Divorce Papers in My Baby’s Gift Box? Fine—I Signed Them! Chapter 08
When I heard that, I laughed.
“Her? Does she need an irresponsible father like you?”
I had once imagined that after marrying Ryan and giving birth to Emma, the three of us would live one of those ordinary, cliché, but happy lives.
In the morning, before leaving for work, he would kiss our daughter’s cheek.
At night, when he came home, he would bring me a bouquet of flowers on his way back.
On weekends, we would push the stroller through the park.
He would teach Emma how to walk while I took pictures behind them.
I had truly believed that once.
“Ryan, can you honestly say you’ve been a good father?”
“The night Emma was hospitalized with a high fever, I held her in the emergency room and soothed her for four hours.”
“Where were you then? You were bungee jumping with Maddie, and you couldn’t even be bothered to answer your phone.”
“When Emma cried night after night and I went half a month without one full night of sleep, where were you?”
“You said you were busy with work, then turned around and went on vacation with Maddie in Miami. The funny part is, you even forgot to block me on Instagram.”
Emma had been in his arms countless times.
But he never knew what time she would wake up, how many ounces of formula she needed after she woke, or how long she had to be burped afterward.
All the hurt I once couldn’t swallow had slowly been drained away by one wound after another.
“This past year, whenever my daughter and I needed you, you were never there.”
“But whenever something happened to Maddie, you always ran faster than anyone.”
“You were even willing to hurt us for her.”
Ryan’s face turned paler, bit by bit.
I looked at him and suddenly found it funny.
“Actually, when you and Maddie were hooking up in that hospital room, Emma and I were sleeping right next door.”
“Tell me, when Emma grows up and finds out what kind of trash her father really was, do you think she’ll still believe having you in her life matters that much?”
“I…”
Ryan opened his mouth, staring at me in shock.
In the end, he couldn’t say a word.
Because he had no answer.
Because one phone call from Maddie had taken away the last shred of confidence he had left to save this marriage.
Yes, Maddie was pregnant.
And because she was pregnant, the case involving what she had done to Emma ultimately ended with her being released on bail pending trial.
Fortunately, when someone does enough harm, karma has a way of catching up.
When the news reached the Whitmore and Cole families, it hit like a bomb dropped into a stagnant pond.
Ryan’s parents were so furious that they were hospitalized on the spot.
And even though Ryan denied it outright, Maddie insisted that the child in her belly was his.
She and Mr. and Mrs. Cole Sr. agreed on one thing: the Whitmore family had to take responsibility.
“I’m not marrying you.”
Ryan stood in the Cole family’s living room, his voice hoarse but firm.
“The only woman I want as my wife is Nora, and my daughter is Emma.”
“If they refuse to come back, then I won’t remarry.”
“And besides…”
He paused, then looked at Maddie with regret and exhaustion.
“I have no desire to marry you.”
“What did you say?”
Maddie screamed, and her eyes instantly turned red.
“Ryan, after all this time, you never had feelings for me?”
Silence was his only answer.
“How is that possible? If you didn’t love me, why would you sleep with me?”
“Why would you agree to sign those divorce papers?”
“I don’t care! I don’t want some so-called buddy bond with you!”
“I’m having this baby, and you are going to marry me!”
Maddie latched onto him completely.
Ryan took a step back, as if he wanted to speak.
But the moment he opened his mouth, his brow furrowed sharply, and he raised a hand to his temple.
The next second, under everyone’s gaze, he collapsed straight to the floor.