Part 2
## Part 2
Ryan stood frozen, staring at the wedding ring in his palm.
“Dad… please.”
Colonel Carter kept his voice calm.
“When your mother and I celebrated our fiftieth anniversary, I told everyone our greatest achievement wasn’t our careers. It was raising a son with character.”
He looked directly at Ryan.
“Today, you’ve proven me wrong.”
I carried the twins downstairs, gently rocking them as they cried.
Ryan moved toward me.
“Emily, let me explain.”
I shook my head.
“Then explain one thing.”
He said nothing.
“Is Ashley really pregnant?”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
The room became unbearably quiet.
“When did it start?”
“About seven months ago.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Seven months.
That meant the affair had begun while I was pregnant with our twins.
Colonel Carter closed his eyes for several seconds before speaking.
“You cheated on your pregnant wife.”
Ryan whispered, “I made a mistake.”
“No,” his father replied firmly. “A mistake is forgetting an anniversary. This was a series of deliberate choices.”
Ryan admitted that Ashley believed he was preparing divorce papers because he had repeatedly promised to leave me once the babies were born.
Instead, he kept delaying, trying to maintain both relationships until he decided which one benefited him most.
Ashley had grown impatient.
Her message was not intended for me.
It was meant to pressure him.
Ryan reached for my hand.
“I was confused.”
I stepped away.
“You were organized enough to lie to two women for months.”
Colonel Carter opened his briefcase and removed a folder.
“I stopped by an attorney’s office before coming here.”
Ryan looked confused.
“Dad?”
“I’ve already arranged temporary financial assistance for Emily and the boys if she chooses to leave.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“You did that?”
“You are the mother of my grandsons,” he answered. “None of this is your fault.”
Ryan looked defeated.
“You’d choose her over your own son?”
His father answered without hesitation.
“I’m choosing the person who honored her vows.”
Ryan lowered his head.
For the first time since I had known him, no one accepted his excuses.
Not even his father
