[BL] A Marriage Ruled by Family, Saved by Desire-Chapter 47: Betrayal in Black and White

~Alistair’s POV~

"That was perfect, baby," he murmured against my lips, his voice vibrating with excitement. "You were incredible down there. You looked like you actually wanted to hit me."

We both shared a fleeting smile, but as the room’s silence settled around us, the joy evaporated. I felt the weight of reality crashing back down, and my smile faded into a look of deep uncertainty.

"What is it, babe?" Alex asked, his expression softening as he noticed the shift in my mood.

I swallowed, but I didn’t look away. "As much as I enjoyed that small victory in the living room," I said, holding his gaze, "it doesn’t change the truth. Your mother doesn’t just dislike me, Alex, she wants me out of your life. Completely. She has no interest in this marriage, and she’d celebrate the moment we signed divorce papers."

Alex’s face hardened. He quickly guided me over to the sofa, sitting me down and taking both of my hands in his, gripping them firmly. "That’s not happening, Alis. We are not getting a divorce. Don’t even say the word, even as a joke. I won’t let her win."

"I’m exhausted, Alex," I admitted softly, my voice shaking despite my effort to stay composed. "Pretending in front of her isn’t going to solve anything. We’re not getting closer to the truth, we’re just playing along with her manipulation. I’m supposed to be enjoying my marriage, not stuck in this twisted psychological battle. I don’t even recognize what we’re doing anymore."

Alex fell silent, the tension in his shoulders betraying his frustration. He knew I was right.

"Honestly... I don’t know how to fix this yet," he admitted, his voice low. "My mother is adamant, and she’s not going to let this go easily. She’s dug her heels in, and she won’t budge."

"So what do we do?" I asked, feeling a sense of hopelessness.

He let out a slow sigh, choosing his words carefully. "Tomorrow is the day... my mother said she’s taking Sarah for a gestation test," Alex said, his eyes narrowing with determination. "I know for a fact it’ll come back negative."

"And what if your mother pays the doctor to change the results?" I countered. "She’s done worse, Alex."

He paused, the realization hitting him. "You’re right. We can’t trust her choice of clinic. We have to be the ones to take her. We need a test done where she can’t interfere."

"Has your father heard about everything that happened in Singapore?"

"I’m not entirely sure, but by now, he probably does," Alex said.

"How are we going to convince Sarah to go with us instead of your mom?" I asked. "Your mother will fight us every step of the way."

"I’ll find a way to talk to her," Alex said, standing up with a newfound sense of urgency. "In fact, I need to act fast. I’m going to handle this before tomorrow morning comes. I have to catch them off guard."

"Okay, baby," I said softly, watching him.

Alex walked toward the door, pausing to look back at me. "I’ll be back soon, babe. Just hold on."

After the door clicked shut, I sat back on the sofa, alone in the quiet. I stared at the wall, a hollow feeling in my chest. I truly hoped this plan would work, because I was reaching my breaking point. I was exhausted from the lies, the drama, and the constant fear of losing the man I loved to a web of deceit I didn’t even help spin.

A while later, Alex returned. His expression was guarded but determined. "I spoke to my mother," he said. "She agreed. We are the ones taking Sarah to the clinic, but... my mother insisted on coming along."

I looked at him, searching his eyes for any sign of doubt. "It’s fine," I said quietly. "As long as we get to choose the hospital."

The rest of the day passed in a haze of tense anticipation. By morning, the house was heavy with unspoken dread. Alex and I got dressed in silence, carefully hiding any trace of intimacy before heading downstairs. We kept our distance, moving like strangers bound only by bitterness. Alex’s father had already left for business, leaving the four of us alone and the stage perfectly set.

We left the house in separate cars, a grim procession toward the inevitable. Deep down, I knew today would decide everything, either my life would be set right, or everything would come crashing down. Either Alex had been truthful, or Sarah had somehow already won. Yet, as the journey went on, I noticed something unsettling: Alex’s mother and Sarah didn’t look panicked. They weren’t even tense.

They looked Calm. Relaxed. And that, more than anything, planted a seed of doubt in my mind.

We picked a hospital where one of Alex’s close friends worked as a doctor. Upon arrival, he led us into a private room and began asking Sarah a series of routine questions before collecting her samples.

After the sample was taken, with every question asked and every step observed in front of all of us, the doctor turned to Alex. "You can wait here for a few hours, or you can all go home, and I’ll call you and tell you the results as soon as they’re ready."

"We’ll wait," Alex’s mother intervened instantly, her voice sharp and confident.

We stepped into the hospital’s waiting area, the tension almost unbearable. Minutes dragged like hours as we sat in the sterile, quiet room, the hum of the air conditioning the only sound filling the space between us. Finally, a nurse appeared and called us back into the office.

When we entered the doctor’s office, he gestured for us to sit. I let Alex and his mother take the seats while Sarah stood beside her, and I positioned myself next to Alex. The doctor looked uneasy, his eyes darting between the papers in his hand and Alex. He said nothing at first, simply handing the folder over to him.

Alex ripped it open. His eyes scanned the page, and suddenly, he let out a guttural shout of disbelief. "What?! No! This is impossible!"

"What happened?" I demanded, my heart sinking. Alex sprang to his feet, shouting as he paced the small room like a caged animal, his face twisted in a mask of horror.

I snatched the paper from his trembling fingers. My eyes blurred as I searched for the conclusion, and then I saw it.

Result: Positive.

In that moment, my whole body began to tremble, my vision blurring. Alex’s mother took the result from my hand and read it aloud. "Oh, thank God!" she shrieked with joy, rushing to Sarah’s side.

Alex broke down right there, his knees hitting the floor as he choked on a sob, but I didn’t stay to hear his excuses. I didn’t wait for him to tell me it was a mistake or that he’d been framed. The truth was staring at me in black and white. Every promise he made, every kiss we shared last night, it all felt like a sick, cruel joke.

I turned on my heel and bolted out of the office. Before Alex could even call my name, I sprinted to the car, snatched the keys from the startled driver’s hand, and tore out of the parking lot.

As I drove, the world outside blurred into gray streaks through my tears. My chest felt shattered, as if a sledgehammer had split it in two. He did it... I sobbed, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles burned. He actually slept with her. He had let me believe in his innocence while carrying this secret.

The betrayal cut deeper than anything I’d ever known, a cold blade twisting mercilessly in my gut. He let me defend him, let me love him... all while he knew this was coming.

I drove until the city faded into a gray blur behind me, finally pulling over in a deserted stretch of road. I slumped over the steering wheel, my body shaking with raw, uncontrollable sobs. Every heartbeat felt like a cruel reminder. I was a fool, the biggest fool in the world.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the harsh buzz of my phone. Through blurred, tear-stung eyes, I glanced down, the screen flashing a name that now felt like a curse.

Incoming Call: Hubby.

A fresh wave of sobs racked my body, making it hard to breathe. "How could you, Alex?" I choked out, my voice cracking in the empty car. "What did I ever do to deserve this? I stayed. Even when the world told me you were wrong, I stayed. I defended you, I fought for you, I believed every word that came out of your mouth... and you couldn’t even find the courage to tell me the truth."

The betrayal pressed down on me like a physical weight, stealing the very air from my lungs. He had looked me in the eye and promised he hadn’t touched her. He let me hope. He let me believe him, all the while knowing the poison that was waiting to strike.

The phone stopped, then immediately began to buzz again.

With trembling, numb fingers, I grabbed the device. I didn’t answer. Instead, I opened his contact. My blurred vision focused just enough to hit the edit button. I deleted the word Hubby, the word that represented every dream I’d had for our future, and replaced it with a cold, hollow Alex.

"I will make you pay for this," I whispered to the empty air, my grief turning into a sharp, jagged edge of resolve. "Before I hand you those divorce papers, I will make sure you feel a fraction of the agony I’m feeling right now. You’re just as cruel as your mother, you both deserve each other."

I stared at the name Alex on the screen, the finality of it making my heart ache with a fresh sting.

Just as I was about to turn the phone off and disappear, it vibrated again. I expected to see his name, to see the man who had just destroyed my life trying to crawl back, but the name on the screen stopped me cold.

Incoming Call: Andrew.