Our Contract Expires With Her Betrayal

Just before the end of my shift, the last patient I see is my wife, Tracy Montgomery.

Her prenatal test report clearly states that she is three weeks pregnant. She is the mother, and the father is her lover of five years, Max Lockwood.

Calmly, I slide the report across the desk and say softly, "Congratulations. You finally got what you wanted."

Tracy pauses for a moment before frowning hard. "That's it? Are you just congratulating me? Don't you have anything else to say?"

I stare at the piece of paper and at the child who isn't mine.

I initially think I would react the way I always do, which entails throwing away my pride and causing a huge scene in front of her.

But in the end, I don't even have the strength for that anymore.

Her fingertips brush gently across her stomach as she says, "I've had my fun over the years. Once the baby is born, I'll settle down."

Hearing those words, I lift my head and meet her eyes.

I say evenly, "Tracy, our contract has expired."

Ethan's POV

My words, neither harsh nor gentle, shattered the silence in the office.

Tracy Montgomery was still basking in the joy of her pregnancy with her lover's child when she looked up and frowned. "What contract? Ethan, are you trying to start something again?"

She had clearly forgotten. The moment that realization hit me, my fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the desk. Even breathing hurt.

"I'm not starting anything," I said. "But you're right. I won't have a say in your life anymore. Whether you come back to this family or not doesn't matter to me."

As soon as I finished speaking, Tracy rubbed her temples. She spread her hands and leaned back in her chair, impatience written all over her face.

"This is literally how our circle works. Keeping a lover on the side is the norm. I don't see Ms. Lawson or Ms. Stone's husbands acting as jealous and petty as you do.

"It's not like I needed your money to support myself, anyway. If you had even a fraction of Max's sensibility, you wouldn't be acting so petulant."

I had heard those words more than a thousand times over the past five years.

Five years ago, Tracy had pursued me so openly that everyone in town knew about it. Because of my mother's illness, I turned her down again and again.

Then, when Mom was on her deathbed, Tracy offered me 700 thousand dollars in exchange for signing a prenuptial agreement. The first supply of a life-saving specialty drug on the market went straight to Mom.

Even so, less than a year after Tracy and I got married, Mom passed away. Then, Tracy cheated on me with Max. I caught them in our own home.

The wedding decorations hadn't even been fully taken down. There were fresh handprints smeared across our wedding photo, along with countless other traces they hadn't bothered to hide.