The Affair Baby

My flight from Geneva was long, fueled by the anticipation of seeing Ethan and picking up our lives. My surgical fellowship was finally complete.

But as I cleared customs, a text from an unknown number shattered my world: "Ava, don't go to Cedar View Birthing Center. Ethan is there with Chloe. The baby has arrived."

Chloe. His high school friend, the one he always said he owed a life debt. Then, another text: "Eleanor and Richard hired them. They said to keep you from 'causing a scene'."

His parents, who once called me the daughter they never had, were complicit. My hands went cold.

I went to our house, where the nursery light glowed softly. The air was thick with baby powder and Chloe’s cloying perfume.