and handed it to her. Then I told her, "Lydia, drink it while it's hot. Wren had a fever last night, so I'll have to go back to take care of her."

Lydia was drinking the soup when the phone on the small table, which was playing a show, suddenly rang. It was a video call, and the name "Xavier" flashed across the screen.

With both hands still messy from the soup, Lydia couldn't grab the phone. She nodded toward it with her chin. "Theo, answer the call for me. I think it's Wren's cousin."

I didn't think too much of it and answered the video call. The moment I saw that familiar face, my expression froze.

It was Xavier Garner, the same man Wren had slept with while drunk six years ago. He was holding a little boy who looked about three years old.

The boy, Leo Garner, smiled at the camera and called out sweetly, "Grandma, look at the car Mommy bought me!"

Xavier started complaining, "Lydia, Wren got drunk here last night and came down with a fever, so I let her sleep a little longer. Did that crazy man lash out at her just because she went home late?"

The room fell deathly silent. Lydia's hands trembled as the piping hot soup splashed over her blanket. She ignored her scalded hand and rushed over to me, trying to grab the phone.

"Theo, I can explain…"

I stepped back, staring at the child on the screen who looked so much like Wren that I could feel a chill run through my whole body. "Her cousin? That is Wren's cousin?"

Lydia sighed and finally stopped pretending. She took my hand, her voice full of concern and helplessness. "Theo, don't blame Wren for hiding this from you. Xavier has put up with so much over the past four years. He's never once asked her to publicly acknowledge him."

Four years ago?

My head buzzed, and my insides twisted. The pain made it hard to breathe.

So, Xavier wasn't just a one-time mistake caused by Wren getting drunk six months ago.

Lydia gently patted the back of my hand and spoke in a low voice. "I watched you grow up. I care about you, but you have to think about Wren. Because of what you've been through, sometimes you won't sleep with Wren for a long time. She's a young, healthy woman in the prime of her life, and she works so hard every day.

"You can't expect her to live like a nun for the rest of her life and never have children just because of your issues, can you? Xavier agreed to let Leo be your godson. You'll still be Wren's husband.

"Nothing has to change. Xavier won't interfere with the two of you. Isn't that great?"

My legs gave out, and I collapsed into the chair behind me. I didn't hear a single word Lydia said after that.

Memories and the truth tore through my mind, ripping me apart.

Four years.

Every time Wren went out of town for a rescue mission, she'd stay on a voice call with me all night. She knew I didn't feel safe alone and was afraid of the dark, and hearing her breathe over the phone was enough to help me fall asleep.

Once, Wren ran into danger at a disaster site. Even though it meant risking her life to find a backup battery, she still made sure to stay on the phone with me and check in all night.

But who would've thought that what I had believed was the deepest kind of love was nothing but a lie?

No wonder, four years ago, Wren told me she had to leave for a secret mission and disappeared for an entire year.

Apparently, the so-called secret mission was just her sleeping with another man and having his child.

Was Xavier lying beside her during all those all-night calls she made just to calm me down?

Was Leo sleeping right next to her then?

She had been lying there with another man and their child while comforting me over the phone, treating me like some clueless fool.

The absurdity of it all hit me all at once.

I stood up and stumbled out into the hall without saying another word to Lydia.

If the perfect life everyone saw had no place for me, then I could just give up my place as her husband.