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I Divorce the Husband Who Abandoned Our Son for His Ex
My husband, Zachary Henson, always believed parallel universes were real. When our son's candy went missing, he comforted him by saying the son in the parallel universe would have double the candy. When I ended up with a pair of gold earrings I never had before, his smile came out strained. "The Doris in that other universe must be worried sick." Little by little, I started to believe it too. Until one day, he told me he had crossed into another universe.
챕터 (4)
第1章
My husband, Zachary Henson, had always believed parallel universes were real.
When our son's candy went missing, he comforted him by saying the version of him in the other universe would have twice as much.
When a pair of gold earrings turned up in my things out of nowhere, his smile came out strained.
"The Doris Dickerson in that other universe must be losing her mind looking for these."
Little by little, I started to believe it too.
Until one day, he told me he had crossed into the other universe.
He said the other version of himself, the one in the parallel world, had married his ex-girlfriend and even had a son with her.
I pressed my fingers to my temples.
His ex, Bella Cobb, had been my closest friend all through college.
After I married him, she drifted further and further away from us.
Last week she was diagnosed with leukemia, and she became one of Zachary's patients.
And my son, born with a congenital blood disease, was in the same ward as her. Both of them were waiting for a marrow match.
I was rushing to bring my son his meal, so I didn't dwell on it.
But when I got home, I found the door code had been changed.
Zachary looked at me the way you'd look at a stranger.
He said he had come from another universe, and that his wife was Bella Cobb.
When we got to the hospital, he threw his arms around Bella and wept like his heart was breaking.
And when he opened his mouth to say he was giving the marrow my son had waited six months for to Bella,
that was when it hit me.
"Your son isn't going to die in the next hour or two. Since I'm here, I'm going to save my wife."
"You wait for the Zachary from this universe to come back, and let him figure something out for you."
I dragged the corner of my mouth into a smile.
I sent a message to the first love who had just come home.
【You find a way to save my son, and I'll divorce him immediately.】
1.
He replied in a heartbeat.
【Done.】
I planted myself in front of Zachary and said, hard and flat.
"I don't care where you came from. My son has waited six months for this match."
"You have no right to take it."
Bella lay on the hospital bed, her face bloodless.
She looked wasted down to nothing, her hand still clutching a fistful of Zachary's shirt.
"Zachary, don't do this."
"We never got our happy ending in this life. Just knowing that in another universe we're married is enough for me."
My scalp prickled.
My father walked in, pushing us along.
"The specialist from New York is already waiting in the OR. Why isn't Julian in there yet?"
This was a top surgeon my father had pulled strings to bring in from New York, one of those flying-in specialists.
They'd given up their off hours, all for Julian.
"Whatever the three of you have going on, it can wait behind Julian!"
"I already collected a sample. If this donor turns out to match Bella, then Bella gets the surgery first."
Zachary's words twisted my father's face.
He stared at him, unable to believe it.
"What did you say?"
Zachary said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Julian's been waiting here in the hospital so long, he's used to it by now."
"But Bella is different. She can't afford to wait."
I drew in a slow breath.
"Julian is your son too!"
"He can't afford to wait either!"
His expression didn't soften at all.
"I'm Bella Cobb's attending physician. I have to be responsible for my patient."
I clenched my jaw and stopped pinning any hope on him.
This was not some swapping of people between universes.
He had decided long ago to give this match to Bella Cobb.
Ever since Julian got sick, Zachary had been right there in the hospital, yet he'd barely come to the ward to see his own child.
After Bella was admitted, he became a different man.
Not only did he take over as her attending physician, he even reached out to fellow students under his old mentor, bringing them in to consult on her case.
This flying-in specialist too.
He must have reached out for one as well.
He'd just been slower than me, which was why he was stalling now.
Stalling so the match results would come back, and then Bella could have the surgery.
My heart felt like someone had thrown it on the ground and stamped on it, hard.
All these years, I'd known he had no love for me.
But it had never crossed my mind that he could be cold enough to give up on his own child.
Julian's attending physician, Grayson Chavez, was Zachary's senior fellow under the same mentor.
Seeing the state of our ward, he couldn't help pressing.
"Why isn't the surgery underway yet?"
"Don't you know the specialist is already waiting?"
Zachary frowned.
"Grayson, didn't I already tell you? We're waiting for Bella's match to come back."
"The specialist is here anyway. What does it matter who gets the surgery?"
Grayson was choked by his attitude, and couldn't hold back.
"I understand wanting to be responsible for your patient, but this match is what Julian has been waiting for all this time."
"Julian is my patient. Fine, you never cared much for your own son on an ordinary day."
"But at a moment like this, how can you..."
Zachary answered with righteous conviction.
"It's precisely because he's my child that he can't be treated as a special case."
"If I really let him have the surgery first, wouldn't everything descend into chaos after that?"
Grayson's eyes went wide, finding him utterly absurd.
"Your son's procedure is fully legal and by the book. You..."
Zachary's complete indifference left him with nothing to say, so he turned to me.
"The boy can have the surgery right now. Come with me to sign the forms."
I looked at him with gratitude.
"Grayson, thank you."
Zachary shot to his feet.
"Don't you dare sign!"
第2章
Grayson and I couldn't be bothered to deal with him.
But instead of letting it go, Zachary grabbed Grayson and refused to let him leave.
My mother walked in right then.
"I could hear the racket from out in the hall. Has Julian's surgery started yet?"
She stepped inside, saw that his attending physician was still here, and her face changed.
"The surgery hasn't started? What's going on?"
My father's voice was bitter.
"This piece of garbage says Bella Cobb should have the surgery first."
My mother's eyes went wide.
"What?"
She knew exactly what was going on between Bella and Zachary, and she ripped the cover clean off it.
"I knew there was something dirty between the two of you. Have you lost your mind? That's your own son!"
At those words, the color drained from Bella's face.
"No, that's not—"
Zachary quickly steadied her.
He put himself between her and my mother.
"I'm the one who asked her to get tested for a match. You're spreading filth about a patient. Isn't that going too far?"
Before all this, Zachary would never have dared talk to my mother that way.
But now he fancied himself a man from another timeline.
So he'd grown fearless.
Bella's voice caught on a sob.
"Zachary and I only dated, that's all. Don't slander him like that."
"He has a good job, a family, a child. How could a man like him have anything going with someone like me?"
Retreating to advance.
It was always her move.
Back when they were together, it was the same. The moment Zachary didn't do what she wanted, she'd threaten to break up.
Zachary had meant to go coax her that time.
Instead he ended up muddling into bed with me, and once he learned I was pregnant, my family's pressure left him no choice but to marry me.
All these years, we'd lived together as polite strangers.
I ran myself ragged for our son's illness, and all I ever asked of him was that he be responsible to the family.
And Bella had only gotten better at the game.
It made Zachary ache for her all the more.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
He soothed her softly, and it set my family off.
"The two of you, cheating like this!"
I stood up, my face cold.
"My child is going into surgery today, no matter what. If you dare pull strings to let your first love cut ahead of him, I'll divorce you, and I'll post everything you've done online until your name is finished."
Zachary's expression shifted, twisting with disgust.
"You lunatic!"
"How did I ever end up married to a woman this selfish?"
My mother pressed a hand to her forehead.
"You've lost every shred of conscience. Trading your own son's life to win some other woman's favor?"
"And you, drop the innocent act. If you really don't want to put everyone in a hard spot, give up this match and wait for the next one yourself."
Bella trembled, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"I just want to live. What's my crime?"
My brother-in-law is the last disciple the visiting specialist ever took on. He walked in on the scene.
He couldn't help pulling Zachary aside.
"You're being a fool. You're a married man now."
"Being tangled up with this woman was wrong to begin with, and now you want to make your own son give up his match? That's against the rules!"
He hadn't expected Zachary to be so far past reasoning with.
"I'm going to save Bella."
"Nobody talks me out of it today."
My father clenched his fists and rose to his feet.
"I'll give you one last chance. Take Julian into surgery now, and we can pretend you weren't in your right mind."
Zachary shook his head.
"I told you, the person on that operating table today has to be Bella."
"You don't even know yet whether her match will work!"
"As long as there's the smallest sliver of hope, I won't let it go!"
My heart dropped into a pit of ice.
第3章
For Bella Cobb, no sliver of hope was ever worth giving up.
For his own son, waiting was just something he'd gotten used to.
The room went dark in front of me. If my brother-in-law hadn't caught me, I would have hit the floor.
My phone buzzed. A message from the man I'd once loved.
【Transfer the boy to the hospital under my name. I'm on my way.】
That was the thing that steadied my mind. I gripped my brother-in-law's hand.
"Can you get those specialists to do the surgery at a different hospital?"
"I'll move my son. Is that possible?"
He blinked for a second, then nodded at once.
"Of course. I'll coordinate it."
Grayson Chavez cut in fast.
"Wait!"
He was torn. Those specialists coming to his hospital to operate had been a chance for the staff to learn from them.
It was supposed to be good for the hospital and good for the patient both.
But things had escalated to this point, and that put him in a bind.
Zachary jumped in to stop it too.
"The boy's condition is so fragile. Transferring him does him no good at all!"
He knew exactly what was at stake.
Those specialists hadn't come for Bella Cobb.
The moment my transfer went through, his plan collapsed.
His tone softened.
"It's only one match. Once Bella's surgery succeeds, the hospital will find new marrow for Julian as soon as possible."
My heart went colder still.
This one compatible marrow match, Julian and I had waited half a year for it.
For half a year, every time Julian went through dialysis, the pain wrecked him.
Not once had Zachary comforted him.
His office was even on the same floor as Julian's ward.
He rarely came by.
His show of weakness now was nothing but a play to win Bella something.
I looked at him, cold.
"I already said it. I'm transferring him."
Bella straightened up, like she wanted to say something.
I had no patience for their act. I said it straight.
"And you can drop the whole line about coming from another timeline."
"You want to marry Bella Cobb and have a child of your own. Fine. I'll let you."
"Once Julian's surgery is done, I'll have my lawyer send you the divorce agreement."
"All I want now is for my son to be safe and to live an ordinary life."
Zachary's eyes turned dark and vicious.
He caught the uncomprehending looks drifting his way, and denied it on reflex.
"What are you talking about? What other timeline—"
Before he could finish, I played back his own earlier words on my phone.
【Your son isn't going to die anytime soon. Since I'm here, I'm going to save my wife.】
【Wait for the Zachary of this timeline to come back, and let him figure something out for you.】
Grayson wet his lips and couldn't help glancing at Zachary.
"Are you maybe under too much stress lately?"
"Should you go see someone in psych?"
I had no interest in tangling with them. I faced Grayson head-on.
"Just process the discharge papers now. Whatever happens after we leave, we'll take it on ourselves."
Seeing how set I was, Grayson raised an eyebrow.
Zachary started to panic.
"What do you mean, take the consequences yourselves?"
"Does the other side know Julian's condition? You switch hospitals out of nowhere. Have you thought about what that could do to the boy?"
"Can't you show some sense?"
My temples throbbed.
Zachary looked at Grayson.
"Senior, this is a rare learning opportunity for our hospital. If you let them transfer out—"
"When do you think a chance like this will come again?"
Grayson hesitated.
第4章
I looked at them, out of hope.
Grayson looked back, holding his ground.
"A transfer needs more than the parents' consent. Those of us on the attending team have to talk it over first."
"Once we've walked you through the specifics, if you still insist on transferring, we'll—"
I cut him off.
"You just want to stall me, don't you?"
"You watched Julian grow up. Can you really do this to him?"
Grayson fell silent.
I shoved the door open.
My voice climbed several notches.
"If my son can't be transferred for his surgery today, then I'll die right here in your hospital!"
Heads started poking out all down the corridor.
I wanted to blow this up as loud as possible, so they wouldn't dare pull anything behind my back.
But before I could say another word, Bella went white in the face, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Zachary's heart shot into his throat. He caught her, panicking, and shook her gently.
"Bella, are you all right? Don't scare me!"
"Get her into the emergency room, now."
Grayson reacted fastest.
Zachary paced back and forth outside.
Some people out there already had their phones out, filming.
"Breaking: doctor tries to give his own son's matched bone marrow to his mistress."
"What was going through his head? Cold-blooded man."
"His poor wife."
Zachary felt humiliated, and he turned all of it on me.
"You still don't think you've made a big enough scene?"
"If you'd been a little more gracious, none of this would have happened. Bella's collapsed now. Happy?"
My chest heaved. I forced down the urge to march over and slap him, and gathered up the documents and the medical file instead.
I looked at him, cold.
"Move. I'm going to file the paperwork."
Zachary had assumed I'd give up on the idea. Seeing me still push it, he let out a disbelieving laugh.
"You're still at it?"
"Honestly, if it weren't for the child, we would never have been together at all."
"I did you a kindness marrying you. That's the only reason you didn't end up a pregnant woman nobody wanted."
I clenched my fists.
"That night was all my fault? You were the one who couldn't think past your own urges. Taking responsibility for me was the least you owed."
"I already told you. Transfer my son, and I'll give you the divorce. You can have your first love."
At the word divorce, Zachary's face turned uglier.
"I told you, I'll find Julian new marrow. Stop using divorce to threaten me."
"Julian must miss you. Go to his room and keep him company."
I drew a long breath. I wasn't going to waste any more time here, so I turned and went back to Julian's room.
Zachary thought I'd backed down. He sat on a chair in the hallway and let out a light breath.
The next second, he saw a tall man walk into the room behind the hospital director.
He had a bad feeling.
By the time he came in, the director had already signed off on my discharge request, and those specialists stood behind the man, bowing and scraping.
I was standing at the man's side, one of his arms around me.
My face full of joy and gratitude.
The man saw Zachary.
A flicker of contempt crossed his face.
But he still spoke, smiling.
"Dr. Henson, hello."
"I'm Doris's first love. Percival Swanson. And I'll be her future husband."
"I've already drawn up your divorce agreement. Sign it as soon as you can."
The lawyer beside him produced the document.
Zachary looked like he'd been struck by lightning, every trace of color draining from his face.