I was madly in love with Stephen since high school and wanted to marry him and start a family with him. However, fate was beyond our control, and destiny had planned to separate us.<\/p>\n
Shortly after I graduated, my father received a promotion, and we had to leave town. We relocated to a different city. I liked the place; it was beautiful. But there wasn\u2019t a single day when I didn\u2019t miss Stephen.<\/p>\n
Five years passed like that. I went abroad for higher studies and joined a media organization. I tried to contact Stephen several times, but none of the phone numbers worked.<\/p>\n
However, fate decided to be kind to us after all those years, and we met again \u2026 at a work conference. I couldn\u2019t control myself when I saw him. I ran over to him and hugged him. Some people stared at us, but we didn\u2019t care. Stephen was equally happy to see me.<\/p>\n
After the conference, Stephen and I went to a cafe. We sat there all night, talking about our lives and how much we had missed each other during the last five years. I also confessed my love to Stephen, and he confessed his feelings as well. I was over the moon.<\/p>\n
But then Stephen said something that made me nervous. He asked me to marry him and said that he wanted to do it sooner. \u201cI don\u2019t want to wait any longer, Stacey. I want to be with you forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I looked at him nervously. \u201cStephen, I want to marry you too. But I have to tell you something. You should know about it before we decide to get married,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Stephen\u2019s expression changed. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Stacey? Is everything all right?\u201d he inquired, anxious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a son, Stephen. A four-year-old boy. His name is Bob,\u201d I finally gathered the courage and told him. However, I was scared. I knew Stephen wouldn\u2019t take it positively, and he\u2019d leave me. But to my surprise, he said he didn\u2019t mind it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not an issue, Stacey. I\u2019ll love him like my own son,\u201d he said, holding my hands.<\/p>\n
My eyes welled up with tears. \u201cI love you, Stephen,\u201d I said, \u201cI couldn\u2019t have found a better life partner than you,\u201d and hugged him tightly.<\/p>\n
Three months later, we got married. For the first few months, Stephen loved Bob like his own son. But unfortunately, with time, things started to change. He became more irritated with each passing day, and one day, he said, something that left me shocked.<\/p>\n
“I’m sorry, Stacey, but I can’t accept Bob as my son,” he said when he got home from work that day.<\/p>\n
I was taken aback. “Honey, what’s wrong? Did anyone say anything to you?” I asked him, worried.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, everything’s fine, but I want you to drop Bob off at an orphanage. Anyway, he’s still young, and he won’t remember us when he grows up,” he told me.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be honest with you. That was the first time in my life when I resented marrying Stephen. How could he be so cruel to a child? How could he even say that? I thought to myself.<\/p>\n
I was confused. However, I tried to calm the situation down. I asked Stephen repeatedly if anyone had said something that prompted him to make such a statement. I even tried explaining to him that he was making a decision in haste. I thought he\u2019d understand, but I was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoney, why are you talking like that?\u201d I asked. \u201cI thought you loved him like your own son. Do you even know that Bob is your…\u201d<\/p>\n
Before I could finish my sentence, Stephen cut me off. \u201cYeah, I tried to love him,\u201d he replied. \u201cBut I can\u2019t take this anymore. I thought it wouldn\u2019t affect me that he\u2019s someone else\u2019s son because I loved you, but honestly, I don\u2019t want to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I explained to Stephen that he was making a decision in haste and he’d regret it, but he didn’t listen | Photo: Pexels
\nI explained to Stephen that he was making a decision in haste and he’d regret it, but he didn’t listen | Photo: Pexels<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Bob was standing right behind our bedroom door, hearing everything we were saying. Yes, he was just a little child, but he could sense something wasn\u2019t quite right. He began crying loudly, and it infuriated Stephen even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee, here he goes again! Ughh, I\u2019m sick of him! You can live with this jerk if you want to, but I can\u2019t!\u201d Stephen yelled and stormed out of the room. Sadly, that\u2019s not where our fight ended.<\/p>\n
Stephen packed all his belongings and left us. I tried to stop him by telling him how much I loved him and how happy we could be together, but all he said before departing was that he would send me the divorce papers soon.<\/p>\n
I was devastated. I couldn\u2019t believe my life changed entirely in one night. I rushed over to Bob and hugged him tightly while crying. He kept on asking why his dad left, but I couldn\u2019t reply. I couldn\u2019t utter a word.<\/p>\n
Almost a year passed and Bob and I had learned to live without Stephen. I became preoccupied with my work, and Bob had started school. Sometimes, Bob would ask me about Stephen, but I just told him that his father had some important work, so he relocated to a new city.<\/p>\n
But lies have a way of leaking out, and one day Bob found out I was lying.<\/p>\n
We were at a grocery store, shopping. I was hunting for baking supplies when I noticed Bob hugging a man from behind and shouting, \u201cDad, dad, you\u2019re finally here! I missed you! Mom told me you moved to a new city.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I looked closely, I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. The man\u2014he was actually Stephen. I felt like running over to him and hugging him, but then I heard him shout, \u201cMove away, you piece of shit. You\u2019re not my son!\u201d he yelled at Bob.<\/p>\n
My anger knew no limits. I walked up to Stephen and slapped him. \u201cDon\u2019t you dare talk to him like that! HE\u2019S YOUR SON!!,\u201d I exclaimed angrily.<\/p>\n
Stephen took a step forward and said, \u201cThat jerk is not my son! He is someone else\u2019s dirty blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew this was the time Stephen deserved to know how wrong he had been. I pulled out my phone and showed the DNA report.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see this?! You moron! It\u2019s written clearly. He is your son!\u201d I yelled at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut how is this possible? Why didn\u2019t you tell me before?\u201d he asked, confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I never felt the need to, Stephen. Remember that night in the cafe when I told you about Bob. You said it didn\u2019t matter to you. You said you\u2019d love him like your son. Even when you were leaving, I tried to explain to you, but you were so consumed by your anger that you didn\u2019t want to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he didn\u2019t believe me. \u201cHow is that possible? How can he be my son? We never … Oh wait … is it,\u201d he paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Stephen,\u201d I said, \u201cI hope now you remember the night we met before I left town and moved to another city. I got pregnant with Bob after that. Everyone asked me to terminate the pregnancy, but I decided to keep him as a sign of our love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen\u2019s eyes welled up with tears. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Stacey,\u201d he apologized quickly. \u201cIf I knew he was our son, I wouldn\u2019t have left you. But it\u2019s not late. We can still start a family. I\u2019ll make things right, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Stephen,\u201d I said, \u201cThat\u2019s not possible. We are happy without you.\u201d With that, I grabbed Bob\u2019s hand and walked away.<\/p>\n
I heard a sobbing sound as we left. Maybe Stephen was crying. But I didn\u2019t care. I didn\u2019t want to have any association with a man who couldn\u2019t value relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was madly in love with Stephen since high school and wanted to marry him and start a family with him. However, fate was beyond our control, and destiny had planned to separate us. Shortly after I graduated, my father received a promotion, and we had to leave town. We relocated to a different city. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tales"],"yoast_head":"\n