I Ditched My Cheating Husband And Raised Our Kid Alone

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My husband's girl best friend was celebrating her birthday in a lounge's private room, and everyone urged her to make a wish.

She blew out the candles, then looked at my husband with a tender gaze, My wish is to have Ryan stay with me for the night again.

Silence fell over the room in an instant.

I rested my hand on my five-month pregnant belly, my fingertips were ice cold.

She giggled, "Sister-in-law, what are you thinking about?"

"Last time you went back to your parents' house, I had such bad menstrual cramps I thought I'd die. He was my human space heater all night long."

"You should thank me. If I hadn't worn him out, who knows who he would've run off with."

Ryan picked up the microphone on the table and tapped Chloe's head gently, "Nonsense. So many people are listening."

Chloe wrapped her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder, and winked at me, "I'm telling the truth. You're the most understanding person, you won't get mad, right?"

A guy named Jake, one of his buddies, laughed and egged them on, "Talk is cheap! Why don't you two show us how this 'human space heater' works right now?"

"Yeah! Do a demo!"

"Ryan, come on! Grant the birthday girl's wish!"

A crowd of people held up their phones, flashlights flickering wildly at the two of them.

Ryan didn't refuse.

Instead, he laughed and yanked Chloe onto the couch, pinning her down in one smooth move, "Fine. Today I'll open your uneducated eyes!"

He pulled her into his arms, his face almost touching hers.

Chloe squirmed in his embrace, "Ryan, you're so warm......"

They laughed together.

Pregnant with our child, I stood there like a fool, watching my husband and another woman put on an obscene show.

*Slap!*

I swept the glass fruit bowl in front of me hard onto the floor.

Shards and fruit rolled all over the ground.

Screams erupted, and the music cut out abruptly.

In the dead silence, I held my waist and slowly stood straight, "You like playing games, huh?"

"I'll play with you!"

I pulled out my phone and, in front of everyone, dialed 911 directly, "Hello, I want to report a crime."

"There's public indecency going on here!"

Ryan's face turned white.

He jumped off Chloe in a flash and lunged at me to grab my phone, "Elena, are you fucking crazy? It's just a game. Why the hell are you overreacting?!"

I stared at his hand, still resting on Chloe's waist, and suddenly laughed, "Ryan, when our baby is born, how are you going to explain this to him?"

"Tell him his dad likes putting on a human space heater show with other women in public, while his mom stood there like an idiot and watched?"

Ryan's face darkened as he shielded the teary, trembling Chloe behind him, "It's my best friend's birthday. I heard you were bored stuck at home pregnant, so I invited you here to join the party!"

"If it weren't for her, would I bother bringing a frumpy pregnant woman here to ruin the fun?"

Again, it was all for me.

*Slap!*

I summoned all my strength and slapped him hard across the face.

Total silence fell over the private room.

Chloe let out a scream, rushed forward, and wrapped her arm around Ryan's neck, pulling his head into her chest, "Buddy, listen to me. Don't argue with your wife!"

She stared at me defiantly, "Sister-in-law, Ryan and I have been close since we were kids. We even slept in the same bed naked. He's never seen me as a woman! Don't be so petty!"

She seemed to realize the trouble she was in and shoved Ryan toward me, "Hurry up and apologize to sister-in-law. She's pregnant! If the police really come, we'll all be in trouble!"

Ryan stiffened his neck, refusing to bow his head.

Chloe snickered and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

He twitched his lips and looked at me, "It's my fault. Happy now?"

In that moment, a wave of nausea surged up from my stomach, choking my throat.

I turned and ran out of the private room without a second glance.

I didn't expect Ryan to chase after me.

The whole way, my belly ached wave after wave, but all I could hear was his complaining, "Did pregnancy make you lose your mind? Chloe's just my buddy. How can you be this jealous!"

"You might as well chain me to your hip like a dog. You suspect everyone!"

"Use your brain! If there was something going on between us, would she dare say it to your face?!"

Something in my chest shattered completely.

"You're right. Nothing's going on between you two. I'm just being stupid."

I shouted, my whole body shaking with rage, "I've put up with you two for long enough!"

"Ryan, let me tell you this. The night I had spotting at 2 a.m. and had to take a taxi to the ER alone, calling you a hundred times and getting no answer-only to find out later you were with her celebrating her cat having three kittens!"

I gasped for breath, tears streaming down my face, "The time I threw up so hard I brought up bile, begging you to bring me a bowl of plain noodle soup home, but you stood in line at a trendy restaurant for three hours with her just because she said she craved it!"

"From that moment on,"

"Ryan, we're over."

No response.

I turned back in despair.

He was wearing earphones, standing there staring at his phone and grinning.

Then he sent a voice message, "Don't worry. She's pregnant with my kid. Who else would want her?"

"Quit the chatter, guys. I'm on my way back to you."

I went home alone to the empty, cold apartment.

I scrolled through my phone numbly.

On Instagram, Jake had posted a new video.

Ryan was back in the private room, surrounded by his "buddies" like a hero.

He was feeding a small piece of cake to Chloe, who was snuggled in his arms, his movements gentle.

The caption read:[A little storm can't ruin Queen Chloe's birthday party! Happy birthday @Chloe! My man @Ryan is the man!]

I turned off my phone and sat alone on the balcony, stroking my belly where the baby was kicking wildly.

I picked up the phone and dialed my doctor, "Doctor, I want to book an abortion."

When I got home, Ryan was already there.

He sat on the living room couch, his face dark, an ashtray at his feet crammed full of cigarette butts.

He jumped to his feet when he saw me walk in, "Elena, what's your problem?"

"You left the birthday party halfway and made me look like an idiot in front of my friends!"

"You're getting more and more unreasonable!"

I stared at his furious face, my heart eerily calm, "Ryan, we need to talk."

"Talk about what? Talk about how you humiliated me?"

He paced back and forth irritably, "Chloe's just a girl. She speaks without thinking. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"I'm telling you, there's nothing between us. Nothin'! Pure as water!"

"Why won't you believe me? Why do you always overthink everything?"

I closed my eyes tiredly, "Ryan, last time you told me you worked overtime at the company all night when I went back to my parents' house."

He froze for a second, " Yeah! We were rushing a project. So what?"

"But Chloe said you stayed with her all night."

He shouted, "Those are two different things! I finished overtime late at night! She called and said her cramps were killing her. How could I not go?"

"She lives alone, a girl by herself! What if something happened to her? We're buddies!"

"I just made her a hot water bottle and left after she fell asleep! It's that simple!"

"Do you have to twist everything with your dirty mind?"

I stared at him, asking each word slowly and clearly, "So you stayed out all night and lied to me, just to take care of your 'girl buddy'?"

He was left speechless, finally yelling, "You're impossible!"

He slammed the door and stormed into the study.

I sat alone in the cold living room.

The next day, I was about to go to the hospital for a prenatal checkup when a bank notification popped up on my phone.

A payment of fifty thousand dollars had been made from Ryan's card.

I opened the details-the payee's note read:[Chloe's birthday surprise].

I grabbed my phone and rushed into the study.

He was wearing earphones, grinning from ear to ear as he video-called someone.

On the screen was Chloe's big smiling face, "Ryan, you're the best! This money couldn't have come at a better time!"

"I knew you loved me the most!"

Ryan blew a kiss at the screen, his voice soft enough to melt, "It's the least I can do. You're my best buddy after all."

I ripped his earphones off in one move.

He turned around, saw the phone in my hand, and his face paled, " You have to listen to my explanation."

"Explain what?"

I shoved the phone screen in his face, "Explain how your so-called 'keeping distance' means secretly transferring fifty thousand dollars to her behind my back?"

He hung up the video and stood up, "She's short on cash right now and asked to borrow some. So what?"

He sounded indignant, "Elena, really? You're making a fuss over a little money?"

"Don't forget, every penny you spend comes from the startup capital my buddies and I pooled together!"

"Isn't it only right that I treat them well?"

"Ryan, this money is your post-marital income. It's our marital property."

"You gifted it to someone else without my consent. I have every right to get it back."

He laughed like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world, "Get it back? Elena, have you lost your mind?"

"You're gonna sue my best buddy over fifty thousand dollars? How do you expect us to face anyone in our circle after that?"

"Can't you stop being so selfish and think about me for once?!"

I stared at his twisted face and turned to leave.

I went to the hospital alone.

The prenatal checkup results were not good.

The doctor said my recent extreme mood swings had stunted the baby's growth.

He was a week underdeveloped for his gestational age.

The doctor urged me earnestly to keep my mood happy during pregnancy.

When I got home, I opened the cabinet to make a cup of prenatal supplement powder.

But I searched everywhere, and it was gone.

In the spot where my supplements had been were a few bottles of cheap generic multivitamins.

I called the housekeeper over, "Mrs. White, where are my prenatal supplements? Did you see them?"

Mrs.White stammered, unable to get the words out, "Ma'am...... I......"

I raised my voice, "Mrs. White, tell me the truth. Where did they go?"

Under my pressing, Mrs.

White's eyes filled with tears, "Ma'am, I'm so sorry...... It was Miss Chloe......"

"She came by the afternoon before yesterday. She said she's also a master of this house, that your things are her things."

"She said she's not feeling well and needs to take care of her health, so she took all your supplements and prenatal collagen."

"What else did she say?"

Mrs.White hung her head, her voice a faint whisper, "She said you have to be careful what you eat while pregnant. What if someone poisons you?"

"She took those things to taste them for you, making sure they're not toxic."

I rushed back to the bedroom, pulled out my spare phone, and ordered a few tiny wireless home security cameras on a shopping site.

The next day, I made an excuse to go back to my parents' house and left with my things.

Ryan didn't try to stop me.

He didn't even say a word of concern.

Less than half an hour after I left, a notification popped up on the security camera app.

Chloe had unlocked the front door with a key.

She walked straight into our bedroom like she owned the place, pulled out my favorite maternity dress from the closet, and put it on.

She twirled in front of the mirror a few times, then lay down on Ryan's and my bed and pulled out her phone to take selfies.

After taking the photos, she walked to the head of the bed and picked up my big framed maternity photo-my swollen belly front and center.

She stuck out her finger and poked my pregnant belly in the photo, over and over again.

She stared at the photo, a weird smile on her face, and mouthed a silent sentence.

I replayed the video over and over, zooming in on her lips.

I read the words loud and clear.

[Don't worry. Once I get rid of your mom, I'll be your new mommy.]

I called my lawyer friend right away and sent him all the security camera footage and Ryan's transfer records, "Help me. I want him to lose all our marital property in the divorce."

"And sue Chloe for burglary and criminal trespass."

My friend was silent for a long time after hearing my story, "Elena, calm down. A big part of Ryan's company assets are tied up with his buddies. It'll be nearly impossible to make him lose everything."

"As for Chloe-even though the things she took are valuable, she can claim they were a gift from a friend. It'll be hard to convict her."

I dialed another number.

On the other end was my childhood best friend-Elias.

He was now a professional personal bodyguard.

"Elias, I need your help."

My voice was calm, "I have a big fight coming this Saturday. I need you there."

Elias didn't ask any questions.

He just said one word, "Okay."

After hanging up, I did some digging.

I found out Ryan hadn't just given Chloe money.

He'd also rented a luxury furnished apartment for her in a high-end neighborhood near our company, under the name of his personal business.

Thirty thousand dollars a month, signed for a whole year.

His excuse?

To make it easy for her to "keep an eye on him" and make sure he didn't fool around with other women.

I stared at the electronic rental contract and let out a cold laugh.

That night, when Ryan came home, I didn't give him the cold shoulder for the first time in a long while.

I poured him a glass of water and even forced a smile, "Honey, I'm sorry. I was wrong the other day."

"I'm pregnant and my hormones are all over the place. I've been overthinking everything and making things hard for you."

Ryan stared at me in shock.

I kept going, "I've thought it through. Chloe's your best buddy. It's only natural you're close."

"I was being too petty. I won't be like this anymore."

Ryan's expression turned from stunned to overjoyed.

He walked over and hugged me, "Baby, I'm so glad you get it now!"

"I knew it, you're the most understanding wife ever."

He stroked my back, his voice light and relieved, "Don't worry. There's nothing between me and Chloe. She's just a kid who never grew up."

I leaned against his chest and said, " I know."

I looked up at him, "Honey, to say I'm sorry, and to smooth things over between me and Chloe, I want to throw her a belated birthday party. What do you think?"

Ryan looked flattered, "Really?"

"Of course it's real."

I said, "For our baby's sake, I want to get along with your friends too."

"I even have the perfect place-her new apartment. It'll be a surprise."

Ryan nodded excitedly, his head bobbing like a chicken, " Yes! Baby, you're amazing! I'll tell the guys right now!"

The party was set for Saturday.

Using the "surprise" as an excuse, I got the spare key to the apartment.

That day, with my five-month pregnant belly, I decorated the place myself.