I know how that sounds. So let me explain, because I need you to understand that this was not revenge. It was self-preservation, and it was a test I gave you without your knowing, and I’m not proud of it, but I’d do it again.
When you stood in our kitchen with your suitcase, I had the positive test in my purse. All I had to do was take it out. One motion. And you’d have stayed — I know you would have. You’d have unpacked the suitcase and cancelled the surrogacy clinics and been thrilled.
But you’d have stayed for the baby.
Not for me.
And I couldn’t build a life on that, Alex. I couldn’t spend the next forty years knowing my husband chose me only because my body finally produced the heir your mother demanded. I couldn’t raise a child in a marriage where I was the vessel that worked, instead of the woman you loved.
