Chapter 1

"Get your best doctor in here!"

I had just stepped out of the staff elevator when I saw my husband, Derek Hayes, yelling outside the operating room.

What was he doing here?

Didn't he say he was on a business trip today and couldn't be with me for our seventh wedding anniversary?

Before I could react, he stormed over to a nurse, making a scene:

"You have to save my wife and child, or I'll make sure this hospital goes bankrupt!"

His wife?

The words hit me like a lightning bolt. If she was his wife, then who was I?

I stood frozen, still processing, when a young doctor hurried towards me.

"Dr. Miller, perfect timing. All the chief physicians are in surgery and can't break away… Please, get into the operating room!"

I took a deep breath, clenched my fists, and walked towards the double doors.

Derek rushed over, blocking my path, his eyes blazing. "You're the surgeon?"

He didn't recognize me?

Even though I was completely covered by a surgical cap and mask, he couldn't be so blind that he couldn't recognize his wife of seven years!

Maybe he just didn't expect me to be here.

I'd been temporarily assigned to this community hospital last month as part of a temporary rotation.

I remembered telling Derek about it. At the time, he was engrossed in his phone, not really listening.

Through my mask, I told him, "Family, please step aside."

I moved past him, but Derek shouted, "There aren't any male doctors in there, are there? I don't want any male staff in the room with my wife!"

You must be out of your mind, I thought.

My curiosity spiked. Who exactly was this "wife" Derek kept talking about?

After sterilizing, I entered the operating room. A pregnant woman lay on the bed, barely conscious.

When I saw her face clearly, my heart lurched.

It was Tiffany Reed, Derek's cousin-in-law!

Derek's cousin, Major Ryan Davies, was a military man, often deployed. Tiffany would often call Derek over with excuses like broken appliances or water outages.

I was usually busy with work and hadn't paid much attention to their frequent encounters. I never imagined… they were having an affair behind my back!

A nurse handed me the patient's chart, and I quickly scanned it.

Tiffany was eight months pregnant. Her contractions were caused by intercourse during pregnancy, leading to a threatened miscarriage.

Eight months… I remembered Derek's cousin hadn't been back in almost a year. So, the baby in Tiffany's belly… was Derek's?

My vision blurred.

Suddenly, some clues clicked into place.

Derek and I had been married for years and hadn't conceived. My periods were always irregular.

Last year, I couldn't help but want him to get checked, but he flat-out refused, insisting he was fine.

Even my mother-in-law sided with him. Now I knew why. He had already gotten another woman pregnant! No wonder he was so confident!

So, Ms. Hayes was in on it too?

My assistant asked, "Dr. Miller, should we prepare for a Caesarean operation?"

I looked at the fetal heart monitor and the ultrasound results. At eight months, the baby could survive.

It was sickeningly ironic. I was about to perform a Caesarean operation on the very woman who had cuckolded me.

But as a doctor, bound by my professional ethics, I had no choice.

I took a deep breath. "Yes, prepare the anesthesia."

We were busy with pre-op preparations when Tiffany on the operating table suddenly cried out, "Let my husband in! I don't want to be alone!"

The nurse tried to reassure her, "Ms. Reed, that's against hospital policy…"

"Against policy? Don't husbands always accompany their wives in labor on TV?"

Once the anesthesia took effect, Tiffany's contractions eased, and she became fully energetic, yelling and demanding.

The nurse patiently explained, "Those require prior application, and our hospital doesn't have such a precedent…"

Tiffany threatened, "My husband is an executive at a listed company! Be careful, or I'll make sure you all pay!"

Your actual husband is an active-duty military officer, I thought. Cheating with Derek means you're both violating military marriage laws, which is a criminal offense!

Clearly, Tiffany and Derek didn't care. They openly referred to each other as husband and wife.

Tiffany declared, "If you don't let my husband in for the delivery, I'm not giving birth!"