Chapter 1: My Son's Wish

Annie's POV

"Can you and Daddy get divorced?"

My five-year-old son's question hung in the air of his dimly lit bedroom, stopping my bedtime story mid-sentence. Brian looked up at me, fighting to keep his eyes open.

I carefully set down the story book I was reading to him. "Why would you ask that, sweetheart?"

"Because you never let me have any fun," he mumbled sleepily, words slurring slightly. "You won't let me have McDonald's or pizza for lunch like Max does. Sarah says it's okay to have treats sometimes, but you always make me eat those special foods..."

My heart clenched. Brian's food allergies and digestive issues had been a constant battle since he was a toddler. The endless doctor visits, the strict dietary restrictions, the nights spent worrying when he accidentally ate something he shouldn't have – all of it flashed through my mind. "Honey, why would you think—" But he had already drifted off to sleep, his small body curled around his stuffed dinosaur.

Sometimes I wondered if my strict attention to his diet was pushing him away.The truth was clear as the memories flooded into my mind – his sudden reluctance to hug me after school, the way he'd stopped sharing his daily adventures at dinner, how he always seemed distracted when I read him stories. I had been too careless before, or too busy trying to balance the roles of mother and wife, leaving no room for myself. But what choice did I have when he was a delicate boy?

As I was about to turn away from his bed, a soft chime broke the quiet of the room. A blue glow suddenly lit up from beneath his pillow, drawing my attention. Moving closer, I found an iPad hidden there, its screen displaying a WhatsApp group chat titled "My Perfect Family."

The profile picture knocked the breath from my lungs: my husband Philip standing in Central Park with an elegant woman beside him, Brian and a chubby boy about his age grinning in front of them. This must be Sarah and Max, I realized with a sickening jolt, the names from Brian's sleepy complaints now taking human form.

My hands trembled as I opened the chat. Photos filled the screen – museum visits, park picnics, afternoons at Coney Island – documenting a family life I knew nothing about. Sarah's contact was saved as "Mommy."

A voice message from my son: "I wish you could be my new mommy for real. You're so much more fun than my real mom."

Sarah's honey-sweet response made me sick: "I'd be honored to be your mommy in our special group, sweetheart. We can have all the fun times you want."

The messages continued – Brian complaining about his special diet, Max bragging about eating whatever he wanted, Philip arranging their next "family" outing. "Next Saturday at the Natural History Museum?" he wrote. "Brian's been wanting to see the new dinosaur exhibit." Each revelation felt like another knife in my heart.

My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the iPad. I needed answers, and I needed them now. With one last glance at Brian's peaceful sleeping face, I quietly closed his bedroom door and headed to Philip's study at the other end of our apartment. Each step felt heavier than the last, my mind racing with questions I wasn't sure. Or maybe the truth was another rude awakening. But I had to.

I found Philip in his study, surrounded by financial data on multiple monitors. He looked up, concern crossing his face. "Annie? Is everything okay? You look pale."

I placed the iPad on his desk, screen up. I watched his expression shift from concern to calculation as he saw the messages.

"It's not what you think," he started smoothly, using his business voice that I'd grown to hate when he was talking to me. "The kids came up with the group chat idea themselves. It's just their way of playing family."

"Playing family?" My voice cracked slightly. "With my husband and another woman? With my son calling her 'Mommy'?"

Philip stood, hands raised placatingly. "Listen, Annie, you're right. I should have told you. It was inappropriate, and I'm sorry." He moved closer. "I'll end it. We'll both leave the group immediately."

"Just like that?" I wrapped my arms around myself. "And what about Brian? What about the damage that's already done? He needs to be careful with his food."

"I promise I'll fix this," Philip murmured, cupping my cheek. His thumb traced my lower lip, a familiar prelude to what he wanted. When I flinched, his eyes darkened with something primal, demanding.

He pressed me against his desk, hands already working at my clothes. The wood bit into my back as his mouth found my neck, sucking hard enough to mark. My body betrayed me instantly – nipples hardening against my silk blouse, heat pooling between my legs. Years of marriage had conditioned my responses to his touch, even as my mind screamed in protest.

"Let me make it up to you," he growled, yanking my blouse open. Buttons scattered across his office floor. The cool air hit my exposed skin as he roughly pushed my bra aside, his mouth descending hungrily. I gasped, arching despite myself. His hands gripped my thighs, hiking my skirt up around my waist.

This is wrong, my mind protested. He betrayed you. He let another woman mother your child.

But my body had its own memories – countless nights of pleasure, the way he could make me forget everything but sensation. His fingers traced the edge of my underwear, and I shuddered, caught between desire and disgust.

I felt him hard against my thigh, his suit pants doing nothing to hide his arousal. His breathing was ragged as he ground against me, one hand already working at his belt. "Annie, Annie, Annie." he rasped, fingers hooking into the waistband of my panties. "I want you, Annie."

The raw desperation in his voice sent another wave of heat through me. This was how we'd always communicated best – not with words, but with touch, with passion, with the language of flesh against flesh. His fingers found me wet, ready, and he groaned in triumph.

But as he pushed closer, as his hands grew more demanding, that voice in my head grew louder. This wasn't love – this was manipulation, control, ownership. The same skills that made him a ruthless CEO were at work here. Each touch was calculated to overwhelm, to make me forget, to bind me closer.

My body screamed for completion, for the oblivion of orgasm that would let me forget everything – Sarah, the messages, my son's rejection. Philip's expert touch promised that release, that temporary escape into pure physical pleasure. His fingers worked with practiced skill, drawing out responses he knew by heart.

I have to push him away. But I can't.

What should I do?