One Month Married, I Gave My Cheating Wife Her First Ultrasound

Three years into our long-distance relationship, I transferred to a hospital in Winona Harding's city without telling her.

What I never expected was that on my very first day, she'd walk in as my first patient.

And she wasn't alone. There was a man with her.

"Doctor, my wife's been having really bad morning sickness lately. Could you take a look and see what's going on?"

His hand rested on Winona's slightly rounded belly, his eyes full of concern.

When they noticed my hesitation, both of them glanced up with puzzled expressions.

I ducked my head and tugged my surgical mask as high as it would go, biting down hard on my lip. I forced my voice lower.

"How far along is the baby?"

"Three months."

Three months.

But just one month ago, Winona had been beaming with joy as we picked up our marriage certificate at the courthouse.

A cold laugh escaped me. I turned away from her and dialed the phone.

"Dad, take the marriage certificate I left in the safe and bring it to the courthouse. Have them verify whether it's real."

"If it's fake, freeze Winona Harding's bank accounts, terminate her position, and reclaim the riverside penthouse we gave her."

"If it's real, do the same."

……

After I hung up, I adjusted my mask one more time, making sure Winona wouldn't recognize me.

From their conversation, I picked up the man's name: Austin Henson.

A complete stranger. Winona had never once mentioned him to me.

I crushed the shock down deep and resumed my routine questions under their curious stares.

"Have you been keeping up with your prenatal checkups on schedule?"

Winona nodded, tilting her head toward Austin.

"Yes, every single one on time."

"For the first checkup, I even pushed back an out-of-town project and caught a red-eye flight back just to be there."

A strange, swelling pressure bloomed behind my ribs. My nose stung without warning.

Based on the timing of her pregnancy, that first prenatal checkup would have fallen the day after our wedding.

No wonder she'd changed out of her wedding dress before the reception was even over, frantically packing her bags.

"Christopher Simmons, something urgent came up at work. I need to catch the last flight back."

She'd grabbed my hand, guilt written across her face, her eyes reddening in front of me for the very first time.

"Once I get everything sorted out, I promise I'll take time off and we'll have a real honeymoon. A proper one."

I'd tried to stop her. One of my shoes flew off as I chased her, and still I couldn't catch up to her retreating figure.

A bride walking out in the middle of her own wedding. The guests were polite enough not to say anything, but the amusement in their eyes was impossible to miss.

That night's humiliation was something I never wanted to live through again.

I forced a stiff smile, my tone laced with sarcasm.

"Good to hear."

I flipped through the previous examination report one more time.

"Your last results showed mild anemia. Just to be safe, we should draw some blood and run another panel."

Winona's expression tightened at that, a flicker of unease creeping into her voice.

"Is it really necessary? Austin's a picky eater. He can't stand restaurant food."

"So lately I've been cooking every meal for him myself. I've even put on a few pounds. I shouldn't still be anemic, right?"

She nestled closer into Austin's arms, her eyes glistening, looking every bit the fragile, helpless thing.

Austin immediately took her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, then looked up at me.

"Sorry about that. Winona's afraid of needles, so blood draws always make her a little anxious."

Then he turned back to her, gently patting her back.

"But for your health, let's listen to the doctor and get it checked. It'll put both our minds at ease."

"And after the exam, I'm still counting on that homemade corn and rib soup of yours."

I dug my fingers into my palm, eyes locked on the computer screen in front of me.