Chapter 3: The Ultimatum

Jessica and Linda went ahead and brought Ryan and the boy back to the house.

Linda hovered protectively over her precious grandson. "As long as I'm alive, Noah is my grandson. I won't let anyone bully him."

Her eyes kept darting toward me, guarded and suspicious.

Ryan caught her meaning. A flicker of smugness crossed his face. Gone was the uncertainty from before. He puffed out his chest.

"Don't worry, Michael. I'm not trying to take your place. I just want my son to be able to stay close to his mother. I don't want Noah to grow up with the stigma of being labeled a bastard."

I curled my lip, unable to hide the sarcasm. "That label wouldn't be undeserved. No matter what you do, that fact isn't going to change."

Ryan's face went pale. He turned to Jessica with a wounded look.

Jessica frowned. "Michael, where are your manners?"

Her cold words made my heart clench. My hands hung limp at my sides, uselessly gripping and releasing. My voice came out dry and cracked. "Five years ago, I said there wouldn't be a second time…"

Jessica rubbed her son's palm absently and answered in a careless tone. "I already signed the divorce papers. I'm not stopping you from leaving. But have you forgotten? I'm still carrying your child."

She rested her hand on her swollen belly.

"Michael, I just want to bring Noah home. He's only five years old. He can't grow up without his mother. Can you please stop being so petty? Besides, wouldn't it be nice for our child to have an older brother?"

She didn't seem to think she'd done anything wrong. Her casual, breezy words snuffed out the last shred of hope I had left.

Before I could respond, she added, "Mom and I already talked it over. We're throwing a party next week. We're going to have Noah officially recognize you as his godfather. That way, people will stop talking."

I swallowed the ache rising in my chest. I couldn't believe she'd already thought that far ahead.

"I won't agree to that."

Jessica let out a short, mocking laugh. "Fine. Then I'll go to the hospital right now and get an abortion."

My head snapped up. I shouted, "Are you out of your mind?! The baby's not even eight months yet!"

Jessica's face stayed perfectly calm, but her words were brutal. "I'm the mother. I have that right. If it's born, it's a child. If it's not born yet, it's just a clump of cells. So you think it over. Either Noah becomes your godson, or I go to the hospital."

She turned and left with Ryan and Noah without another word.

For a long time after that, we didn't speak at all. She didn't come home.

Maybe because everything was finally out in the open, Jessica started posting on social media constantly—something she never used to do. Most of the posts were pictures of her with Ryan and Noah.

Even the captions were suggestive, making it look like the three of them were the real family.

Friends who saw her posts started calling me, trying to figure out what was going on.

[Michael, who's that guy in Jessica's photos? And that kid—he looks just like her. Please tell me that's not…]

[And who's the man?]

I didn't have the energy to answer any of their questions.

Only the friends who knew what had happened five years ago tried to warn me. "Are you and Jessica having problems? I told you back then—you never should have forgiven her. Once a cheater, always a cheater."

I gave a bitter smile. Everyone else could see it so clearly.

Only I had been stupid enough not to.