We'd been DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids) for five years when my wife suddenly announced she wanted a baby.
That night, I gleefully tossed all the condoms in the trash, showered, and climbed into bed, only to be kicked straight off by Sophia.
Seeing my bewildered face, she said with utter disdain, Who said anything about having a baby with you? Blake Harrington's mother was just diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her dying wish is to hold a grandchild. I have to fulfill it.
I rushed to reason with her. "Sophia, he can find someone else to have a kid! You're my wife. You should be having my children."
Sophia just looked at me impatiently. "Blake saved my life. I owe him this."
"As for you," she continued, her voice cold, "you've lived in luxury with me all these years. You should be grateful. If you keep making a fuss over this, you're being incredibly selfish."
That night, I called her best friend, Chloe, hoping she could talk some sense into Sophia. But after hours of talking, it was useless.
Watching my usually sweet and gentle wife, now showing impatience towards me for the first time C all for Blake Harrington C a bitter taste flooded my mouth.
"Fine," I said, my voice tight. "Let's have our own child first. Then you can do IVF for him. But after the baby's born, you cut all contact with him. That's my final line in the sand."
Sophia just gave me a dismissive look. "Blake's mother might only have a year and a half left. Do you want that poor woman to die with regret? How can you be so heartless?"
Her gaze was steely. "This isn't up for discussion. It's my body. I'll have a baby for whomever I choose."
Instantly, my heart plunged into an icy abyss. The last shred of hope vanished. My voice turned cold. "Sophia Romano. We're getting a divorce."
...
Hearing the word "divorce," Sophia stared at me, shocked. "What? You dare ask me for a divorce?"
Chloe jumped in, her tone laced with warning. "Vincent Rossi, the life you have? Sophia gave you everything."
"Without her, you'd probably be begging on the streets somewhere. How dare you say something like that? You're completely out of your depth."
So Chloe was in cahoots with her too. I never should have called her to help.
Bolstered by her friend, Sophia's attitude hardened. "Blake was the hottest guy on campus. Our child would inherit amazing genes, destined for greatness."
"And besides," she added flippantly, "what's so important about blood? The baby's in my belly. I'll decide who its father is."
"Don't worry," she said, her voice softening slightly, "you'll still be my husband. When the kid grows up, they can take care of both of us. What's wrong with that?"
Listening to Sophia's self-righteous justifications, thinly veiled as being for my benefit but really all for Blake Harrington, felt like a knife twisting.
Suddenly, memories of Sophia and me flooded back.
I first met Sophia Romano in the hospital. I was there with my sick mother, and she was the nurse on the ward. Mom was always frail, and Sophia cared for her like a daughter.
Once, I was short on cash for Mom's hospital fees. Without a word, Sophia used her own paycheck to cover it, saving me in my moment of desperation.
I learned she came from a broken home. Her CEO father had an affair, left her mother for the other woman, and abandoned them both.
Later, I went to her apartment to repay her and brought some things for her mother. On the way, I saw her being harassed by a group of men.
I didn't hesitate. I charged in and fought them off.
She sobbed into my arms. "Vincent, my dad... he died. His will left everything to me, his only daughter."
"But my stepmother is jealous. She sent those men... to... to ruin me. So I'd be too ashamed to live."
From that day on, I moved Sophia and her mother into my place, protecting them from her wicked stepmother.
Another time, when I took her out, black-clad men tried to drag her into a car. I shoved her out of the way and fought them bare-handed. They broke my leg with a pipe and stabbed me.
Sophia screamed for help. Luckily, the police arrived just in time. The doctor said the knife missed a major artery by a millimeter. I almost didn't make it.
Later, I helped her fight the legal battle. We won her father's inheritance and his company, kicking her stepmother out for good.
I joined her company as a designer, helping her build the business bigger and better.
Before we married, she confessed she was a DINK. She was afraid of family, terrified a child would have an unhappy childhood like hers.
I respected her choice. I wanted to prove through my actions that I could give her security, help her heal, help her step out of the shadows.
But how bitterly ironic. My mother, who battled cancer for five years, pleaded on her knees for a grandchild, and Sophia never wavered. Now, she was willing to break her vow for Blake Harrington's mother?
My fists clenched. I stared at Sophia, my eyes burning. "My mother begged you for a grandchild, practically on her knees, and you never budged."
"Now you make an exception for Blake Harrington's mother? Did you ever truly see me as your husband?"

My words seemed to startle Sophia for a second. "Vincent Rossi, don't change the subject! Blake saved my life!"
"My life belongs to him! If he hadn't donated a kidney to me back then, I'd be dead. So having his baby is the least I can do, isn't it?"
Hearing such cold words from my wife of five years felt like a physical blow.
My hand instinctively went to my own abdomen. If Blake was the one who saved her... then where did this scar come from?
Seeing my silence, her tone softened slightly. "Vincent, I know you're worried. But trust me, having this baby won't change anything between us."
"I'll tell the child you're its real father. We can raise the child together. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
A bitter laugh escaped me. "Sophia Romano, what do you take me for? Some pathetic doormat? Why should I raise another man's child?"
Sophia's eyes flashed with anger. "Vincent Rossi, are you insane! It's just IVF! I won't be sleeping with Blake!"
"You're disgusting, seeing filth everywhere! I'm telling you, this isn't up for discussion. I'm having this child for him!"
With that, she turned towards the door. "I have things to handle at the office. Pull yourself together before you come in. And don't breathe a word of this to anyone at the company."
She slammed the door, leaving me standing there, stunned.
I couldn't accept my wife carrying another man's child. I turned and went to the bedroom to pack my clothes.
That's when I found it. Sophia's abortion paperwork. Dated just a week ago.
I thought back. It must have been after that night we got drunk... we hadn't used protection.
Sophia had been with me constantly. That baby... it had to have been mine.
A sharp pain lanced through my chest. For Blake Harrington, that pretty boy, Sophia had killed our child. My child.
I drove straight to the office. Outside Sophia's office, her secretary tried to stop me.
"Mr. Rossi, Ms. Romano instructed no disturbances."