After Nursing His Brother's Child, I Sought Divorce

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After I gave birth to my daughter, my milk came in heavy. My daughter couldn't finish it, and my breasts often swelled until they ached, so I'd call my husband over to help, or pump it out with the breast pump.

My husband had a buddy whose son was born a few days later, and his buddy's wife had almost no milk. On my husband's suggestion, the buddy brought the boy over and asked me to nurse him too.

At first I didn't mind. But before long the buddy just moved into our home with the baby, holed up in the bedroom with my husband playing video games all day. After her postpartum month was up, the buddy's wife started coming by all the time too. The three of them were one big happy crowd, and in my own house I felt like a stranger, an outsider looking in.

Several times I reminded my husband that formula would feed the baby just fine. He said breast milk was best, and that nursing both babies would keep me from the pain of engorgement.

After that I stopped interfering in their little group.

Then, half a year later, I finished nursing both babies, looked at my husband's flushed, healthy face, and told him flatly that I wanted a divorce.

He sat there stunned for a long moment before saying, in shock, "You want to divorce me just because I had you help nurse his kid?"

I nodded. "Yes."

His eyes went red in an instant. "You had too much milk, it hurt when it swelled, and throwing it out is a waste. So you fed it to my buddy's son. What's the big deal? It's not like he was sneaking looks at you while you nursed."

I said nothing, and I held firm about the divorce.

When my mother-in-law heard, she rushed over and jabbed a finger at me, cursing. "My son treats you so well. Back then you took our big bride price and never brought a dowry back. Later my son gave you money to start your company. He's a man who still takes care of the home, cooks for you now and then, and when you were doing your postpartum month, he wiped you down with a warm towel himself."

"You ungrateful thing. Have you got someone on the side, and now you're inventing excuses to divorce?"

I gave one cold laugh after another and didn't bother to answer.

Seeing that, my husband's eyes misted over. "You throw a fit about divorce just because I asked you to help nurse his kid? Is that fair to me?"

I smiled. "I think you'd be better off living your life with them. I'll be waiting for you at the county clerk's office tomorrow morning."

After I gave birth to my daughter, my milk came in heavy, and at my husband's request I nursed his buddy's child.

The moment his buddy Wade Summers arrived, he'd dump his son on me to look after, and then the two of them would go off to game together, playing until the world went dark. Later Wade's wife started coming too, joining right in with them.

I wore myself out looking after two babies, and sometimes I'd notice my husband's face turning ruddy and healthy after gaming with them.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and today I told my husband Clyde Rowe I wanted a divorce.

When Wade saw me heading for the door, he moved to block me. "Have you lost your mind? Clyde only asked you to help nurse my kid. He didn't do anything wrong. Or is it that it bothers you because you're nursing a boy and not a girl?"

I shoved him aside and said coldly, "You all know exactly what the reason is."

Wade's wife, Mick Lawrence, arrived, and once she'd heard the whole story she smiled and patted my shoulder. "Sis, Clyde's a good man. While you were over there nursing the baby, he was home doing the housework, sometimes even handling things for your company. Don't throw away a marriage over a little thing like this."

"Don't touch me."

I flung her hand off.

"Is it that you're upset because your milk got eaten by a baby and not by Clyde?"

My mother-in-law, always quick with her mouth, seemed to hit on something and pointed at me, aghast.

"God, how can you be such a slut?"

"You'd just given birth, you had too much milk, and Clyde was afraid you'd suffer from engorgement. That's the only reason he had you nurse that child."

"But you're angry because Clyde didn't drink it off for you? Your lochia's barely cleared, and already you're thinking about that business in bed?"

My mother-in-law's words brought the neighbors and relatives running, and once they'd gotten the story straight, every one of them turned to glare at me.

"Look at her, what a shameless woman. All she's got on her mind is what happens in bed. Your husband takes care of your engorgement for you and you still throw a fit?"

"Let's be real. Your lochia hasn't even cleared out yet, your husband didn't go find some other woman, he still cherishes you this much, and you're not counting your blessings?"

"I heard Clyde even put up money to pull her through her bankruptcy scare. She kicks up a fuss over one little thing and demands a divorce. If that's not biting the hand that feeds you, what is?"

Wade Summers spoke up, his voice cold. "If we'd known you were this kind of woman, we never would've let Clyde marry you!"

At that, Clyde's tears came dropping down like a string of pearls snapped loose.

"Willow, before you had the baby, I worried over your company, brought in plenty of clients for you."

"After you gave birth, I took good care of you too. During your recovery, when the baby cried, I was the one who soothed her. You lay in bed on your phone, and I still brought you your supplements and fed them to you!"

"I only asked you to nurse Wade's boy because I didn't want you suffering from the engorgement! His wife doesn't produce much milk. What's wrong with that?"

Everyone else was furious hearing it.

"Willow, you're failing as a wife."

"When I had my baby, my husband looked after me the same way Clyde does, every little thing. When I got engorged, he thought up plenty of ways to help me too."

I gave a cold little laugh. "It's the bystanders who can't see straight. None of you even know what happened, and here you are pointing fingers at me?"

"Clyde, come to the county clerk's office tomorrow. I'll be waiting."

And with that I turned to go.

Only Wade Summers grabbed me.

"You little slut, you want a divorce over something this small? Screw you!"

He swung a fist at me.

I'd nursed his son, and to stick up for Clyde he actually hit me?

I never saw it coming. The blow left blood streaming from my nose.

Wade's wife, Mick Lawrence, came at me too, ready to throw a punch.

"Don't!" Clyde hurried over, pushed them back, and dabbed at my face with a tissue, aching over me. "Honey, look at her, our daughter's only a few months old, and you can just bring yourself to leave the two of us?"

The daughter in his arms saw me and babbled and laughed, sweet as anything.

I let out a sigh. "Let's get divorced."

"You've definitely got someone on the side. Mick, don't hold me back, I'm going to beat her to death!"

Wade fought to lunge at me, and Mick held him back with everything he had.

Then Mick said, "Willow, honey, if you're angry because you nursed my son, then Wade and I will just take him home. We were thinking about switching him to formula anyway."

"You and Clyde make things work between you, alright?"

The people around us nodded in approval.

"Now that's how a good woman should act!"

"She's putting her son on formula, so from now on Clyde will drink it off for you. Are you still going to divorce him?"

"Back when your company hit trouble, Clyde gave you money, even landed clients and boosted your numbers. Where are you going to find a husband this good?"

One after another they urged us to make peace.

But I stared at Clyde, my face dark. "We really can't go on. Let's call it quits, clean and even."

At that, the crowd exploded, calling me lower than an animal, saying all I knew how to do was cry and carry on, that I wasn't fit to live a decent quiet life.

Clyde wiped at his tears, eyes red from crying.

"Honey, they've already said we don't have to nurse their son anymore. Can't you just not divorce me?"

He stepped up, reached out and put his arms around me, and murmured low, "To make it up to you, from now on I'll drink off the extra milk myself. Alright?"

My face went hot, and a wave of nausea rose in me. I shoved him off hard. "Can you just stop acting?"

Thud. Clyde dropped to his knees in front of me, the baby still in his arms, trying to win me back. "Willow, all I asked was for you to help nurse Wade's kid. It's not some unforgivable crime. I'll change, I swear. Just forgive me this once, all right?"

"No."

He was crying so hard he could barely get the words out. "Willow, you don't like it and I've already said I'll stop. Just forgive me this one time!"

"Clyde, a woman that petty only knows how to make a scene. Don't waste yourself on her!" The people crowded around us saw I wouldn't budge, and every one of them shook with anger.

That was when my father pushed through the crowd and came up to look at me. "Willow, Clyde has done so much for this family. When your company was about to go under, when your mother's heart gave out and she was in the hospital, Clyde was the one who paid the medical bills. Your brother's job at the city government office, he pulled the strings to get him in."

"After everything he's done for us, if you dare go through with this divorce, I'll disown you as my daughter."

"Dad, stay out of this." I gave him a small smile, then turned back to Clyde. "I'll give you a chance. Tell me why you wanted me to nurse Wade Summers's baby."

Something panicked flickered through Clyde's eyes, then was gone just as fast.

"Didn't I already explain? You have more than enough milk. There's plenty left over after feeding our daughter, so I asked you to feed his son."

"If you don't like it, then don't nurse him anymore."

My father stared at me. "See? Clyde saw you didn't want to, and he said stop. He's putting your feelings first completely. Where are you going to find a husband this good?"

I shook my head. "Dad, I'm getting divorced either way."

"You little tramp!" My father's hand cracked across my face.

Half my face throbbed, swelling and going red.

"Beat him to death!"

"A tramp like that deserves to be beaten to death!"

The crowd clapped and cheered.

"Willow, are you okay?"

Clyde came over, all tenderness, with a bottle of ointment to dab on the cut on my face.

"A husband this good, and she doesn't know how to hold on to him." Someone let out a sigh.

I shoved him away. "Save the crocodile tears."

Clyde looked utterly wronged. "Willow, please, I really don't want a divorce. Our daughter can't grow up without a mother."

"Begging me won't work." I started walking out.

"You really mean to go through with it? Then I have no daughter."

My father's voice dropped hard as he called after me.

Something in me hurt.

Grown as I was, I was still making him worry.

But this was my marriage. I would handle it myself.

"Clyde, I'll have someone deliver the divorce papers to you."

I didn't slow down, walking out fast.

Behind me came Clyde's sobbing, ragged and gut-wrenching, the kind of crying that broke your heart to hear.

Back at the company, I sorted through some documents, then called a lawyer friend to handle my divorce.

"Willow, what did I do wrong that you have to divorce me? Has the anger passed yet?"

"Our daughter and I both need you. We're at home, waiting for you to come back."

Before long I had left the office and checked into a hotel, and Clyde's messages came in.

I kept sneering as I read them, then blocked every way he had to reach me.

The next day, Clyde received the divorce papers I'd mailed.

But he tore them up.

In a fit of rage, Wade Summers posted the whole story online.

The internet was furious, and I was dragged onto the trending topics.

"Damn it, Mr. Rowe paid a huge bride price for her, put up the money to start her business, covered her mother's surgery, and got her brother a good job. He did so much for her whole family. A husband that good, and she doesn't appreciate him?"

"She has more than enough milk, always throwing the extra away, and her husband just asked her to help feed his buddy's kid, and she wants a divorce over that?"

I think that little bitch has a man on the side, so she cooked up an excuse to file for divorce.

I'm a mom of two. When my breasts got engorged it was awful, and back then my best friend had no milk either, so I nursed her baby too. What kind of garbage is she making out of that?

A woman like this just makes drama day in and day out. Whoever married her is cursed with the worst luck.

In no time, the whole internet was tearing me apart.

My personal information was leaked. Someone dumped red paint outside where my parents lived, and they had no choice but to hide out in the countryside.

Those people boycotted my company too, saying they wanted to see me go bankrupt.

My assistant came in, deeply worried, and said, Ms. Chandler, because of the divorce situation, consumers are boycotting our products, the stock price is crashing, a lot of clients are canceling orders, the warehouse is stacked to the ceiling with unsold goods, and the factory has had to shut down. If we don't do something, I'm afraid the company will

I clutched at my hair in pain and waved a hand. I'll find a way to handle it.

I made a call and asked my lawyer, Dean Walker, to come over.

Clyde Rowe, the divorce hearing is set for next Monday.

Dean then handed me a document and sent over several videos as well.

I thanked him from the heart. Thank you.

What are you talking about? If you hadn't jumped into the water and saved me that time, I'd be dead.

Dean gave me a playful wink and left.

I looked through those documents and videos, and my face went dark in an instant.

Just as I'd suspected. Clyde Rowe really was that kind of man.

Once the truth came out, it would drop every jaw in the room.

In the days leading up to the hearing, I kept getting hit with personal attacks from countless people online.

My phone was buried under messages, the company's stock kept hitting its limit-down, products piled up in mountains, the bank came knocking to demand repayment, and even froze my working capital.

The storm was gathering. If I couldn't win this case, the company would go under, and I would fall all the way into the pit, scraping by at the bottom for the rest of my life.

At last, the day of the hearing arrived.

Crowds of people came to watch, filling the gallery, and among them were plenty of media influencers there to livestream it.

Many people held up their phones to watch the stream, waiting to see me made a fool of.

The judge called the court to order, and after both sides' lawyers gave their statements, Clyde looked at me and said to the judge, Your Honor, I'm not the one at fault in this marriage, and our daughter was just born and can't be without her mother. I don't want a divorce.

The judge nodded and said to me, Under the law, if you don't have solid evidence, the divorce can't be granted.

Hearing this, Clyde looked at me with satisfaction.

Honey, stop making a scene. Let's not divorce, all right?

Look how sweet our daughter is. Can you really bear to leave her without a father this young?

The daughter in her arms slept soundly, with no idea her mother had given her up.

No. I refused.

My husband, Clyde Rowe, cheated during our marriage. I demand an immediate divorce, and that he leave with nothing.

Clyde stared at me in disbelief, his voice choking. At work, I'm with you at the company. The moment I'm off, I go straight home to take care of the family. When I have free time I only game with Wade and the rest of my buddies, or grab a backyard barbecue downstairs. You know all of this.

And you're saying I cheated? Are you even human?

At that, the people who'd come to watch instantly erupted.

Mr. Rowe looks like a model husband. How could he possibly cheat?

I think this little bitch has a man on the side, that's why she's making up an excuse to divorce.

Online, plenty of viewers watching the stream cursed me too, saying I was biting the hand that fed me and lower than a dog.

I'd become like a rat in the street, with everyone screaming to beat it down.

Even my father took Clyde's side. He looked at me and said, Turn back now, and I'll still claim you as my daughter.

My mother, aching for me, said, Willow, maybe just let it go?

Dad, Mom, they've ground me into the dirt. I can't just let it go.

Everyone, I have evidence. Once you've seen it, you'll understand why I want this divorce.

I looked at the judge, took out a tablet, and pulled up a video for everyone to see.