ng, a familiar, neat script, filled the inside. "To my Olivia, five years down, a lifetime to go. I love you more every day." It was a

, the pictur

ands twisting in his lap, a gesture so unlike

voice strained, "I nee

ng started i

out Chlo

ersity scholarship program. He spoke of her occasionally,

r?" I asked, m

with a desperate apology. "She's pregna

e walls closing in. "You had an affair." It wasn't a qu

. "No, I swear. We never... we never had a

ow is she pregnant

stole it. From my used

a moment, I couldn't process it. It was the stuff of

this child, Olivia. You know how much they want an heir. They're forcing me. They

know what to do. I told them I love you, that we are

accept this. To welcome a child, conceived in deceit, into our lives. My husband and another woman's ch

say, the word tasting

lifestyle with enthusiasm, transformed. He bought every pregnancy guide he could find, his nights spent highlighting passages a

with an excitement I had never seen before. He spent weekends meticulously assembling a crib, painting the walls a soft, neutral yellow, and hanging mo

ding with terrifying speed. Smoke filled our unit, thick an

out," he yelle

ped in her apartment on the floor below, hysterical.

my arm. His eyes, when they met mine, were cold

tanding alone in the suffocating smoke. The heat was becoming unbearable. A falling piece of

er him, shielding him from the worst of the impact. He had walked away with minor bruises. I had woken up

had promised. "I love you. I don't need children. I just need you." He had stood up to his par

her, his body a protective shield around her and her swollen belly. "It's okay," he

ptic was sharp and clean. Liam was sitting by my

aid, relief washing over his

the baby's birth certificate... it will be easier if we get a divorce. It's just temporary. Just a

a promise to me five years ago in another hospital room.

as still his compliant, loving Olivia. But something inside me had broke

ut of the room, his voice a low murmur on the phone. I crept t

Liam was saying, his voice soft and ful

sires were never hidden, I had just refused to see them

h Chloe, I was erasing my past. I booked a one-way ticket, not to the resort he thought I was recovering at, but to Canada. I c