The Husband I Knew

Our bodies tangled in the car.

My husband moved inside me, lips claiming my chest, when the sudden ring of a phone ripped me out of our intoxicating haze.

Gabriel answered without hesitation.

It was one of his closest friends from the medical world, speaking in German.

“Don,” the voice said casually, “your mistress is two months pregnant. What are you going to do?”

Gabriel didn’t pause. His tone was calm.

“Grace can’t have children,” he replied. “I’ll let her carry the baby to term, then adopt it as my own. That secures the heir. This stays between us.”

Something inside me froze.

The one thing he had forgotten—

I majored in German.

And he learned it just to win me.

I didn’t scream. I didn’t confront him.

Instead, I smiled, stayed quiet, and kept playing the perfect wife.

Later, I slipped the divorce papers into a real estate contract and watched him sign without reading. Then I quietly registered a new identity.

For the next three days, his absence—and her taunting messages—erased the last illusions I had about love.

When my new identity finally went live, I walked away without looking back.

Carrying his child.

And disappearing from his world forever.

I felt Gabriel’s lips on my chest, strong and possessive, as the world outside the Romano family’s custom Mercedes blurred into nothing.

Stripped bare, I let my long legs fall over his shoulders, the closeness sending shivers through me.

I could feel him pressing inside me, the sensation making my pulse race.

The thrill, the closeness… it made my head spin. His hands gripped my waist as he whispered low and dark:

“Relax… the soundproofing’s in place. No one’s listening. Why are you shy, hmm?”

I clung to him, my heart pounding, love and desire tangled together as waves of pleasure built faster than I could catch my breath. The crescendo hit me, leaving me trembling, unable to hold back a sound.

And then his lips, warm and teasing, pressed against my chest.

When the sudden ring of a phone cut through the haze.

Gabriel’s brow furrowed. He glanced at the screen, then answered. I saw the caller ID: Jack—one of his closest friends from the medical world.

“Gabriel… you’ve lost your mind…”

He cut him off sharply, in perfect German. “Not convenient. Speak in German.”

There was a long, tense silence. Finally, Jack’s voice came, clear and chilling:

“Your mistress two months pregnant. What are you going to do?”

The words hit me like ice. My body went slack, the heat evaporating instantly. Tears sprang to my eyes before I could stop them.

Gabriel, completely unbothered, spoke in his usual calm, calculating tone:

“Grace can’t have children. I’ll let Ella Reed carry the baby to term, and then we’ll make it appear as if the child was adopted—someone from an orphanage she’s never met, a stranger. That way, the heir is secured without anyone suspecting a thing.”

“Don’t you think Grace will find out?” the voice pressed.