My Sacrifice Became His Betrayal Chapter 01
Three years into our marriage, I accidentally discovered that Howard Atkinson, the man who spoiled me rotten, had bought a villa in the suburbs.
Following the GPS, I drove all the way over, arriving just in time to see him making out with Madalyn Gill by the pool.
Madalyn, her face flushed with desire, wrapped her arms around Howard’s neck and said, “It’s been three years, and Adrianna still isn’t pregnant.
“According to your family rules, if a couple has no child within the first three years of marriage, they have to adopt an heir from an orphanage.
“Howie, my due date is in five days. Could you bring our child home and make it your heir?”
Howard held Madalyn’s waist, his touch slow and tantalizing. “Sure, but don’t breathe a word to Adri, or you’ll pay dearly!”
In the next moment, water splashed loudly.
Tears slid down my face, and my heart throbbed with pain.
I never imagined anything like this, not even in my wildest dreams.
I only became infertile because I pulled Howard out of that fire five years ago.
Yet it became his very excuse to welcome his illegitimate child into the family.
Clearly, it made no difference to him whether I stayed or not.
***
I turned to leave, my legs heavy as lead. I couldn’t even find the strength to hit the brakes.
The image of Howard making love to Madalyn kept haunting my mind. Each breath I took now hurt like hell.
Back at home, I forced down the bitterness in my chest and sat numbly on the couch.
Susan Massey, the housemaid, brought over the ovulation shot and handed it to me as usual.
As the tip of the needle gleamed in the light, my thoughts drifted back to five years ago.
During Howard’s factory inspection, a fire broke out. I plunged into the flames and risked everything to pull him out.
But a burning beam crashed down on my abdomen, leaving me permanently infertile.
Howard took me to see doctors from all over the world. They all said that getting ovulation shots each month could offer a chance of a miracle.
I had been taking the shots for years. My belly was now a map of scars, some long healed, others still fresh.
Knowing how terrified I was of pain, Howard held me close and cried for hours. “Adri, stop the injections. As long as you don’t leave me, I don’t care if we have to adopt a child from the orphanage.”
I was moved to tears, and after that, I doubled the injections from once a day to twice, all for that glimmer of hope.
But one day, I found that all my ovulation shots were gone.
Susan told me that Howard had ordered her to get rid of them because he couldn’t bear to watch me suffer anymore.
To show his resolve, he even publicly announced that he would sponsor an orphanage.
He wanted to make it clear to everyone that he was going to choose a child from this orphanage to secure the Atkinson family lineage.
Once the news broke, Howard was widely praised for his love and devotion to me.
I also believed he was head over heels for me, and my love for him only intensified.
But in hindsight, he had done all this to justify his decision to bring his illegitimate child into the family.
When Howard came home, I was staring blankly at the ovulation shot in my hand.
His face clouded over with concern the moment he noticed the scrape on my calf. He hastily fetched the first-aid kit, crouched before me, and carefully lifted my leg to treat the wound.
He said, his eyes full of concern and reproach, “What was on your mind, Adri? Your calf’s bleeding. Doesn’t it hurt?
“Why are you taking the ovulation shot behind my back? Didn’t we agree to adopt a child from the orphanage next week?”
He snatched the shot from my hand and tossed it into the trash. Then he hugged me tightly and said, “Don’t do this anymore, Adri. It pains me to see you suffer.”
For a moment, his misty eyes made me believe he still loved me.
But the hickey on his collarbone crushed that delusion.
“I was just spacing out. I went to the suburbs this afternoon—”
Howard nervously cut me off, his eyes flickering with guilt. “Why did you go to the suburbs? Were you meeting someone?”
I steadied my shaking hand, let out a bitter smile, and stared at the ovulation shot in the trash. “The manufacturer of my shot is in the suburbs. I went to ask them to increase the dosage. There are a few days short of three years. I’m not ready to give up yet.”
Howard was visibly relaxed. He tied a bow over my wound and said, “Don’t be silly. We agreed to adopt from the orphanage, so stop the injections. Every time I see those needle marks on your belly, I wish I could bear the pain for you.”
Then he instructed Susan to throw away all the ovulation shots again and threatened to fire her if he ever saw them again.
He pulled me into a tight embrace, as if he wanted to make me a part of him.
But my heart clenched painfully. I choked back my tears, deciding to see if there was any warmth left in his heart. “There are only a few days left. Are you sure you don’t want to let me try one last time?”
Howard hesitated, and Susan stopped what she was doing, waiting for his answer.
After a while, he smiled at me and motioned for Susan to throw them away immediately.
With a blank face, I watched Susan dump all the boxes into a black trash bag, my heart shattering into pieces.