I was at my desk, half-typing an email, half-daydreaming about what to make for dinner when the office delivery guy appeared at my office door. He held a bright pink bakery box in his hands, grinning from ear to ear like he was in on some inside joke I didn’t know about.

“Good afternoon, Emma!” he said enthusiastically. “This is for you!”

“Thank you, Nico,” I said, blinking as he handed me the box.

I hadn’t ordered anything. There were no birthdays or work celebrations planned. So, who would be sending me a cake? My stomach fluttered with curiosity. My husband, Jake, was one of the head bakers at a fancy bakery in town. So, maybe this was just a little treat from him.

The office buzzed with its usual energy, phones ringing, keyboards clacking, people laughing in the break room, everyone just wanted to get out for the day. But in that moment, it all faded into the background. I slowly untied the ribbon, lifted the lid, and froze.

Scrawled across the top of the cake in black frosting were four words that turned my blood cold:

I am divorcing you.

I stared at the words, blinking in disbelief. But there was more!

Placed neatly on the cake, next to the damning message, was a positive pregnancy test.

Jake had found it. He’d found the pregnancy test that I’d thrown into the bathroom trash this morning, the same test that I was supposed to pick up and bring with me, easy to hide from Jake.

But I was late, and I had forgotten. Now, this? The cake… this was Jake’s response? Divorce. A cake with a slap-in-the-face message.

I gripped the edge of my desk to steady myself, I could feel a panic attack almost rising to the surface. This wasn’t just some cruel joke. Jake thought I had cheated on him.

Why else would he send this?

Jake had been told years ago that he was infertile. And he believed that there was no way this child could be his. He thought I’d betrayed him, that I’d gone behind his back after everything we’ve been through.

The truth, though?

The truth was far more complicated.

I hadn’t cheated. Of course not. I hadn’t been with anyone but Jake. The pregnancy test was mine, yes, but I hadn’t told him yet because I needed confirmation from the doctor first.

Honestly, Jake and I had been through so much heartbreak trying to have a baby that I couldn’t stand the idea of getting his hopes up, only to have them crushed.

I remembered our conversation from three years ago.

“I think we should just stop trying for a while,” I said, sitting on our bed.

“What do you mean, Em?” Jake asked. “Just like that, stop trying?”

“We’ve been trying for a baby for the past eighteen months, Jake. I think our bodies need a moment to breathe.”

“You mean my body?” he asked. “It seems like mine is the problem. The doctors have told us that it’s my fault. It’s my sperm. So, yeah. Let’s stop…”

But now, my husband thought the worst of me.

Grabbing the box, I packed up my things and rushed out of the office, ignoring the concerned looks from my coworkers. I didn’t have time to explain. All I could think about was getting home, facing Jake, and explaining the truth.

When I walked through the front door, I saw him immediately. Jake was pacing back and forth across the living room, his face flushed, his body tense with fury.

He turned the second I stepped inside, his eyes wild.

I placed the cake box gently on the kitchen counter and stood still, facing him.

“It is mine, honey,” I said.

Jake’s expression didn’t soften. He looked angrier; he looked ready to explode.

“If you want a divorce, I won’t stop you,” I continued. “But before you walk away from us, there’s something you need to know.”

“What could you possibly say, Emma? I thought you loved me. And yet, here you are, having someone else’s baby?”

“Jake, listen to me!” I interrupted. “This baby is yours. You’re going to be a father!”

The words hung in the air.

Jake stopped pacing, his brow furrowed. For a moment, he just stared at me as if trying to process what I had said. Then he shook his head, his voice trembling with disbelief.

“No. That’s not possible. Emma, I’m infertile. The doctors said it. We’ve been over this for years.”

My husband’s eyes searched mine, filled with confusion, but he didn’t interrupt me this time. I took a deep breath, knowing it was the time to explain it all, even though I wasn’t entirely sure he’d believe me.

“Jake,” I began. “You were never completely infertile. Dr. Harper told me that you’ve had a condition called oligospermia. It means that your sperm count was low, but it didn’t mean you couldn’t have children. Dr. Harper said that it’s likely that the stress from trying and failing to conceive over the years might have made it worse.”

“Baby, you were never completely unable to have kids…”

My husband’s mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. He sank into the armchair as he processed everything I said.

I watched as the anger drained from his face, replaced with a veil of sheer disbelief. He buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking as the realization hit him.

He trailed off, his words dissolving into sobs.

The man I had spent years loving, the man who had been so strong through all our struggles, was breaking down in front of me.

I stood there, watching him crumble, my own heart aching in ways I couldn’t describe. I knew that I should have been happy at this new development in our lives.

I mean, I was finally pregnant after years of trying. This was joy. But I was hurt that Jake had jumped to the worst conclusion, that he hadn’t even asked me before sending that awful cake.

“I’m so sorry,” Jake said after a while. “I thought… I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t move. I just let him sit there and cry, let him process everything. He apologized over and over, each word dripping with regret. He had been ready to walk away, to end everything because of a misunderstanding, because of his own fears.

But now, now he knew the truth.

I felt a lump rise in my throat. This wasn’t how I had imagined telling him. I had dreamed of the moment we’d finally get the news we’d waited so long for. I’d pictured his joy, his tears of happiness. But not this. Not this mess.

But as I stood there, looking at my husband who had just crumbled to pieces, I realized that despite everything, we had been given the one thing we thought we’d never have.

A baby.

A future.

What would you have done?

If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |

I Hired a Fake Boyfriend for Our Family Dinner – It Turned Out to Be the Best Decision of My Life

Family gatherings were the worst for Lara, especially since her sister, Emily, began to make fun of her love life, or lack thereof. Determined to sit through her father’s birthday dinner, Lara decides to hire a boyfriend for the night. Little did she know that something reminiscent of a romantic comedy would soon play out.

Last Thanksgiving, she took it too far and even set a place at the table for my “imaginary boyfriend,” complete with a hand-drawn face on a napkin. Everyone around the table laughed while I forced a smile.

“It’s funny, Lara!” she would say whenever I brought up the incident.

It was anything but funny.

“There’s no way I can sit through another one of those events with my family,” I told my friend, Kate, when we met for coffee.

“I’m telling you now, Emily probably has something up her sleeve already,” I grumbled.

“Then just hire someone out for the night!” Kate chuckled, adding sugar to her coffee.

“Hire a man?” I exclaimed.

“Yes! My sister did it through an agency. She didn’t want to go to her ex-boyfriend’s wedding by herself, so she found the agency. Look, it’s all above board and the guys do exactly what you need them to do.”

“It’s not… sleazy?” I asked, trying to think of a better word.

Read the full story here.

This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.