Husband Faked Screening Report, Tricked Me Into Aborting IVF Baby

1: 1

To carry on the Gilbert line, I put myself through hell and finally got pregnant through IVF.

Then, three months ago, Dale came to me holding a prenatal screening report marked high risk, wrapped his arms around me, and wept:

Honey, this baby has Down syndrome. If he's born, he'll only suffer.

"Let's do it for his sake. Let's terminate. Please?"

Once again, I fell for Dale's tears, and I let them wheel me into the operating room.

Until today, just as I'd recovered from the miscarriage, when I came across a post: "What's your partner's get-out-of-jail-free card?"

One comment, from someone calling herself a mistress, shot to the top of the trending list:

"He was scared some little brat would fight me for his attention someday, so he paid to forge a prenatal screening report and tricked his wife into aborting the IVF baby."

The photo attached showed a large hand with sharp knuckles curled around her waist.

Looking at that hand, at the scar identical to the one my husband got in the earthquake, I felt like I'd dropped into a pit of ice.

So the child I'd lost was nothing but a con to keep his mistress happy.

I didn't make a scene. I just booked the divorce.

On my way to file the paperwork, the last message came from him:

"Honey, I'm bringing home your favorite chicken soup after work."

But Dale, the child you killed with your own hands will never get to taste it again.

"Honey, drink the soup first. It gets fishy when it goes cold."

Dale pushed the bowl in front of me and reached out to touch my forehead.

"Why didn't you answer my messages today?"

"My phone was on silent."

"Where did you go?"

"Out for a walk."

He tucked the loose hair behind my ear.

"The doctor said your body hasn't recovered. Don't stay out too long."

"Okay."

"Listening to me again."

Dale smiled a little, lowered his head, and spooned out the chicken leg from the soup.

"I had Mom buy an old hen just for this, stewed it four hours. It used to be your favorite."

I picked up a piece of chicken.

A layer of cilantro floated on the surface.

Ten years together, and he'd always known I didn't eat cilantro.

"Why aren't you drinking it?"

"It tastes a little strange."

"Might be Elaine Pruitt's recipe."

His hand paused for half a second, then smoothly added another spoonful of soup to my bowl.

"Back where she's from, that's how they stew it during postpartum recovery. She says it helps you heal faster."

"She knows about that too?"

"Her sister just had a baby."

Dale took my hand, his voice gentle.

"Ruby Fox, don't read into it. Elaine knows we lost the baby. She feels awful about it too."

I looked at the scar on the back of his hand.

In the photo, this same hand rested on Elaine's waist, the old wound showing just below the watch.

Nine years ago, in the earthquake, he'd shielded me with his body and been cut by falling glass.

While they stitched him up, his face went white with pain, and he was still soothing me.

"Don't cry. It's just a scar."

"From now on, whenever you see it, you'll remember I saved you."

I remembered it for nine years, all right.

"Why does Elaine feel awful?"

"She's soft-hearted."

Dale pulled his hand back and picked up his phone.

"After that report came in, she went with me to see several doctors. The day of your operation, she asked about you more than once."

"Didn't you say you were outside the operating room with me the whole time that day?"

"I was."

"Then how did she ask you?"

"By text."

"Did you reply?"

"Ruby."

He set the phone down, a trace of helplessness on his face.

"I know it's hard, losing the baby. But you can't grab hold of every woman and interrogate her."

"I was just asking."

"Good, then."

He touched my face again.

"What I worry about most is you getting stuck in your own head."

The phone screen lit up.

The contact name read Elaine.

"Dale, did you put the cilantro in the soup? I bet she can't even taste it."

Dale quickly flipped the phone over.

I bent my head and took a sip.

The taste of cilantro caught in my throat, the same as the blood I'd tasted waking from the anesthesia.

"Is it good?"

"It's good."

"Told you the recipe works."

He was visibly relieved.

"Elaine even said, if you like it, she'll teach me to make it every day from now on."

"Don't trouble her."

"It's no trouble. She really cares about you."

Dale took a tissue and wiped the soup from the corner of my mouth.

"Ruby, once you're well again, we'll have another one."

"Can we still?"

"Of course."

He answered without the slightest hesitation.

"The doctor said you only have trouble conceiving, not that you can't. We still have three embryos. Worst case, we do another transfer."

"You'd really put me through all that again?"

"This time was an accident."

Dale lowered his eyes, his voice thick.

"I wanted to keep the baby more than anyone. But a child like that, born into the world, would be mocked his whole life."

"Hate me, resent me, whatever you want. I couldn't watch you and the baby suffer."

He'd said all of this many times before the operation.

Back then I'd held his hand, begging him through tears to run the test one more time.

He'd held me tight and said he'd already asked every specialist.

"Ruby, I'm the baby's father. I'd never hurt him."

And now he could still say it without so much as a flicker.

"Dale."

"Hmm?"

"What if the report was fake?"

His knuckle knocked over the spoon.

The porcelain spoon dropped into the bowl, and the splash of soup landed on his shirt.

"How could it be?"

"I'm only saying if."

"There's no if."

He pulled out a tissue and wiped his shirt, avoiding my eyes.

"How could a report issued by the hospital be fake?"

"True enough."

I picked the cilantro out of the bowl, one strand at a time.

"The baby's gone. Fake or real doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm just glad you can let it go."

Dale wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin resting on the top of my head.

"I'll be with you my whole life."

His phone buzzed again.

Elaine had sent a photo.

The photo showed a set of black lace lingerie.

"Dale, I've got my reward on."

Dale killed the screen and dipped his head to kiss my hair.

"Something came up at the hospital, a meeting."

"You're not coming home tonight?"

"I'll try."

"If it's too late, don't bother."

He pinched my cheek, his smile deepening.

"So our Ruby finally knows how to feel sorry for her husband."

After the door closed, I poured the bowl of chicken soup into the trash.

Pressed at the bottom was half a shopping receipt.

Black lace set. Payer: Dale Gilbert.

Date of purchase: the afternoon I had my abortion.

2: 2

"Where did you put my tie?"

Seven in the morning, and Dale was calling.

"Second drawer in the closet."

"It's not here."

"On the left."

"Still nothing. Come home and help me find it."

I glanced at the suitcase beside me, half packed.

"I'm at the hospital."

"Feeling sick again?"

"Picking up my records."

"I already told you, those things only hurt every time you look at them. There's no reason to keep them."

His voice went soft.

"Be good, grab them and come home. I'll take you out to eat."

"Okay."

I hung up and slid my ID card across to the window.

The clerk paged through the system for a while, then printed only the surgical record.

"Where's the prenatal screening report?"

"There's nothing in the system."

"The doctor said it was high risk."

"We have no record of any prenatal screening submitted for you."

She turned the visit summary toward me.

"That day you only had a routine exam, and afterward you scheduled the termination."

"My husband was the one who brought the report back."

"Then you'll have to ask him which facility ran it."

I took a photo of the summary and went to the medical records office.

The doctor on duty checked the file, and her brow tightened.

"Your husband is Dale Gilbert?"

"Yes."

"At the time he said you were emotionally unstable, so he asked that everything about your condition be discussed only with him."

"So no one ever asked me whether I wanted it re-checked?"

"You signed the termination consent form yourself."

The doctor paused.

"The report Mr. Gilbert brought in was in a very standard format. It never occurred to us there might be a problem."

"Is the report still here?"

"The paper copy was taken by the family."

"Can you find out which facility it came from?"

She was quiet for a few seconds, then wrote down a string of numbers for me.

"All I can tell you is that this number doesn't match the coding format used by this city's prenatal screening center."

My phone rang while I was photographing that string of numbers.

"Did you get the records?"

"I got them."

"What did the doctor say?"

"That I've recovered well."

Dale gave a soft laugh.

"I knew it. What do you feel like eating tonight?"

"Anything."

"You always say anything, then when it's not to your taste you dump it out when no one's looking."

I gripped the visit summary tighter.

He even knew I'd poured out the chicken soup.

"Last night's soup, you saw it?"

"The housekeeper saw it this morning when she took out the trash."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be."

"Then don't waste it. Elaine went out of her way to ask her sister for the recipe. Even if you don't like her, you should still drink a couple of sips."

"Dale, does her thoughtfulness really matter that much to you?"

The line went quiet.

"She meant well."

"You can't dismiss what someone else puts in just because you don't like her."

"I understand."

"Good girl."

He coaxed me a little longer before he hung up.

I walked to the payment window and pulled up the IVF records from six months back.

The day they retrieved my eggs, my abdomen swelled up badly, and the pain kept me awake all night.

Dale cleared his schedule and stayed with me for three days.

I threw up on him, and he didn't so much as frown.

"Ruby, if it hurts that much, bite me."

Later, when the transfer succeeded, he bought dozens of parenting books and read stories to my belly every night.

How could a Dale like that not love that child?

I once tortured myself with that question for a whole night.

Now the answer was right in front of me.

He loved him.

It was just that when Elaine wanted his attention, that love could be set aside for a while.

On my phone, the trending post had already been deleted.

The account that posted it was gone too.

I opened the screenshot I'd saved last night and zoomed in on the corner of the photo.

A bank card was reflected on the glass table.

The last four digits were 0716.

I knew that card.

Our anniversary was July sixteenth, and Dale had gone out of his way to open a supplementary card for me.

He said the money on it would always be my safety net.

But in the past six months, I hadn't gotten a single spending alert.

The bank employee finished pulling the statements and handed me the itemized list.

"Starting last December, this supplementary card has had a fixed charge every month."

"Hotels, beauty stores, and a private apartment."

"And the most recent one?"

"Last night, a jewelry store, eighty-six thousand."

I folded the statement, and Dale's message came through right on cue.

"Babe, I bought you a gift."

Right after it, a photo of a diamond bracelet.

I opened the bank statement.

The place where last night's eighty-six thousand had been spent was an adult store.

3: 3

"You like it?"

Dale set the jewelry box in my hand.

"The clerk said it's a new design."

"How much?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Just curious."

"Over twelve grand."

He said it easily, bending to fasten the bracelet around my wrist.

"Your wrist is so thin. This suits you perfectly."

The diamonds were no bigger than grains of rice. The price tag on the bottom of the box read two hundred and eighty.

"You bought it last night?"

"Mm."

"Which store?"

Dale lifted his eyes.

"Why the sudden interest in the accounts?"

"I don't want you getting cheated."

"You think anyone could cheat me?"

He flicked the tip of my nose.

"Just wear it. Don't worry about the money."

"Can I have the supplementary card?"

"Isn't it already with you?"

"I mean the physical card."

His hands slowed.

"Elaine does purchasing for the department sometimes. I let her use it for now."

"And using our wedding anniversary as the PIN makes it convenient for her too?"

"Ruby."

Dale didn't get angry. He just came and sat down beside me.

"If something were really going on between us, would I be stupid enough to hand her the card?"

"Her family doesn't have much, and she just moved to the city. I help where I can."

"Renting her a private apartment is helping?"

"Her old landlord kept harassing her."

"The hotels?"

"Department dinners."

"The adult store?"

He finally went quiet.

A few seconds later, Dale took my hand.

"Last night I did go with her to buy a few things."

"For whom?"

"Ruby, do you really have to put it so crudely?"

His voice stayed level, his thumb brushing the back of my hand.

"I'll admit it. She and I crossed a line."

"When did it start?"

"After you started the IVF."

"Why?"

"You were too tense back then."

He kept his eyes lowered, like he was laying out something he'd had no choice about.

"Every day you were tracking ovulation, taking your temperature, even monitoring what time I went to bed. I couldn't say I was tired when I got home, afraid of upsetting you."

"Elaine was different. With her, I didn't have to think about the future."

"So you love her?"

"No."

Dale didn't hesitate.

"The one I've always loved is you."

"And the baby?"

His eyes flickered.

"Why bring up the baby again?"

"Was the baby in Elaine's way?"

"Of course not."

"Do you know anyone at the prenatal screening center?"

Dale drew his hand back and picked up his water glass.

"Where did you go today?"

"The hospital."

"Didn't I tell you to just get your records and come home?"

"Why is there no prenatal screening report in the system?"

The glass came down on the table with a soft click.

He rose, came over, and straightened my cuff.

"Ruby, in your condition, you shouldn't be looking into these things."

"Answer me."

"The report wasn't done at that hospital."

"Which one, then?"

"A lab out of town."

"The name."

"It was too long ago. I don't remember."

He reached out and pulled me into his arms, holding tighter than usual.

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have touched Elaine."

"Curse me if you want. Hit me, that's fine too."

"Just don't torture yourself over the baby."

"I can cut things off with her cleanly."

"How?"

"Take the card back, give up the apartment, never see her alone again."

"Will she agree to that?"

"I don't need her to agree."

Dale rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Ruby, I won't lose you over any woman."

"Then call her right now."

He let go of me, his brow creasing slightly.

"There's no reason to humiliate her in front of you."

"Breaking up is humiliating her?"

"She never asked me to divorce you. She never made a scene in front of you."

Dale said it so gently.

"Leave a person a little room. Once I've handled it, I'll give you a proper explanation."

"How long?"

"A week."

"And if I won't wait?"

"You'll wait."

He stroked my hair.

"We've known each other ten years. You can't bear to give me up."

The phone on the table began to buzz.

Dale didn't hide it from me. He answered right there.

Elaine was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

"Dale, my stomach hurts."

"Did you take the medicine?"

"I did. It still hurts."

"Get the heating pad out first. I'm coming right over."

He grabbed his coat, turned back, and kissed my forehead.

"Her periods have always been terrible. I'm taking her to the hospital."

"And me?"

"You've already recovered."

"Ruby, don't nitpick at a time like this."

The door was halfway open when he came back.

Dale slid the diamond bracelet off my wrist and set it back in the box.

"Elaine's been eyeing this one for a long time."

"She's not doing well tonight. I'll lend it to her for a couple of days."

4: 4

"Why have you packed everything up?"

Dale opened the closet just as I was putting the last few clothes into the suitcase.

"Change of season."

"It's only April."

"Getting a head start."

He watched me for a moment, then reached over and pressed the lid shut.

"Still angry about the bracelet?"

"No."

"Last night I only lent it to her to wear."

"Mm."

"I've already made everything clear with Elaine."

Dale took the supplementary card out of his pocket and pressed it into my palm.

"The apartment lease ends at the end of the month, and I've got the card back."

"She agreed to that?"

"She cried about it."

He bent his head and kissed my brow.

"I promised her some compensation."

"How much?"

"Seventy thousand."

"On what grounds?"

"She was with me half a year. I can't just kick her out with nothing."

Dale's tone was matter-of-fact.

"I'm giving her the money to end it completely. After this, we'll live our life properly."

"And the post she put up?"

His hand stopped abruptly on my shoulder.

"What post?"

I pulled up the screenshot.

"This one."

Dale looked at it for a few seconds, his face barely changing.

"Plenty of people have scars on their hands."

"And the bank card?"

"The number wasn't even fully in frame."

"And that set of lingerie?"

"That style is common too."

He closed the image and handed the phone back to me.

"You can suspect me, fine, but you can't see one anonymous comment and pin it all on yourself."

"Why is the report number fake?"

"Who told you that?"

"The hospital."

Dale sat down on the edge of the bed and was silent for a long time.

When he finally spoke, his voice was a little hoarse.

"The report really wasn't from an official facility."

"The baby was healthy, wasn't it?"

"You can't put it that way."

"Dale, I only want a yes or a no."

"Ruby, screening results always carry a margin of error."

He took my hand. His palm was cold.

"Two of the markers were borderline at the time. The doctor said continuing the pregnancy could carry risks."

"Which doctor?"

"Is that the point?"

"The point is you forged a high-risk report."

"I was making the decision for you."

"Killing my baby for me?"

Dale's face went white for an instant.

"Don't use the word kill."

"Then what do you call it?"

"Terminating a pregnancy that might not have been healthy."

He lifted a hand and pressed it to his brow.

"Back then you threw up every day, couldn't eat, your legs cramped at night. The doctor said the risk would only climb later on."

"You were scared something would go wrong with the baby, and scared something would go wrong with you."

"Elaine only helped me see clearly that we couldn't destroy our life over one baby."

"What did she say?"

"She asked me, if the baby was born and needed care its whole life, what would you do?"

"She also said that between the fertility treatments and everything, you weren't like your old self anymore."

"So?"

"I want my wife back."

Dale pulled me into his arms again.

"Ruby, what I love is you, not your womb."

"Even without a baby, we can spend a lifetime together."

"But yesterday you were still saying you wanted to do another transfer."

"After you've truly recovered, we'll talk about it."

"When?"

"At least two years."

"And the remaining embryos?"

"Keep them frozen for now."

"The storage fee is about to expire."

"I'll renew it."

He answered too fast.

I stepped back out of his arms and dialed the fertility center.

"Hello, I'd like to check on the status of some frozen embryos."

The staff member confirmed my identity and asked me to hold.

Dale reached out and put his hand over the phone.

"Ruby, let's eat first."

"I've got you on speaker."

"Don't be like this."

"Didn't you say you'd renew the fee?"

The call connected again.

"Ms. Fox, your embryos are no longer in storage."

My nails dug into my palm.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Gilbert applied to terminate storage three months ago. All three embryos have been processed according to procedure."

"I never signed anything."

"The application form carries the signatures of both spouses."

Dale reached for the phone.

I turned away from him, my eyes fixed on the call screen.

The staff member hesitated for a moment.

"Ms. Fox, Mr. Gilbert said at the time that you had just come out of surgery and couldn't come in."

"He submitted that confirmation form on your behalf."