I Lost Our Baby Saving My Husband’s Mistress

Maria woke in a hospital room that felt oddly cozy—nothing like the cold, sterile place she’d expected. After she collapsed, some Good Samaritan had found her and brought her in, saving her life. Naturally, she was desperate to know who.

When the nurse came in to change her bandages, Maria asked right away, "Is the person who brought me here still around?"

The nurse smiled. "They already left, but they made sure you were stable first. They even paid your hospital bill."

A stranger had shown her more kindness than Easton Rodriguez ever had.

"Did they leave any contact info?" Maria asked. She wanted to thank them—and repay them. If not for them, who knew what might have happened to her?

"We asked," the nurse said, "but they said it was inconvenient. Still, they seemed to know you. They knew your name."

Maria paused. A familiar feeling washed over her.

Only one person would care that much and then disappear without a trace. Her eyes burned at the thought of him. "May I borrow your phone?"

Easton’s house staff had thrown hers into a nearby river, so she had no way to call.

"Of course." The nurse unlocked the phone and handed it over before stepping out.

Maria took a deep breath and dialed a number she hadn’t used in years. It rang several times before a deep, familiar voice answered, "Who’s this?"

The sound nearly broke her. "Vance…"

She tried to keep it together, but her voice wavered.

Vance Perry didn’t answer right away. After a long pause, he asked curtly, "What do you want?"

His tone was ice, but Maria didn’t feel angry. If anything, it felt like a reckoning. "I’m sorry, Vance…"

Vance let out a bitter laugh. "And what exactly is Mrs. Rodriguez apologizing for? I don’t recall you ever crossing me."

Maria couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. "I let you down. I let our mentor down."

"You never cared, did you?" Vance shot back with a harsh laugh. "You left everyone for Easton Rodriguez—even the prodigy the National Research Division recruited at fourteen! You walked out on the girl who gave up days and nights in that lab for her research!"

Vance’s voice climbed. "Tell me, Maria—was Easton really worth sacrificing everything?"

Once, she would have said yes without blinking. Now, the answer had changed. "Vance, are you still recruiting for your AI tech project?"

Vance had trained in the same research lab as Maria under Professor Arthur Spencer. He had been her senior colleague long before she married Easton. Now he heard what she wasn’t saying. "Finally done putting Easton before yourself? You worked your way up for two years just to become his executive secretary. Five years of your life, Maria. For a man who barely looks at you."

The sarcasm didn’t sting. She knew it came from anger, not cruelty. "If you need someone, I want in."

The day she signed the divorce papers, she cut every tie to Easton Rodriguez. The Maria who had sacrificed everything for him was gone—left behind in the operating room where he had coldly wished her dead.

Vance paused. "If you’re serious, be at Apex’s top-floor conference room at nine-thirty a.m. next Tuesday. Don’t be late."

The line went dead.

"Next Tuesday…" Maria did the math. "It’s Saturday now. That gives me two days."

She knew her body wasn’t in any shape to leave, and the doctors might not discharge her by then. But if she wasn’t on time, Vance might never give her another chance.

Maria set her jaw. "I have to make this happen."

Two days later, against the doctor’s advice, Maria left the hospital.

Her first stop was the lakeside mansion. She wouldn’t have come back except to get her things.

To her surprise, Easton was there.

She hesitated for half a second, then headed upstairs, ignoring him on purpose. She just wanted her things. She wasn’t about to waste a single extra minute in his company.

"Stop." Easton rose from the sofa and caught her wrist, his stare hard. "Forgot what I told you the other day?"

He’d hoped some time at the family manor would teach her to fall in line. Clearly, she hadn’t learned a thing.

Maria hadn’t planned on answering, but the words tore out of her. "I haven’t forgotten. I never will."

His words had stayed with her, just like the scars on her body. She would never forget what her devotion had cost her.

Easton’s expression softened a fraction. "Maria, if you think playing the baby card will win you any affection, remember—I’m not like Grandma."

Maria clenched her fists. "Don’t worry. I won’t. The baby is already—"

Before she could finish, Easton’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, let go of her wrist, and walked toward the wide window overlooking the lake.

The shift in his face said it all. Kylie Taylor. Again.

Maria swallowed the old ache in her chest and kept going upstairs.

As she rolled her suitcase out, she remembered something she’d left behind. She unlocked a drawer in her dresser and took out the photo she treasured—the one of her with her father and brother.

She’d been in too much of a hurry last time and forgotten it. Thank God she remembered now.

She wiped the dust from their faces, tears slipping down her cheeks even as she smiled. "Dad, don’t worry. I miss you both. From now on, I’m living for myself and Mom."