Greg thought he and Natalie had mastered co-parenting—until a late-night call shattered everything.
They’d been together five years before quietly separating. No big fights, just growing apart. Now they lived in different states, connected only by their three-year-old son, Oliver. They kept things civil—no lawyers, no custody war. Every night, Natalie video-called so Greg could say goodnight to his son. It wasn’t enough, but it worked.
Until one night, Natalie called screaming.
“Greg… Oliver’s gone. He’s dead.”
Greg collapsed. She claimed it happened suddenly. Worse—she said there had already been a ceremony. Oliver was buried. Greg was devastated and furious he hadn’t been told.
The next day, as he packed to fly out, Natalie’s husband Mike called.
“Natalie made it up. Oliver’s alive.”
Greg was stunned. Mike explained Natalie had panicked—she didn’t want Greg in her life anymore and thought faking Oliver’s death would push him away.
Greg flew out anyway. When he confronted Natalie, she admitted the truth: she was pregnant and feared Greg would try to take Oliver from her. In her panic, she chose the unthinkable.
Greg was furious. She had made him believe his son was dead. But then Oliver ran into his arms, alive and smiling, and nothing else mattered in that moment.
Greg made it clear: he would never take Oliver away—but if she ever did something like that again, he’d take legal action. He insisted on counseling. Mike, at least, had done the right thing.
Back home, the distance felt unbearable. Greg opened his laptop and started searching for jobs closer to his son.
Next time, he wouldn’t be so far away.