The Substitute Wife’s Second Chance

Agony ripped through my abdomen. I gripped the metal bedrails, my knuckles turning white under the harsh fluorescent lights of the delivery room. The pain was absolute, tearing through my muscles and leaving me panting for air.

"Push, Victoria, push!" Dr. Evans ordered from the end of the bed.

"Where is Daniel?" I screamed, thrashing against the damp sheets. "I need my husband!"

"He is right outside," the nurse said. She dabbed my forehead with a wet cloth. "Focus on the baby."

The contraction faded, leaving my body limp. The heavy wooden door stood an inch ajar. Through the narrow crack, Daniel's voice drifted into the room. Cold. Detached.

"Make sure it happens," he said.

Another male voice murmured something low and indistinguishable.

"I do not care about the medical ethics," Daniel replied, his tone hardening. "This child cannot live. She must be exactly like Zoe."

The words paralyzed me. The tearing pain in my stomach vanished, instantly replaced by an icy terror.

Zoe.

His first love. The woman who died five years ago. The woman who bled out in a delivery room just like this one, taking her unborn baby to the grave with her.

My mind raced, connecting the horrifying dots. All these years, his gentle touches, his soft smiles, the way he brushed my hair behind my ear—none of it was for me. It was for the ghost staring back at him through my eyes.

"Daniel!" I shrieked. My voice tore through my throat, raw and desperate. "Daniel, get in here!"

The door swung open.

Daniel stood there, his tailored suit immaculate, his expression completely blank. He looked at me as if I were a stranger on the street, not his wife of three years carrying his child.

"What did you just say?" I demanded, pushing myself up on my elbows. "What did you tell them to do to my baby?"

He walked closer, stopping at the edge of the bed. He kept his hands in his pockets.

"Lie down, Victoria," he instructed. "The doctors know what to do."

"I heard you!" Tears blurred my vision, spilling hot and fast down my cheeks. "You want our baby to die? Because of Zoe?"

He didn't flinch. "Zoe lost her child. She lost her life. It is only fair."

"Fair?" I spat. I grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him. It bounced harmlessly off his chest. "I am not her replacement! I am your wife!"

Daniel tilted his head. A cruel, empty smile touched his lips. "If Zoe had lived back then, I never would have fallen in love with you."

The fetal monitor beeped rapidly, matching my racing heart.

"Three years, Daniel," I cried. "Three years of marriage. Was any of it real?"

"You played your part perfectly," he replied.

"When I was sick last winter, you stayed by my bed for three days! Was that for Zoe?"

"Zoe hated being alone when she had a fever."

"And our anniversary? The necklace you gave me?"

"Zoe's favorite gemstone was sapphire."

The revelations hit me like physical blows. Every memory I cherished was tainted. Every kiss was a lie.

"You are sick," I whispered.

"I am loyal," he corrected.

"Then why not just let me go?" I sobbed, pointing a shaking finger toward the door. "Divorce me. Let me raise the child on my own. You never have to see us again."

"Because Zoe didn't get to walk away," he snapped, his voice finally losing its calm veneer. "Zoe died on a table just like this one. She screamed just like you are screaming. She bled out while the doctors tried to save a baby that was already dead."

"That isn't my fault!"

"It is the price!" he roared, slamming his hand against the wall. The nurses jumped. "You get her face, you get her life, you pay her price!"

"You used me. You married me because I look like her. And now you want to recreate her death?"

"You get to live," Daniel pointed out, his tone