My Husband Used Surrogacy to Keep His Mistress Close

“You know what? I’ve been way too easy on you. This kid is my blood too—what difference does it make who gave birth? I just borrowed her womb for a while, and here you are acting all outdated and narrow-minded. Honestly, Trish? I’m disappointed in you."

He was standing behind me, snapping. Then, before he stormed off, he said, “I don’t want to have a fight with you. Think it over and calm down.”

The door slammed, and he went out, and I let out a cold laugh.

First time in my life I’d seen someone spin shamelessness into something that sounded almost noble.

Honestly, this was on me. Back when we went on a blind date, he seemed decent enough, and with my family nagging me to settle down, I went along with it.

River didn’t come home that night. The next morning, I saw Aubrey's new post on Insta.

The picture? Her belly, with a shiny gold pendant resting on it.

The caption? [Every baby deserves a dad's love. We can’t wait to meet you!]

The post was from the middle of the night, so there were already plenty of comments by the time I saw it. All from River’s buddies.

[@johnny_25: Bro, I thought you were joking about this. Didn’t think you’d actually do it! Damn!]

[@itsyoboyzach: Damn, my guy moves fast! Did it start that Truth or Dare night?]

[@chasethechaos: Congrats, congrats! So do we start calling her the second sister-in-law now? Haha!]

And, of course, River's comment was right there too.

[@catchtheriver: Shut up, boys. She’s just helping me out. If my wife sees this and divorces me, it’ll be on you!]

I liked the post. A few minutes later, the whole comment thread was gone.

Then my phone started buzzing. It was him: “Trish, they were just joking around. Don’t take it seriously—

But I cut him off. “River, let’s get a divorce.”

There was silence for a moment, then he snapped. “You’re seriously divorcing me over this?! Can you stop being so petty, Trish?!"

I just said, “I’ll send you the papers soon.”

No point wasting breath on someone like him. I hung up and went straight to work.

"Hey, can I cancel that transfer request I submitted to move off fieldwork?”

My editor looked confused. “I thought you were planning to take it easy and try for a baby?”

“Well," I explained, "I changed my mind.”

I pulled my transfer request out and shredded it right there.

Two years of marriage, and honestly, life with River had been fine. He took good care of me, and we didn’t fight much. The whole no-kids thing was just because of my job—I’m a field journalist, and it’s tough to manage both. I figured I’d switch roles, then start trying.

But now, if someone else was willing to have his kid, why should I be the one giving up my career?

I pulled out my phone and made a quick call “Find someone for me. ASAP.”

Later that day, I had an interview at the mall with one of the executives. I got there early, so I wandered around to kill some time.

As I came down the escalator, guess who I ran into? My husband, walking out of a baby store. His arms were loaded with bags of baby stuff, and he was carefully holding onto my best friend with his other hand.

He looked startled to see me, but his surprise quickly turned into mockery.

“What’s this? Having second thoughts? Following me around now?"

Before I could say a word, Aubrey clung to River's arm, putting on this fake apologetic smile.

“Trish, are you divorcing him because of me? I’m so sorry! River and I just didn’t want you to go through the pain of pregnancy, that’s all. We thought this would be easier for you. I swear I never meant to ruin your marriage!”

I yanked her hand off.

“No, it’s because you two are perfect for each other. Best wishes—may you and your dog live happily ever after."

I raised my hand to slap her, but River grabbed my wrist mid-air.

“Trish! What the hell's wrong with you? When did you become so nasty? Trying to hit people now? You’re acting like a total psycho! Apologize to her. Right now!”