“I can’t believe it! My best friend is actually Alex’s father! I’ve been raising his son for over four years, never imagining he wasn’t mine.”
Emma and Victor had been in love since secondary school. After graduation, Victor went off to aviation university in another city. Emma couldnt get in. They called each other every day without fail.
When Victor started his flight training, Emma grew fiercely jealous of the beautiful flight attendants. She travelled to his city to reconcile, and they spent a wonderful night whispering sweet nothings. But the next morning, she saw a message from one of his stewardess friendsasking when his next flight was, saying she felt much calmer flying with him.
Of course, jealousy took over. Emma stormed out in tears after a blazing row.
Victor was offered a job abroadgreat prospects, excellent pay. He agonised over how to tell Emma hed be leaving for a year. But before he could, she announced she was pregnant.
He proposed. They married soon after in a dazzling ceremony that half the town attended. The overseas opportunity vanishedhis wife refused to go.
After the wedding, Victor moved them to London. When their son was born, they took out a hefty mortgage on a spacious flat with his mothers help. Victor worked relentlessly to keep up with payments and support his family.
“If Id just gone abroad for that year, I wouldnt be stuck in this dead-end job! Id have climbed the career ladder by now!”
“Oh, sure, Vic! While Im here with the baby, youd be off gallivanting with new women on your flights?” Emma snapped.
“Youre suffocating me with this jealousy! If Im with you, Im with youno one else!”
Arguments became daily, especially after his flights. Emma would pounce the moment he walked in, rifling through his phone, hunting for evidence. After three years, Victor left flying to become an instructor at the aviation university. Weekends, he drove a taxi for extra cash.
For Emmas peace of mind, he abandoned his dream. He did everything to be the perfect father and husband.
One day, Victor missed a mortgage payment. To sort it at the bank, he needed the contract. Emma wasnt home, so he tore through their files. He found the contractand something else. Beneath the paperwork lay a paternity test.
“What is this?” he muttered.
Results: ChildAlex Victor Thompson. Alleged FatherAndrew Michael Bond. Probability of Paternity99%.
“I cant believe it! My best friend is Alexs father! All these years raising him, and hes not even mine.”
Victor didnt know how to react, how to confront Emma. He sat there, stunned.
“Hello, darling! Were home!” Emma kissed him, but he didnt respond.
“Alex, lets eat. Then well go to the park,” he said flatly.
“Love, whats wrong? What did I do now?” Emma laughed nervously.
“Dinner first. Then Alex and I are going out.”
Emma didnt understand his coldness.
“Vic, did something happen at work? Another deployment? Talk to me!”
“Not in the mood.” He stood and walked away.
Emma followed, pestering him.
“Are you serious? Im your wife! Explain yourself!”
“You want the truth? You let me throw my dreams away for this family! And all along, Alex isnt even mine!”
Emmas eyes widened in panic.
“Does he know? How could he? I hid it so well!”
Two months passed since Victors discovery. He couldnt bear speaking to Emma. How could Andrew, his best friend, keep this secret?
The truth was, Andrew had always fancied Emma. He never hid it. But months before Victor and Emmas wedding, he married someone else, accepting shed never be his. Yet at every party, Andrew danced with Emma, not his wife.
Victors mother once remarked, “Oh, Emma, you and Andrew wouldve made such a lovely pair!”
Emma laughed it off. “Dont be silly! Im married to your son! We have a child! We love each other!”
“You do, I see. But why dance with his friend? Why ask Andrew for help, not your husband?”
“Victors always working! Andrews kindhe never says no.”
“Emma, I love my son. I wont let him be deceived. Somethings not right in your marriage.”
“Youre imagining things!”
But Victors mother had noticedAlex had Andrews birthmark. As he grew, the resemblance became uncanny. She secretly arranged the paternity test, collecting DNA from Andrews glass and Alexs cup during a family gathering.
Late one evening, she confronted Emma in tears.
“I knew it! How could you betray my son? Does Andrew even know he has a child?”
Emma begged. “Please dont ruin our lives! It was one stupid night! Victor and I were fightingI never thought Andrew was just a fling! Victor loves me, loves Alex! Andrew had nothingno career, no money! I did it for my child!”
Victors mother left in tears, heartbroken for her son.
Emma, panicking, hid the test results in the documents, praying Victor would never look.
Months later, she resolved to confess. But when she got home, Victor was gonehis things vanished. A new remote-control car lay on Alexs bed.
“Mummy, wheres Daddy?”
“Hes away, sweetheart.” Emma rushed to the balcony and wept.
She called Victor, pleading. “Please, lets talk!”
“Dont bother. I loved you, trusted youand you trampled it. Ill always support Alex, but I cant live with you.”
Alex missed his father, so Victor took him on weekends. Emma begged for a chance to explain.
“Remember that fight over the stewardess? I went out with friends, got drunk, and ended up at Andrews. I wanted to tell you, but I was scared. Andrew swore me to secrecy. When I got pregnant, I thought he was yours. But your mother had the test when Alex was six months old. I buried it, tried to forget. Its Andrews faulthe always envied you! Please, forgive me!”
“Theres no forgiveness,” Victor said coldly.
He returned to flying, filed for divorce. He sent gifts from abroad, supported Alex financially. Andrew never learned the truthhe moved overseas with his wife.
One reckless night destroyed everythinglove, trust, friendship.
Emma lived comfortably in their London flat, with her salary and Victors support. Alex attended the best school. She visited spas, had everythingexcept love.
She tried endlessly to win Victor back, but he refused. He struggled to trust again, though in time, he achieved the career heights hed always dreamed of.
What would you have done in Victors place? Was Emma right to keep the secret so long?
