Ariana’s POV
I didn’t cry at first.
I could hold it in. I thought I could breathe through it, smile through it, pretend through it. I’d already gotten good at pretending—pretending I was fine, pretending the marriage was simple, pretending I wasn’t carrying a secret that could ruin everything.
But then Zack picked up his phone.
And the moment I heard him say, “Mum… I have news. Ariana’s pregnant,” something inside me cracked like glass under pressure.
He sounded so proud. So full. So sure.
And I wasn’t just carrying a baby.
I was carrying a lie.
I turned away before he could see my face and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing both hands to my stomach like I could silence the guilt sitting there.
The child growing in me was real.
The joy was real.
But Zack’s joy was built on a t
