I Took My Husband’s Mistress To Her Appointment. Then Sent Them Both To Prison Chapter 01
After I got my patient advocate license, my first assignment was to accompany a young woman to an appointment for her thirty-fourth abortion.
She had signed an electronic authorization through the platform, giving me access to the day’s visit summary and her surgical history. The dates ran down the chart in a sickening list.
“Did you choose every one of these procedures yourself? Has anyone pressured or controlled you? I can call the hospital social worker and the LAPD right now if you need help.”
She gave a bitter laugh through clenched teeth. “My boyfriend’s such a control freak, it’s insane.”
“He refuses to use protection and won’t let me take birth control. He’d love nothing more than to trap me with a baby, but I’m not giving him what he wants.”
She shoved her phone under my nose, lips curling smugly. “Look. I’ve barely been gone, and he’s already losing his mind.”
Ninety-nine unread iMessages filled the screen. The contact was saved as Baby.
But the hand-drawn profile picture was unmistakable—the one I had made two days earlier and insisted my husband, Rhys Sterling, use. My blood turned to ice. If Rhys had the nerve to cheat on me, I would expose every filthy detail in every group chat we shared.
I had just opened the share menu when she spotted the same number on my phone. She snatched it out of my hand and shrieked, “Why do you have my boyfriend’s private number? Are you trying to seduce him?”
…
Her shrill voice cut through the clinic, drawing a crowd within seconds. I dragged in a breath, but the shaking wouldn’t stop.
The boyfriend she was screaming about was my husband of five years. Harlan Sterling had fathered several children with other women when he was younger. Now his adult heirs were locked in a vicious fight over the family trust.
Rhys claimed secrecy was the only way to protect me, so no one knew about us—not while we dated, and not after we married. He insisted on contraception every time.
Whenever I got pregnant anyway, he insisted I end it, promising we could have children once the family war was over. And all that time, he had gotten another woman pregnant thirty-three times.
Livia’s face flushed crimson. She spun toward the growing crowd and shouted, “Everybody, look! I paid a fortune for this patient advocate, and she’s trying to steal my boyfriend while I’m pregnant!”
“She even pretended she was worried I’d get screwed in a prenup. What a joke. Explain yourself right now, or I’ll make sure you never work in Los Angeles again.”
More people gathered around us.
I took back my phone, sent Rhys her appointment sheet from my new work number, and kept my voice level. “Ms. Kessler, you’ve misunderstood. Mr. Sterling hired me privately to keep you safe.”
She froze, then grabbed her phone. “If you’re lying, you’re finished.”
He answered on the first ring. She put him on speaker.
Rhys’s voice came through, trembling with excitement. ” Livia, you’re pregnant again?”
“Listen to me. You’re not getting rid of this one.”
After a beat, he gave a low laugh. “Or you won’t be walking straight for a week.”
Livia’s face flamed. Her knees nearly buckled as she purred, “You’re such a perv. Don’t you dare come home tonight.”
My fists clenched until my nails bit into my palms. His words sliced straight through me.
When I first fell for Rhys, he was known across campus for being cold and untouchable. Even when I threw myself at him in bed, he always held back. Hearing that openly flirtatious, intimate tone, I realized the man I’d loved for eight years might have been a stranger all along.
Livia ended the call and flashed me a coy smile. ” Sorry.”
“My boyfriend’s gorgeous, loaded, and incredible in bed. Women are always throwing themselves at him.”
“But you’re right. Hiring someone to watch me is exactly the kind of thing he’d do.”
I forced a smile. “It’s fine. You’re my client too.”
A nurse called Livia’s name and led us into an exam room. The doctor reviewed her ultrasound and surgical history, then got straight to the point.
“Ms. Kessler, the repeated procedures have caused significant uterine scarring. Another termination could make it even harder for you to conceive naturally or carry a pregnancy to term. Are you certain you want to proceed?”
Her face went white. She grabbed my hand and didn’t let go until we had left the hospital.
“I’m keeping this one. And don’t tell Rhys what the doctor said. Understood?”
I took a breath. “Of course, Ms. Kessler.”
“Mr. Sterling also instructed me to make sure you get home safely.”
Livia considered that, then smiled and nodded. “Fine. I shouldn’t be out by myself now that I’m pregnant anyway.”
“My boyfriend had Alaskan king crab flown in yesterday. Let me treat you to dinner as an apology.”
I slid behind the wheel. The moment her destination appeared on the navigation screen, my fingertips started trembling.
“Ms. Kessler, Mr. Sterling moved you into the Bel Air estate? I heard the other branches of the family were watching that place closely. Isn’t it dangerous?”
She relaxed and laughed softly. ” You really are just an outside patient advocate.”
“He dealt with those people a long time ago and hired the best security money can buy. All those rumors online? He planted them to throw his rivals off.”
I stared at her.
After we married, Rhys told me the modest home I’d bought was better for us. The Bel Air estate had too many eyes on it, he said. It wasn’t safe.
That was why he had never taken me there. It wasn’t because he was afraid I would get hurt.
I simply wasn’t the woman he wanted inside.