He Killed Our Baby Then Begged Me to Stay

Everyone knew my husband loved me more than life itself.

The only regret between us was that after three years of marriage, we still didn't have a child of our own.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I wept with joy. I couldn't wait to get home and share the news with him.

But the man who had loved me for seven years didn't react the way I'd imagined. Not even close.

He gripped the ultrasound printout, his face darkening, and let out a cold, derisive laugh.

"You cheat on me and then come home grinning to share the good news? What am I supposed to do, throw you a parade?"

"I must've treated you too well all these years. Made you think you could do whatever you wanted. And now you actually have the nerve to make me raise some other man's bastard?"

I didn't understand. I couldn't understand why he was reacting this way. I searched his face desperately for an answer.

Then he slammed a medical report down in front of me.

"I have azoospermia!"

"Go ahead. Tell me. Where did this bastard come from?"

——

I stared at the report on the coffee table, the room tilting around me.

Kieran Sanchez's face was a mask of contempt, his eyes sharp with something cruel.

"Say it. Say it right now. Tell me the baby in your belly is mine."

"Harper Whitfield, I have to hand it to you. That innocent little act of yours, so convincing. Meanwhile you've been doing filthy things behind my back. I really did underestimate you."

I snatched the report off the table. The words were right there, printed in black and white.

Azoospermia.

I shook my head, unable to accept what I was reading.

"No... that's impossible! You were my first. I've never been with another man."

"How could this baby not be yours!"

Kieran shot to his feet and ripped the report from my hands.

"Even now, you're still lying! Harper, haven't I been good to you all these years? Money, love, devotion. What have I ever denied you?"

"And what did I get in return? You sleeping around behind my back and trying to pass off someone else's kid as mine!"

His eyes were bloodshot, every muscle in his jaw straining against his fury.

I lunged forward and grabbed his hand, the words tumbling out of me.

"Kieran, believe me, please believe me. This baby is yours."

"There has to be something wrong with the test. You can't have azoospermia. We'll go to another hospital. We'll get retested—"

He wrenched his hand free.

He used every ounce of his strength. I wasn't braced for it. My feet left the ground and I hit the floor hard.

Kieran crouched down, seized my chin in a vise grip, and spoke in a voice so cold it barely sounded human.

"Harper, why are you still fighting this?"

"That test was done at the biggest hospital in Ridgeport. The deputy director performed it personally. Do you really think there's been a mistake?"

"Now tell me. On your way home with that ultrasound, what were you thinking?"

I looked up at him and saw tears streaming down his face, heavy and uncontrolled.

He didn't seem to notice. He just kept talking.

"Were you thinking you'd finally have a child of your own, even if it wasn't mine?"

"Or were you figuring out how to deceive me? How to slip this past me without my ever knowing?"

"Or maybe you were celebrating with your lover. The two of you finally have proof of your love!"

His fingers tightened on my chin, grinding into bone. A cry of pain tore from my throat.

When he heard it, a smile flickered across his face.

"Does that hurt? That pain is nothing. Not even a fraction of what I feel right now." His voice cracked. "I knew you wanted children. I told you we could adopt."

"So why? Why did you have to hurt me like this?"