PART 2 — The Woman Behind My Pregnancy
For several seconds I couldn't speak.
The machines continued their rhythm.
Nurses moved in and out.
Life continued around me.
But inside my head, everything stopped.
"What did you just say?"
Nathan buried his face in his hands.
"Please let me explain."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I whispered:
"Who is she?"
He looked up slowly.
"Her name is Sophia."
The name meant nothing to me.
At first.
Then memory struck.
Sophia.
The woman whose photograph I had once found hidden inside an old box in our attic.
The woman Nathan had called "a college friend."
The woman whose letters he refused to throw away.
The woman I had always suspected he never truly forgot.
My stomach twisted.
"You did this for her?"
Nathan nodded.
"She has a congenital heart condition."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Pregnancy could kill her."
Another contraction hit.
I gasped.
But the emotional pain was worse.
"So you decided to use me?"
His face crumpled.
"No. It wasn't like that."
"It wasn't?"
My voice rose.
"You secretly replaced my genetic material with hers!"
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
"She wanted children more than anything."
I laughed.
A horrible, broken laugh.
"So did I."
The words hung between us.
Sharp as knives.
"So did I, Nathan."
Finally, the truth poured out.
Years earlier, Nathan and Sophia had planned a future together.
Marriage.
Children.
Everything.
Then doctors discovered her heart condition.
Pregnancy would carry a significant risk of death.
Sophia ended the relationship.
She didn't want Nathan watching her die.
Eventually Nathan met me.
Fell in love with me.
Married me.
Or at least that's what he claimed.
But he never completely let Sophia go.
Years later, when she reappeared in his life, single and childless, the old feelings returned.
Not enough to leave me.
But enough to betray me.
During IVF consultations, Sophia secretly underwent egg retrieval.
Nathan bribed a fertility clinic employee.
My eggs were discarded.
Hers were used instead.
The embryo growing inside me belonged biologically to Nathan and Sophia.
Not me.
I felt sick.
Every kick from my baby suddenly felt different.
Not because I loved the child less.
But because every movement carried evidence of a betrayal beyond imagination.
"You stole my motherhood."
Nathan broke down sobbing.
"I thought if the baby was born, everyone would love it and none of this would matter."
The nurse walked in.
One look at our faces told her something was terribly wrong.
But before she could ask questions, another contraction slammed into me.
The baby's heart rate monitor changed.
The room erupted into activity.
And Nathan's final confession came at the worst possible moment.
"There are two more lies."
My blood turned cold.
"What?"
"The clinic wasn't the only person involved."
Fear gripped my chest.
"What else did you do?"
May you like
His answer almost stopped my heart.
"Sophia is here."
