Baby Dream Blocked, Ring Tossed

I'd been married to Joshua Merck for five years, but we still didn't have kids.

To stay healthy, I took those pricey custom vitamins he ordered from overseas—never missed a dose.

Then my cousin came back from studying abroad, took one look at the bottle, and was like, "That brand doesn't even make custom vitamins."

I sent them to the hospital for testing.

The lab report hit me like a truck—birth control pills. Powerful ones.

Suddenly, all those mornings with Joshua hovering over me, acting so concerned while I took my "vitamins," made sense. The whole thing had been a lie. Five years of lies.

Just as I was gearing up to confront him, my phone buzzed—a group chat notification. Shirley Hoare had tagged Joshua.

[Honey, I had a prenatal checkup today, and the doctor said I'm carrying twins! Your family's about to get two grandchildren at once—excited?]

My heart turned to ash. Everything clicked.

Fine. We were done.

I pulled out my phone and replied to my childhood sweetheart's message from three days ago:

[After watching the northern lights, I still wanted to see penguins in Antarctica.]

Shirley's message in the group chat blew up the whole company.

[OMG, when did you and the boss get together?]

[Wow, already moving on to the next generation!]

[Congrats, congrats! Got my wedding gift ready!]

[Boss, you're impressive! You actually snagged the office sweetheart!]

Messages kept pouring in. I just stared at the screen, feeling colder by the second.

This was the Merck Corp group chat—executives and Joshua's close associates. He'd added me ages ago because his parents insisted.

Even back then, it was just as chaotic. When people joked around, Joshua had typed:

[Nadia's just a friend. I added her so she can learn more about finance and get some experience.]

Then he turned to me with that casual shrug. "Our marriage is just a family alliance thing. There's a lot going on, so let's not make it public yet."

I just nodded and stayed quiet.

When people asked if they could hit on me, Joshua would joke:

[That depends on your skills—just don't slack off at work!]

Then Shirley jumped in right after:

[Come on, guys. Don't act like a bunch of thirsty dudes just 'cause there's a pretty girl around. Bad for the company's image!]

Joshua kept using work as an excuse, so we never had a wedding. Five years of marriage, and no one even knew he was taken.

It took a whole hour for the chat to finally chill out. Then Shirley popped back in:

[Thanks for the well wishes! When Joshua and I have the baby shower, you all better come show support.]

[And don't forget those fancy presents, you company elites!]

Everyone jumped on it:

[No problem! Wishing you three a happy family!]

[What three? She's having twins—it's a family of four!]

[Can't wait to meet your babies!]

I stared at the screen, heart aching, gripping my phone so tight my fingers went white. I