Chapter 1: The Silent Screen
Chapter 1: The Silent Screen
The ultrasound room was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat.
I lay on the examination bed, gripping the paper sheet beneath me while the cold gel spread across my stomach. My ex-husband, Ethan Carter, stood near the door with folded arms, clearly impatient. He had only come because our lawyers insisted he verify the pregnancy before the divorce proceedings moved forward.
Dr. Melissa Harper studied the monitor.
Her smile disappeared.
She adjusted the probe.
Then she adjusted it again.
For nearly thirty seconds, she said nothing.
Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Is there a problem?" he asked. "Can we finish this already?"
The doctor didn't answer.
Instead, she slowly turned toward him.
"Mr. Carter..."
Her voice was unusually calm.
"Come here. You need to see this."
He walked over with obvious annoyance, expecting confirmation that I had lied.
Instead, the doctor pointed at the monitor.
"Do you recognize what you're looking at?"
Ethan frowned.
"I don't know. A baby?"
"No."
She zoomed in.
"There are three heartbeats."
The room froze.
Triplets.
Three perfectly healthy babies.
Ethan's face lost every bit of color.
"That's... impossible."
Dr. Harper looked directly at him.
"Actually, it's medically significant."
She opened another report.
"Your fertility records from eighteen months ago indicate a very rare genetic condition that dramatically increases the chance of identical multiple pregnancies."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
"It means these babies almost certainly inherited a genetic marker that could only have come from their biological father."
The doctor paused.
"Which means there is virtually no possibility these children belong to anyone except Mr. Carter."
Ethan stumbled backward until his shoulders hit the wall.
May you like
For the first time since accusing me of cheating...
He looked terrified.
