Bride of Retribution

I let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Finn, I said I want a divorce. Do you understand?”

He sneered.

“Annalise, you’ve been with me for five years. I’ve had my fill playing with you, inside and out, to your ruin. You’ve even had a miscarriage now. Who knows if you can still bear children? Once you leave me, who would want a barren old hag like you?”

“Let me remind you once more—you’re still Mrs. Yeaton. Now that there’s a child in the picture, you don’t have to suffer through the pain of childbirth. Isn’t that a good thing?

“Clear your head and think it through before you speak to me again.”

The call abruptly ended.

I put down my phone.

The two nurses exchanged looks, glancing at me.

“You’re Mr. Yeaton’s wife?”

I replied calmly, “Not for much longer.”

The young nurse was furious.

“How disgusting! I thought he was such a devoted man, but he’s actually with his mistress, watching over her while she gives birth. And his wife—who had a miscarriage and lost so much blood—is hospitalized in the same hospital for half a month, yet he hasn’t even visited once!”

I lowered my gaze and listened wordlessly.

That afternoon, I hired a courier to deliver the divorce papers to Finn.

When I called to urge him to sign, his voice was tight with rage, and through clenched teeth, he said he would sign the papers.

Yet, he stayed in Louise’s ward every day to take care of her and the child, and nothing ever came of the divorce matter.

However, Finn’s parents soon learned about the divorce, and on the very same day, they rushed to the hospital.

Finn’s mother, Claudia Yeaton, reproached me with a look of utter disappointment.

“Annalise, my son only donated his sperm to repay a debt of gratitude—to help Louise have a child! He didn’t commit anything morally wrong. Why must you be so petty and unreasonable?

“That child carries Finn’s blood, and he’s of the Yeatons’ bloodline! As his wife, you should be more magnanimous, shouldn’t you?”

Albert Yeaton, Finn’s father, also looked at me and said, “Finn is young and acted recklessly for a moment when he donated his sperm, but what’s done is done. The child is innocent. Don’t make a fuss and a laughingstock out of ourselves.”

I looked at them in disbelief, my voice hoarse as I said, “So, from the very beginning, all of you had known about him donating his sperm and even getting married abroad, and I was the only one kept in the dark?”

Claudia stiffened slightly at my words.

“He only did it to repay kindness. Having one more child won’t affect your relationship or your marriage!

“If you feel wronged, we can buy you more jewelry and property as compensation.”

I found it ridiculous.

Absolutely absurd.

They, too, thought I was being ridiculous and even went so far as to bring my parents over to persuade me.

My mother held my hand as she cried.

“Anna, it’s a difficult life ahead for a divorced woman on her own, especially now that you’ve just lost your baby. In the future…”

My mother sighed.

“Finn has apologized to us. He said that the child was just a test-tube baby, and you’re the person he truly cares about.

“Just bear with it or turn a blind eye to it. A carefree life with wealth as Mrs. Yeaton isn’t so bad.”

Seeing the helplessness in my mother’s eyes, I felt as if I’d been bound by countless ropes, so tight that it was suffocating me.

They were all standing on the moral high ground, saying that Finn’s actions were understandable, for he only wanted to repay a life-saving debt, and that I should be forgiving and think of the innocent child.

Not a single one of them considered me, the woman who had just lost her own flesh and blood and been betrayed by her husband.

It was as if my pain and persistence were the true culprits tearing the family apart.

On the other hand, the man who hurt me played the part of a kind and grateful man repaying a debt, and a husband desperately trying to win back his wife.

I would never forget, during one family dinner, the WhatsApp message that came from Louise Hooper: [The baby seems a little uncomfortable and kicked my belly. It hurts…]