Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind The Wedding
Daniel stared at the message on my phone.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
He didn’t blink.
He didn’t even breathe normally.
His eyes stayed fixed on the name at the top of the screen.
Olivia.
His fiancée.
The woman he had chosen over me.
The woman he was supposed to marry in less than forty-eight hours.
“What does this mean?”
His voice was different.
The confidence was gone.
The arrogance was gone.
Only fear remained.
I reached for my phone and locked the screen.
“Ask her.”
Daniel looked back at me.
“What did she do?”
I almost smiled.
Not because I wanted to.
Because I had spent months asking myself the same question.
What had Olivia done?
What had Daniel ignored?
What had I failed to see before my entire life fell apart?
“You should probably ask her why she thinks you can’t know.”
Daniel looked at the baby again.
Emma was still sleeping.
Peaceful.
Unaware.
She had no idea that two adults were standing beside her, trying to understand how one decision had changed all of their lives.
“I don’t understand.”
His voice became quieter.
“I don’t understand any of this.”
I looked at him.
The man standing in front of me was not the same man who had left.
But I reminded myself not to forget.
Broken people could still break others.
“Six months ago, you walked away from me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“No, Daniel. You don’t.”
The words came out faster than I expected.
“You left because you thought you had already figured everything out. You thought I was the problem. You thought Olivia was the future.”
His eyes dropped.
I continued.
“You never asked why I stopped fighting. You never asked why I stopped begging you to stay.”
The room became silent.
Because he knew.
He remembered.
He remembered every argument.
Every night we slept facing opposite directions.
Every morning when we pretended everything was fine.
“You were pregnant.”
It wasn’t a question.
It was a realization.
I looked away.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“When did you find out?”
“The week after you left.”
His expression collapsed.
“The week after…”
He repeated the words like they hurt.
“I called you.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
I nodded.
“You called eleven times.”
His eyes widened.
“Then why didn’t you answer?”
Because that was the question I had been waiting months for.
The question I never wanted to answer.
Because the truth was painful.
“I answered once.”
Daniel froze.
“You don’t remember?”
I looked at him.
“You called me at midnight. You were with Olivia.”
His face turned pale.
“I wasn’t—”
“You were.”
My voice stayed calm.
That was the worst part.
I wasn’t angry anymore.
Anger belonged to people who still expected something.
“I heard her voice in the background.”
Daniel looked away.
“I was going to explain.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were going to choose.”
Silence.
“You already had.”
Daniel sat down slowly on the chair beside the hospital bed.
For the first time, I saw him look small.
Not like the successful businessman everyone admired.
Not like the man whose name appeared on magazine covers.
Just a man realizing he had destroyed something precious.
“I should have known.”
I said nothing.
“I should have known there was a reason you disappeared.”
“You didn’t look for me.”
His eyes closed.
That sentence hurt him more than anything else.
Because it was true.
He didn’t.
He could have searched.
He could have called.
He could have shown up.
But he didn’t.
He trusted the story he created.
That I was difficult.
That I was angry.
That I wanted space.
The truth was simpler.
I was hurt.
And I was carrying his child.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Emma?”
I looked down at our daughter.
“Because I called.”
Daniel looked up.
“And you didn’t answer.”
The room went completely still.
“I called you three days after I found out.”
His face changed.
“I was terrified.”
I swallowed.
“I was sitting alone in my apartment. I had a pregnancy test in my hand. I didn’t know if I should cry or smile.”
My fingers brushed against Emma’s tiny blanket.
“I called you because even after everything, you were still her father.”
Daniel looked like he wanted to speak.
But no words came.
“Your assistant answered.”
His expression changed.
“Olivia?”
I nodded.
“She told me you were busy.”
Daniel shook his head immediately.
“She wouldn’t do that.”
I looked at him.
That sentence.
That defense.
It told me everything.
Even now.
Even after seeing the truth.
Part of him still protected her.
“Then why did she send me that message?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
And because he was finally starting to question the person he trusted most.
His phone suddenly rang.
The sound cut through the room.
Daniel looked at the screen.
Olivia.
Neither of us spoke.
The call continued.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, Daniel answered.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
Then his expression changed.
“I’m at the hospital.”
Another pause.
His eyes moved toward me.
“No, I’m not alone.”
I watched his face carefully.
Whatever Olivia said next affected him.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
“What do you mean you know?”
My heart stopped.
Daniel stood up.
“What did you just say?”
I felt a cold feeling move through my body.
He turned away from me.
“No. Don’t lie to me.”
A few seconds passed.
Then he whispered:
“You knew about Emma?”
I froze.
Daniel looked at me.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
Olivia had gone silent.
The call ended.
Slowly, Daniel lowered the phone.
“She knew.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She knew you were pregnant.”
The room felt smaller.
“She knew about Emma before I did.”
I didn’t understand.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
I had never told Olivia.
I had barely told anyone.
“How?”
Daniel didn’t answer immediately.
Then he looked at the hospital bracelet around Emma’s wrist.
His face changed again.
Like he had just connected another piece of a puzzle.
“She wasn’t trying to hide the baby from me.”
He whispered.
“She was trying to hide something else.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel looked at his phone.
A new message had arrived.
Not from Olivia.
From an unknown number.
He opened it.
His face went completely white.
Then he slowly turned the screen toward me.
There was only one sentence.
May you like
“Ask Daniel who the father of Olivia’s unborn child really is.”
And beneath the message was a photo of Olivia standing outside a doctor’s office.
