Chapter 1

Trying to conceive with my husband for three years, not once did it take.

Until one time I was taking folic acid in front of my doctor friend.

She snatched my pills, found them suspicious and ground them into powder.

"This isn't folic acid at all, these are birth control pills."

After hearing my friend's words, I sent the pills to a lab for testing.

It turns out, I had been taking birth control pills for three years.

These pills were all given to me by Dashiell. Every time before we had sex, he would coax me into swallowing one.

Just as I was about to confront him with the test results, I received a message from Evelina in our friend group chat.

The photo showed a pregnancy test with two red lines.

[Hubby, want to make a bet?]

[Do you think I'll have a little Dashiell or a little Evelina?]

[I bet it'll be a little Dashiell.]

Two minutes later, she pretended to be embarrassed: [Sorry everyone, I sent that to the wrong person.]

[I can't unsend it, please just pretend you didn't see it.]

I gave a cold, bitter laugh, but finally shed that sense of moral obligation.

Replying to the crush in my youth: [In one month, I'll go with you.]

————————

The group chat fell silent for a while.

Later someone spoke up: [Well, congratulations indeed.]

[When did you two get married?] [How could you keep this from us? We’d have come to your wedding!]

Someone in the group initiated a payment transfer with a note saying "wedding gift money."

Everyone else quickly followed suit and started transferring money as well.

Evelina shyly sent two embarrassed emojis.

[Thank you all for your well wishes. Please don't make a fuss, just pretend you didn't see anything.]

[How can we ignore this? Even though we weren't invited to the wedding banquet, we can't forget about our friendship.]

[That's right, you and Dashiell finally got together after all this time. As your friends, we should still offer our congratulations.]

This group chat was for Dashiell's close college friends.

After we got our marriage license, he added me to the group.

He said: "These are all my friends. It's good for you to get to know them too."

When they asked Dashiell who he had added to the group, Dashiell only said:

[A friend.]

[If it's a friend, introduce her to us. Maybe we can set her up with one of us single guys.]

Dashiell stayed silent, so I followed his lead and stayed quiet too.

I had been lurking in this group chat the whole time.

Back then, Evelina had snapped at them: [Don't act so thirsty every time you see a woman.]

[If you want a girlfriend, go find one yourself.] The Stratton and Myerson families are both affluent households, and the parents have always wanted to plan a grand wedding.

However, they were always rebuffed by Dashiell, who said, "I'm at a critical point in my career right now. I don't even have time to plan a regular wedding, let alone a lavish one."

"We'll talk about it later."

This postponement dragged on for five years.

I had long since given up hope for a grand wedding. It would be nice to have one, but it was also fine without it.

These friends of Dashiell's didn't even know he was married, much less that he hadn't married Evelina, who had been known as his perfect match back in school.

The group chat kept buzzing with messages, and my phone screen remained lit in my hand.

I stared coldly at the screen, my tears falling in streams, disconnected from my soul.

Yet I didn't know how to express the pain and resentment in my heart.

For a moment, I hoped Dashiell would chime in and say it was all just a rumor.

But as the chat remained active until the end, the man of the hour, frantically tagged by everyone, remained completely silent.

Evelina accepted the red envelope, saying, "Thank you all, consider it a welcome gift for the baby."

"Once the baby is born, we'll invite all you guys out for a get-together."]

[Everyone, please make sure to come and show your support then. Thank you all on behalf of the little sweetheart in my belly~]

Judging from Evelina's words, they've clearly decided to keep the baby.

My chest feels tight and uncomfortable. I open the window to let some air in.

Standing on the balcony, taking deep breaths of the outside air, I feel like my heart is suffocating.