No Complaints, No Words

I traveled over a thousand eight hundred miles to find my wife. She was a professor at Harbor University.

As soon as I arrived, I received a call.

“Hi, Mr. Jaques. We’re just following up on the stroller your wife custom-ordered from us. Have you been happy with it? If so, would you mind leaving us a quick positive review?”

I was stunned. We had lived apart for years and did not have a child together.

Still, I remained calm and double-checked.

“Are you sure I’m the one who ordered that stroller?”

“Yes, sir, I can confirm that. Our system requires ID verification from both parents for all custom stroller orders. The mother on file is Shiloh Zoeller. Mr. Jaques, you are listed as the child’s father.”

The customer service agent sent me a screenshot of the child’s information as proof.

It indeed showed that I had a child around one month old.

The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I went to the address listed on the order.

Downstairs, a young man was chatting with a group of people.

“As of today, I’m no longer your classmate. I’m now the professor’s husband!”

A male classmate laughed and teased him. “What a show off. But come on, the kid’s already a month old. When are you and Ms. Zoeller finally tying the knot? We’re still waiting to toast you!”

Just then, a very familiar female voice spoke.

“What’s taking you so long? Get up here. Our little boy is getting impatient.”

I followed the sound of the voice and saw Shiloh holding a swaddled baby. She leaned against that man’s chest as if she had done it countless times.

“Ms. Zoeller, honestly, your secret romance with him is so enviable. Now that the baby has even passed their one-month mark, it’s worth celebrating.

“None of the other students even know that you two have been together for the past three years. You’ve really kept him under wraps.”

My wife, Shiloh, laughed cheerfully with her students.

Three years, huh?

The news devastated me. I felt hollow, and my heart ached.

Just then, I received a message from her.

[Honey, I still have to handle some matters at the university. After you land, just grab a cab and head home, okay?]

Home? It seemed like the university was just as much of a home to her.

The students began playing with the baby in her arms. Shiloh said the child’s name was Conrad.

My heartache worsened. That was the name she and I had chosen together for our future child.

“Honey, I want a little boy. He’ll be as smart and sharp as you. I don’t mind it if he’s a little troublemaker.”

“Okay then, Conrad it is. He’ll be as gentle as his mother, and hopefully life treats him well.”

All these years, Shiloh had been busy helping batch after batch of students revise their theses, preparing lectures, and going on study trips.

I, on the other hand, remained at home to care for my bedridden father-in-law year-round.

Every time I traveled to this city to see her, I had to leave him with a temporary caretaker when his condition was at its best.

We barely had any time together as husband and wife.

The child I had hoped for never came. Meanwhile, her child with another man had already turned one month old.

“I just learned this too. It turns out that you’re the one giving him nearly two thousand five hundred dollars a month for living expenses. That’s some serious spending!

A male student’s teasing pulled me back to my senses.

I clenched my fists so hard that the knuckles cracked loudly.

Back then, to help her get the job she wanted at Harbor University, I agreed to live apart after much careful thought.

She felt guilty about it and sent me almost all of her monthly paycheck which amounted to eight thousand dollars.

The amount gradually dwindled. She claimed it was a department decision and that professors were getting pay cuts across the board.

I felt bad for her, so I started pinching pennies and cutting every expense. I spent no more than four hundred dollars a month on myself.

Evidently, she had long been using that money to support another family in comfort.

Shiloh gently wrapped her arms around the man’s waist.

“Easton, it’s getting chilly. Let’s all head upstairs.”

“Alright, Ms. Zoeller!”

He held her waist happily, which drew a round of teasing from the crowd.

I was in complete shock.

So, he was Easton Goodson.

Shiloh often mentioned him, intentionally or not. She said he was a clumsy troublemaker.

He would send me holiday greetings and call me “bro” in a friendly way.

He was also the only student who knew Shiloh and I were married.

I often cared about him and texted him, telling him not to take Shiloh’s bad temper to heart.

It turned out I had been a fool all along.

Just as everyone was about to head upstairs, Shiloh glanced back and accidentally caught sight of me.

The smile on her face vanished instantly.