ManyWriters

My darling, international airline captain Aria, infertile for eight years, brought home a pair of five-year-old twins after completing her flight. She held hands with Eliot, the co-pilot I had personally trained, bypassing me and heading straight to the master bedroom with the children and luggage.
"I know what you're thinking. Although my relationship with Eliot started as an accident, we've been working in perfect sync on the plane for five years. He stood by me in extremely dangerous situations, encouraging me to successfully give birth to a son and a daughter. I could never abandon him!"
"Eliot and I have two months of rest coming up. During this time, you should temporarily move to the guest room... The children are still young; they'll have nightmares if they don't sleep with me and Eliot."
Seeing me frozen in place, Aria sighed and finally softened her voice.
"I know this situation is unfair to you, but don't worry, I won't divorce you. As long as you can get along peacefully with Eliot and treat the children as your own, we can still live happily and lovingly like before."
I spoke coldly, with indifference.
"What if I can't do that?"
Aria's face suddenly changed, her eyes turning cold and filled with warning.
"You can't? Then let's get divorced! But Chase, without me, who else would want you? A useless man with no career, no money, and can't even get me pregnant?"
Under Aria and Eliot's contemptuous and disdainful gazes, I laughed, no longer reminiscing about the eight years of marriage and three years of flying together through thick and thin.
"Fine, let's get divorced then. But Aria, you don't really think that from now on you'll have a perfect family with both children and happiness, do you?"

Darling Infertile For Eight Years, Returns With Five-year-old Twins

The neighborhood resonated with the bedtime stories Aria and Eliot were telling in the master bedroom next door. Every word drifted into my ears, occasionally punctuated by the giggles of their children.


The cozy atmosphere pierced my heart and soul, leaving a dense, suffocating ache in my chest.


I had originally planned to use Aria's vacation time to work with her on renovating the house. Now, it seemed... unnecessary.


After all, I wouldn't be the one living here with her anymore.


In just one short month, she had transferred the child's household registration and arranged for school enrollment, all neatly taken care of.


Naturally, I hadn't been idle during this month either.


Mr. and Mrs. Ashford, upon hearing about the situation, rushed over from their hometown overnight.


When Mrs. Ashford saw me, her eyes were filled with disgust.


She didn't like me; one could even say she hated me.


Partly because of Aria's decision to become a pilot against their advice, and partly because I had been married to her for eight years without having a child.


They still didn't know about Aria's infertility.


"What are you standing around for? Go make dinner already!" Unable to see that there are still two children waiting at home for breakfast. If I were you, I'd have gotten up at five in the morning to cook!


"You're just jealous that someone else can give me grandchildren when you couldn't even have any yourself!"


She had heard about what happened the day Aria returned, and her hostility towards me grew even stronger.


She had finally gotten to hold her grandchildren, and now in Mrs. Ashford's eyes, anyone who didn't adore Eliot and his two kids was her enemy.


She stormed off in a huff, but was soon coaxed back by Eliot, beaming as she cradled the two children lovingly.


Even Aria was stunned by this scene, her face unconsciously revealing a longing for such happiness.


It wasn't until I set breakfast on the table that Aria spoke three words to me.


I sat silently at the table, watching as Aria and Eliot worked in perfect sync to feed one child each.


They were so in tune, so practiced, as if this scene had played out countless times before.


Of course - after all, they had lived together for five years.


The food tasted like sawdust. I put down my chopsticks and turned to leave.


Behind me, Mrs. Ashford was still scolding me.


"Look at him, just look! Where are his manners? He has no sense of propriety at all!"Who's putting on a sour face at the dinner table for everyone to see? Acting like someone here owes him something! I told you early on not to marry him, didn't I? See, you regret it now, don't you? If only you'd listened to me back then and married a few years later. How much better it would be to be with Eliot now, all nice and proper!"


I stood quietly behind the bedroom door, listening. After eight years, I wanted to see Aria's attitude once more.


Eight years ago, she would never have allowed her mother to say a single word that put me down.


My breath caught, and with shaking hands, I went to pack my bags in the master bedroom.


That's right, I'd forgotten. It had been eight years.


Eight years is enough to change a lot of things.


On the bed in the master bedroom, there was still an open picture book and a bedtime story. The sofa still had mysterious stains on it.


I quickly gathered my clothes, and as I was leaving, I saw Aria's phone on the dressing table.


The phone vibrated with a message from the flight attendant, Faye.


"Aria, didn't you and Eliot always used to live in that house near the airline with the kids during holidays? Why'd you suddenly go back this year? Us girls can't come over to play anymore."


Chapter 4