I Praised My Ex at the Toast for ‘Raising Our Child’ — He Stood Up Without a Word and Left Me Shaking

It was their fifth year anniversary. Roger and Bulsara had invited their friends and closest relatives over to their house for a party. Candles flickered in the dining room and the table was full of flowers and food. Laughter filled the air. Roger looked around at the life they had built, proud. Love for five years — or so he thought.

Then came the toasts. Bulsara stood up, wineglass in hand, beaming. Roger was waiting for her to make some sweet thing to say to him, about them. Her words hit, instead, like a blow to the chest.

“I wanna thank somebody special,” she said, her voice steady and clear. “To the father of my child — thank you for being the light at the end of the tunnel.

The room went dead quiet. Roger’s heart stopped. The real father? His mind spun. He wasn’t the father? Was she saying his son wasn’t his? Everyone stared, frozen. The guests looked at one another in nonplussed discomfort.

Roger’s face turned pale. His chest tightened. He pulled his chair back with a sudden movement that made it grate on the floor. He got up in silence and walked out. The door closed with a loud thump behind him, and the others, including Bulsara, stood there stunned.