It's Never a Good Idea to Share a Wife

My daughter, Annie Crain, didn't understand what I meant. She looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes. "So… Is Mommy coming with us?"

I forced a bitter smile and shook my head. "She's found someone she loves here. She's not coming with us."

Annie licked her lips, her little face full of confusion. "Can't we give her one more chance? She promised she'd take me to kindergarten tomorrow."

I swallowed the ache in my throat. "Alright. We'll give her one more chance."

After I tucked Annie into bed, I opened the news article again.

The man and woman gazed into each other's eyes in the photo, tenderness and love written all over their faces.

It was then that I finally accepted the truth. The woman who had promised to spend forever with me had fallen in love with someone else.

I opened the train booking app and stared at the next available ticket back to Avalon. The earliest departure was seven days from now.

It was the very same day my wife, Jenna Birch, and Zach Corey were getting married.

Without another moment's hesitation, I booked two tickets home before heading to the bathroom to wash up.

By the time I came out, Jenna had just returned.

The rich scent of lavender drifted toward me, and I frowned.

It had been over six months, yet I still couldn't get used to the fragrance she always carried home after being with Zach.

Jenna paused, her arms half-open as if she meant to hug me. Instead, she poked playfully at my abs. "Still upset?"

I took a step back, meeting the tender look in her eyes. "Can you stop seeing Zach? I don't want to share you with another man. And I don't want you carrying his child."

I'd said those words more times than I could count over the past six months. Every time, the answer had been the same.

Jenna didn't get angry. Instead, she let out a quiet, weary sigh.

"Enzo, don't be like this. You know why I have to do this. The only way I can officially inherit the Birch family fortune is if I give birth to Zach's son—the Birch family's eldest grandson."

"Then, let's get divorced." The words scraped against my throat, but I forced them out anyway. They'd been weighing on my heart for far too long.

Jenna blinked, clearly caught off guard.

"Where is this coming from?" she asked, frowning. "You agreed to this arrangement in the first place."

She wasn't wrong. I'd been the one who gave my consent.

But six months ago, we'd agreed on something entirely different. The plan was for her to conceive through IVF—not by sleeping with Zach.

At first, Jenna had kept her distance, treating Zach with the same cold indifference she'd always shown the man who had once humiliated her.

But as time went on, she started seeing him more and more. What began as once a month became twice a week. Now, she was with him almost every day.

I'd long since lost count of how many nights I'd spent waiting for her to come home or lain awake alone, staring at the empty side of the bed.

When I didn't answer, Jenna let out another quiet sigh. "You know my family's never approved of our marriage. Now that I finally have a chance to reclaim my place in the family, how am I supposed to walk away from it?"