All Chapters of What Grew in a Platonic Marriage: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

When I went with Camile McCallum to visit her parents, my mother-in-law, Marilyn Porter, pulled me aside into the kitchen and asked, in a low voice, whether I'd been keeping up with my tonic medicine lately.I forced an awkward smile and let her eyes travel over me, top to bottom.Marilyn let out a heavy sigh. "Then why isn't there any progress?"Whenever she pushed us about having a baby, I always told people the problem was with me. In truth, Camile was asexual. Ten years married, and the most intimate thing we'd ever done was kiss.A retching sound came from the bathroom. Marilyn got there before I did, rushing to Camile's side. She stared at her, eyes bright with hope. "Are you... pregnant?"I braced myself for the disappointing answer I was sure would come. Instead, Camile ducked her head, bashful, and nodded."Sean, don't just stand there, go help your wife. Are you too happy to move?"I swallowed down my shock and kept telling myself this had to be some kind of mistake.

Chapter 2

Seeing me go quiet, Camile assumed I'd agreed to her proposal.In the car, I spoke up out of nowhere. "We can pretend this never happened. We can go back to how things were."Camile's face lit up with delight, and she threw her arms around me before I could react."But I have one condition. You can't keep this baby."I wasn't generous enough to raise another man's child. Without this baby, we could still start over. I hadn't expected her to dig in so hard. She was determined to have this child no matter what."Absolutely not! I fought tooth and nail to get this baby, and I'm keeping it. Anything else, I'll give you."Camile was pushing this too far. I'd already given up more ground than I ever thought I would, and she still wouldn't budge an inch.Furious, I had the driver pull over. Camile rolled down her window and ordered me, "Sean, stop right there!"I kept walking without looking back. Behind me, she shouted, "If you don't come back now, don't ever come back!"I slept a

Chapter 3

"Camile, did you ever love me?"She seemed thrown by the question. After a moment, Camile answered, her voice full of feeling. "Of course I love you. Why else would I have married you? It's just that this baby is my dream. Let me have this one thing."What a ridiculous excuse. Once this child was born, there would be no path back for the two of us."He's not just a dream, he's a life! Have you thought about what happens the day he finds out where he really came from?"Camile went quiet. Clearly, she hadn't thought that far ahead either.There was still time to turn back from the edge. I grabbed her arm, ready to take her to schedule the procedure.Camile wrenched her hand free. "Sean! I never knew you could be so heartless. This is just a baby, and you can't even make room for him?""Even if I divorce you over it, you'd still have him?"Camile hesitated, but in the end she told me without flinching. "Yes. I'm having him. No one can stop me.""Fine. Have him, then."Good adv

Chapter 4

"Yes. She cheated," I said, swallowing down the ache in my chest and telling the truth.That only enraged Dave further. "Unrepentant to the end! Bring the family whip!"Several men forced me to the ground and brought it down hard across my back. I sucked in a sharp breath. My skin split open, but I clenched my jaw and didn't make a sound.No one in that room would have believed me even if I'd told them everything, and even if they had, they still would have sided with Camile. I was completely alone.Camile heard the commotion and burst out of the room. "Dad, stop hitting him!"She was crying, and her tears fell right in front of me. They tried to pull her back, but she blurted, "The baby isn't even," before Dave's voice cut across hers."Isn't even what?"He fixed her with a hard stare, and Camile went pale, too frightened to finish the sentence. She was terrified of her father. In a family with standards as strict as theirs, marrying me had already been the boldest act of rebel

Chapter 5

Camile was backed into a corner. Just as Dave moved to strike her, Marilyn rushed over to stop him."I heard every word! This baby isn't Sean's?"Camile didn't dare speak. She'd told a lie too big to hold together, and now there was no way to patch it up.Dave was furious with himself for raising a daughter like this, and he smashed everything within reach.Marilyn was still trying to muddy the issue. "Dave, maybe we misheard her."Dave shoved her aside and strode over to grab Camile's arm. "Are you going to talk or not?"Camile was shaking too hard with fear to get a word out.Marilyn turned to me for help. "Sean, explain this to us. The baby is yours, isn't it?"Under the weight of Dave's stare, I finally told them everything.The moment he heard it, Dave's blood pressure spiked, and he passed out on the spot. Marilyn screamed for someone to get him to the hospital. Camile sank to the floor, and when she looked up at me, there was nothing left in her eyes but hatred.Afra

Chapter 6

What's more, I'd once come across a photo of Jack and his wife online, and the two of them had looked deeply in love. How could the baby possibly be his?Gloria's theory was absurd. She launched into the whole history, talking a mile a minute. In Gloria's telling, Jack had practically become an obsession for Camile.Before she and I had ever gotten together, Camile had chased after Jack for a long time, refusing to let go. It wasn't until he left the country that she'd finally given up.It sounded like nothing more than an old, unrequited crush. Surely she wouldn't still be hung up on it after all these years?Gloria shook her head. "That's because you don't really know Camile. She's the type who wants something more, the harder it is to get. For all we know, she found some way to get Jack to give in."More than a decade had passed. Would Jack really have suddenly developed feelings for Camile out of nowhere?At dinner that night, Gloria deliberately brought up Jack's name in fro

Chapter 7

"What?!"I'd chosen my words carefully, but I could tell Dave understood exactly what I meant.Dave covered his eyes, laughing bitterly. "What on earth did I raise? I've failed as a father."I hadn't realized how unwell Camile's state of mind truly was, not until recently. It was only her recent, almost unbelievable obsession that made me see the pattern had been there all along.Dave couldn't wrap his head around it. How could any normal man endure ten years of a sexless marriage? And yet I had endured exactly that, for ten years."You truly do love my daughter, Sean. If you're still willing to start over with Camile, I'll let you be my successor."McCallum Group was worth tens of billions of dollars. Temptation like that would have shaken almost anyone.But I turned him down."Working at McCallum Group was the condition you set back when I married Camile. Honestly, I never liked living off the McCallum name in the first place."Everyone at that company knew I was nothing but

Chapter 8

The instant Camile walked into the room, she looked puzzled. "Who are they?"Camile didn't recognize Jack Lerner?My mind raced. Jack stood up, visibly moved, and introduced himself. "It's been a long time, Camile."She stepped back behind me automatically. "Sean, are they friends of yours?"I forced myself to stay calm while I tried to figure out how to explain any of this.Before I could say a word, Josie crossed the room and reached out to touch Camile's belly. Camile flinched back in shock. Jack quickly pulled Josie away, and she broke down, her voice raw. "That's our baby, Jack!""Jack? You're Jack Lerner?" Realization dawned on Camile's face too. The man standing in front of her was the very same high school sweetheart she'd never been able to forget.Jack wrapped his arms around Josie as she wept. "Yes. I'm Jack Lerner."The second Camile heard him admit it, she bolted out the door.I hadn't seen that coming at all, and could only run after her. Camile was fast, and

Chapter 9

Camile fell silent for a moment before admitting it had all been an accident."I actually meant to have Sean's and my own baby implanted. The clinic just made a mistake, and it ended up like this.""Is that true?" Jack clearly didn't believe her, studying her with open suspicion.Camile had no choice but to lay it all out. "Fine, yes! So what if I wanted a child with you to make up for what I never got to have? I had feelings for you for years, and you never once looked at me that way. Besides, this baby doesn't even mean anything to you..."Jack, normally so composed, crushed the glass in his hand at that. Her words had pushed him past his limit.Even I thought Camile had gone too far.Jack's voice turned harsh. "Because of your own selfishness, my wife and I have both suffered something devastating. Do you have any idea how close you came to destroying our family?"Faced with the accusation, Camile had nothing to say. She really had been selfish. She hadn't considered anyone e

Chapter 10

There had never been an embryo at all. The paperwork had been faked, cobbled together from information stolen out of a real hospital's records.The doctor running that clinic had already been arrested. As it turned out, he was the very same doctor who'd stolen Jack and Josie's embryo in the first place. According to him, though, the embryo had been improperly stored and disposed of long ago.Jack and Josie's last hope was gone. But Josie had come to terms with it. Rather than force a child into existence, she'd rather just live out her life well with Jack.They also decided not to pursue anything against Camile. After all, she was a victim in this too.When Camile learned the baby had never existed, her mental state collapsed completely. She refused to believe there was no child in her belly, and she spent every day screaming in her hospital room.Marilyn took my hand, her voice heavy with meaning. "Sean, Camile needs you to take care of her right now. As her husband, you need to

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