"I'm sorry, but the artificial insemination attempt didn’t work out this time either."
Lily Carter lay on the bed in the ultrasound room, trying hard to process the news while feeling incredibly embarrassed.
This was her third failed attempt. The disappointment and heartbreak—it was beyond words.
"You and your husband are legally married, neither of you have any medical issues, so why go through this method? Isn’t natural conception less stressful and with a better chance?"
The doctor seemed genuinely puzzled.
Lily's face flushed with humiliation. She knew natural pregnancy had better odds, of course she did. But how was it even possible when her husband wouldn’t even touch her? No physical closeness, no connection—how could she maybe get pregnant?
Today marked exactly three years since she'd married Ethan Blake. Three years of him being an iceberg that refused to thaw, so cold and distant it drained her completely.
The doctor followed her as she left the room, offering advice casually, "If that’s the route you still want to take, have your husband come in again for the next treatment."
Lily nodded lightly, her voice quiet, "Got it."
Sitting alone in the hospital hallway, she stared at the conclusion printed on the report in her hands, letting out a long, defeated sigh. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Ethan’s number.The phone rang for a long time before Ethan Blake finally picked up, his tone full of impatience. "What do you want now?"
He always treated her with such disinterest.
But Lily Carter still had to try. "The doctor said the artificial insemination failed again. So... we need you to come in one more time."
"Lily, stop pushing it. If it weren't for my grandfather forcing me, I wouldn't have even married you. And now you're nagging me about having a child? Haven't you had enough?"
Lily's chest felt tight as she forced herself to ask, "Just this once, one last time, okay?"
But Ethan didn’t even bother responding. He hung up without another word.
"What did your husband say?" the doctor asked.
Lily could only force a weak reply, "We’ll... think about it."
"Alright."
On her way out of the consultation room, she accidentally bumped into a nurse holding a cup of iced bayberry juice.
The nurse quickly reached out to steady her. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Lily, pale-faced, just shook her head.
Just then, another nurse passed by and called out, "Baker, hurry up! Miss Mia Carter in the VIP room's getting impatient. She said she needs her bayberry juice to calm down before her checkup!""I've never seen such a dramatic patient before. It's just a pregnancy. Does it really have to turn our OB-GYN department upside down?"
"You better keep your voice down. Don't you know who her husband is? Ethan Blake, the second-largest shareholder in our hospital. If he wants something as ridiculous as galaxy water, we'd have to find a way to get it for him."
The two nurses finished their whispered complaints and quickly headed toward the specialist's office.
Lily Carter froze in her spot when she heard the mention of "Ethan Blake."
The person who liked iced plum drinks... it had to be Mia Carter.
No wonder Ethan never cared if she had a child or not. Turned out, Mia was already pregnant.
Ethan walked out of the consultation room and caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. It flashed by so quickly it felt like he imagined it—looked just like Lily. But considering the timing, it didn’t make sense for her to be here, so he didn’t give it much thought.
Lily leaned against the wall around the corner, her breath catching in her throat as pain overwhelmed her.
Not long after, Mia came out of the same room, her voice soft and cheerful. "Ethan, the doctor said our baby is perfectly healthy. Aren’t you happy?"
"Of course."The moment Ethan Blake’s voice reached her ears, Lily Carter felt like she could actually hear the sound of her heart shattering.
“That old man of yours is so annoying. He knows full well you don’t like Lily, yet he still forced you to marry her. Fine, whatever. But now he’s pushing you to have a kid with her? Anyway, I don’t care. You’re not having a child with her, not even once.”
Ethan’s tone was indulgent, as if comforting Mia Carter. “What are you thinking about? Of course, I won’t. Even when I agreed to her artificial insemination, it wasn’t even my sperm. I had someone else instead…”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
Mia’s lips curled with satisfaction. “Now that’s more like it.”
As their figures drifted away, Lily’s whole body trembled, her fingertips numb.
A sick, gut-wrenching feeling rose from her stomach. She turned and ran straight to the bathroom…
…
Just as Lily left, Doctor Smith came chasing after her with a new report.
“Miss Carter, wait a second! There’s been a mistake with the test—turns out you’re pregnant.”
But when the doctor looked up, Lily was already gone.
