Chapter 3 - The Pregnant Secret
I lay in the darkness, my fingernails digging into the carpet until my palms bled. Every word was a serrated blade, cutting through the illusions of the last two years.
"How long do we have?" Monica asked, her voice dropping.
"Long enough to secure the accounts," Ethan replied. "The business restructuring happens Monday. Once the assets are consolidated under the holding firm, I’ll file for a no-fault separation. She’ll have nothing but the clothes on her back."
"And the baby?" Vanessa asked. "What if she gets pregnant before you dump her?"
My heart stopped. I was already pregnant. I had been planning to tell him tonight, right after the first dance.
"She’s not pregnant," Ethan said, a sharp, cold edge to his voice. "She thinks she is, maybe. But I’ve been making sure she takes her vitamins."
My blood ran cold. The daily vitamins he meticulously brought me every morning.
"Contraceptives," Ethan added with a smirk. "She’s so focused on the museum archive work, she doesn't notice the bottle switch."
The room spun. My entire existence was a calculated, fraudulent performance. I wasn't his wife; I was a tenant in a prison he was currently stripping of its valuables.
"Well," Monica said, her tone suddenly shifting to something sinister. "I’m not hiding forever. Four months along is already difficult enough to conceal."
Four months.
Four months ago, Ethan and I were in Lake Geneva, promising to start a family.
I lay in the dark, the man I loved laughing above me, planning to evict me from my own life. I realized then that I didn't know him at all. I didn't know the house. I didn't know the marriage. But I had one thing he didn't know about.
May you like
My phone.
It was tucked under my bodice, still recording for the "prank." I didn't dare move to check it, but I prayed the audio was capturing every soul-crushing word.
