Seven months pregnant with twins, my husband’s boss sent me a picture of Eric in her bed. Hours later, they informed me of the ultimate betrayal – he was leaving me for her and she wanted one of my children in exchange for a place to live. They didn’t know what I was planning.
I was heavily pregnant with twins when my life fell apart.
I was folding tiny nappies, dreaming of baby names, when my phone rang.
My heart raced when I saw it was a text from my husband’s boss, Veronica. I immediately assumed something bad had happened to Eric at work, but the truth was much worse.
I opened the message expecting to find out about the accident, but what I found was a picture of Eric lying in someone else’s bed with his shirt off. He’s smirking at the camera.
If I still had any doubt about what it meant, the caption below the picture made it clear: ‘It’s time for you to find out. He’s mine.’
My hands went cold. The babies squeaked inside me, almost sensing my distress. Eric was cheating on me with his boss.
I immediately called Eric, but the phone was immediately put to voicemail. I kept trying, but none of my calls went through.
By now it felt like the twins were taking turns treating my bladder like a trampoline. I slowly lowered myself onto the couch and put my hand on my stomach.
‘Take it easy, little ones,’ I murmured. ‘Mummy will always take care of you. And no matter what happens now, I know that Daddy…Eric won’t leave you, even if he betrayed me.’
I had no idea how wrong I was.
When Eric came home from work that evening, he wasn’t alone.
Veronica waltzed in as if she owned the place. Tall, confident, dressed in clothes that probably cost more than our rent. She was the kind of woman who commands attention with just her breath.
‘Eric…what is it?’ I stood in the living room and looked at them both, trying to be strong, even if I felt like I wasn’t.
Eric sighed. ‘It’s simple, Lauren. I love Veronica, so I’m leaving you. Let’s be adults and not make a scene, okay?’
The words rained down on me like physical blows. Each one hit exactly where it hurt the most.
‘You can’t be serious,’ I whispered. ‘We’re having kids in two months.’
‘Life happens,’ he said with a shrug. A shrug! Like he was discussing a change in dinner plans, not leaving his pregnant wife.
Veronica crossed her arms, her perfectly manicured nails tapping against her designer blazer.
‘And since it’s Eric’s flat, you’ll have to move out by the end of the week.’
I blushed. ‘Have you both lost your minds? I have nowhere to go! I’m carrying HIS kids!’
‘Twins, huh?’ She tilted her head, studying my stomach with cold calculation. ‘Or is it triplets? You’re rather…bloated. I think I can offer you a solution.’
Her lips curved in a smile that I assumed she mistook for a grin. ‘I’ll rent you a house and pay all your expenses, but I want one of your children.’
My blood ran cold. ‘What?’
‘I’d love to have a child, but there’s no way I’d do that with my body.’ She ran her finger over my stomach. ‘You’ll never be able to handle raising twins on your own, so it’s a win-win situation.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This woman sounded like she was talking about adopting a puppy!
‘I’m going to raise the baby as my own. They’ll have the best nannies, they’ll go to the best schools…’ – she stroked Eric’s chest, and he responded to her touch. ‘And you’ll have a roof over your head. It’s a fair deal.’
Eric nodded as she spoke, as if a trade for one of our children was reasonable.
I couldn’t breathe. How dare they turn my children into a bargaining chip? I wanted to kick them both out, but they had me cornered. I had no family or close friends I could turn to.
But then a plan formed in my head.
‘I have nowhere else to go,’ I whispered, forcing tears to spill into my eyes. ‘I agree to your deal, but I have one condition.’
Veronica smirked. ‘Clever girl. What’s the condition?’
‘I want to choose which baby you get.’ I snorted, lowering my eyes as if I was embarrassed. ‘Just give me time with them to decide which one would be better off living with you.’
She exchanged a look with Eric. They thought I was defeated – I could see it in their eyes.
‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘But don’t take too long. As soon as they’re born, we’ll take the one you don’t want.’
I nodded, wiping away a fake tear. ‘And… one more thing.’
Veronica sighed dramatically. ‘What now?’
‘You’re going to buy me a house, not rent it,’ I said firmly. ‘I need security. If you don’t agree, I’ll leave and you’ll never see either of them again.’
Eric snorted derisively, but Veronica held up a hand.
‘You’re persistent, but I agree,’ she said. ‘It will save me the trouble of looking for an alternative solution. But you’d better hold up your end of the bargain.’
I nodded, looking very different from the broken, helpless woman they thought I was.