I FOUND MY SISTER WITH MY HUSBAND

Chapter Two: How Long?

I couldn't drive. My hands were on the steering wheel, but my fingers wouldn't move. Tears filled my eyes as every memory Damian and I had shared came rushing back at once.

I had slept in that room for four years. I had cried in that bed over negative pregnancy tests, and Damian had held my hand there the night the doctor told us to keep trying.

Then I remembered the day his mother came to our house with another woman. It was the day she called me barren.

I had been so happy to see her when she arrived that I called out, "Mama," with a smile on my face. Instead of returning my smile, she pushed me away.

"You useless barren woman," she said. "You can't even give my son a child."

Those words hurt more than almost anything I had ever experienced.

"Where is my son?" she demanded.

A few minutes later, Damian came downstairs.

"My son," she said, pointing at the woman standing beside her, "this girl will give you children."

I stood there crying while Damian's expression hardened.

"Mom, stop this."

"Stop what?"

"You can't call my wife barren. We've only been married for three years. It's too early to say something like that. I believe my wife will give me a child."

His mother stood up from her chair.

"Shut your mouth! Your younger brother got married after you, and his wife already has a child. What are you waiting for?"

She pointed at the woman again. "I brought this girl for you. She will give you children."

Damian refused. Their argument grew louder and louder until I couldn't stand there anymore, and I ran upstairs crying.

Eventually, his mother left the house angrily, with the woman following behind her.

That night, I cried myself to sleep.

And now, Damian, the man who had stood up for me when his own mother called me barren, had cheated on me. He had cheated on me with my sister.

"No!" I screamed. I couldn't believe it.

My bag sat on the passenger seat beside me, and the pregnancy test was still inside. I was supposed to be inside that house right now, showing Damian the two pink lines. Instead, he was upstairs with Sophia.

Someone knocked against my window, and I screamed again. It was Damian.

"Amelia!" he shouted.

My hand immediately reached for the lock button. Click. The doors locked.

His expression changed the moment he heard the sound.

"Please open the door."

I shook my head.

"Amelia, please. Let's talk."

Sophia came out behind him. Seeing them standing together made me feel sick.

I started the car.

"Don't drive like this," Damian said.

He looked scared, and for once, I was glad.

I put the car into reverse. Damian jumped back as I pulled out. The tires scraped against the curb, and Sophia's hand flew to her mouth.

I didn't wait to see what either of them did next. I turned the wheel and drove away.

I had no idea where I was going. I only knew that I couldn't stay there.

My phone started ringing before I had even gone two blocks. It was Damian, and I ignored it. It rang again. Then Sophia's name appeared on the screen.

I grabbed the phone and threw it onto the passenger seat.

"Stop!" I screamed. "Just stop!"

A horn suddenly blasted beside me, and I turned the wheel too quickly. For one terrifying second, I lost control of the car. Headlights flashed in front of me, and someone honked loudly.

I slammed on the brakes and quickly pulled onto the side of the road. My entire body was shaking, and then I started crying. This was loud, ugly crying that shook my entire body and left my chest aching.

I cried because my husband had betrayed me. I cried because my sister had betrayed me too. But most of all, I cried because I was pregnant.

After three years of trying, after all the doctors and all the disappointment, I was finally carrying a baby. And I had absolutely no idea what my life was supposed to look like now.

My hand slowly moved to my stomach. There was nothing to feel yet, no movement and no visible sign that a life was growing inside me. There were only two pink lines on a plastic stick. But it was real. I was carrying my baby. Damian's baby.

Neither of them knew that I was pregnant. Somehow, that thought made me feel a little stronger. I still had one thing they hadn't touched.

I wiped my face and looked at my phone. There were twenty-three missed calls.

I turned the phone off, started the car again, and this time, I knew exactly where I was going. I wasn't going back to that house. I was going to my mother's.

My mother opened the door before I could even knock. She looked at me, then at the bag hanging over my shoulder, and then back at my face.

"Amelia?"

I tried to smile, but I couldn't.

Her entire expression changed. "Oh, sweetheart."

That was all it took. I walked straight into her arms and started crying again.

She held me tightly and didn't ask what had happened. She didn't tell me to calm down or ask me to explain myself. She simply held me.

After a few minutes, she pulled me inside and locked the door behind us. Hearing the lock click made me feel a little safer. For the first time that night, I was somewhere Damian couldn't easily reach me.

She led me into the kitchen and made tea while I sat at the table, my hands still shaking. When she finished, she placed the cup in front of me.

"Drink."

"I can't."

She looked at me for a moment. "Then just hold it."

So I did.

For a while, neither of us said anything. Then my mother reached across the table and took my hand.

"What happened?"

I had repeated the words in my head throughout the entire drive, but saying them out loud was different.

"I caught Damian cheating."

My mother's face went completely still. She had always trusted Damian.

"What?"

"I came home tonight and found him with someone."

I couldn't look at her, and my fingers tightened around the cup.

"It was Sophia."

The cup slipped from her hand and hit the table. She stared at me for a long moment before she finally spoke.

"Your sister?"

I nodded.

"No." She shook her head. "Sophia wouldn't do that."

"I saw them, Mom." My voice broke. "I saw them."

Neither of us said anything for a moment. My mother slowly covered her mouth, and tears filled her eyes.

"How long?" she whispered.

I looked at her. "What?"

"How long has this been happening?"

My stomach dropped. With all the screaming, the shock, and everything that had happened that night, I had forgotten to ask the one question that mattered most. How long had my husband been sleeping with my sister? How many times had they lied to my face?

"I don't know," I said quietly.

My mother stared at me. "You don't know?"

"I didn't ask."

My phone buzzed on the table. It was Damian, and I immediately turned the phone facedown.

"Are you going to answer him?" my mother asked.

"No."

A message appeared on the screen. Please come home. We need to talk. Then another one followed. I'm sorry. Then Sophia's name appeared. Amelia, please answer me.

My stomach turned. I turned the phone off completely.

"I can't do this tonight."

My mother stood up, came around the table, and wrapped her arms around me. "You don't have to."

I didn't sleep that night. I lay in my old bedroom staring at the ceiling, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw Damian and Sophia together.

Eventually, I turned onto my side and reached for my bag. The pregnancy test was still inside. I pulled it out and stared at it again. The two pink lines were still there. They were still real.

"I was supposed to be happy about you," I whispered. My voice broke as I held the test against my chest.

This baby was supposed to be the happiest news of my life. Instead, it had become my biggest secret. Neither Damian nor Sophia knew, and I wasn't ready to tell them.

I finally fell asleep sometime before morning.

My phone started buzzing the next morning. For a few seconds, I forgot everything that had happened. Then I looked at the screen. There were nine missed calls from Damian and five from Sophia. Everything came rushing back at once.

I sat up in bed. I needed someone who wasn't related to Sophia, someone who didn't share blood with either of them.

I called Marisol. She picked up on the second ring.

"Amelia?"

My throat felt tight. "Can you come over?"

There was a brief silence. Then she asked, "What happened?"

I closed my eyes. "I caught Damian cheating."

She gasped softly. "Oh my God."

I forced myself to continue. "With Sophia."

There was silence for several seconds. Then she said, "I'm coming."

She arrived forty minutes later. The moment she saw my face, she pulled me into her arms, and I cried again.

Afterward, I told her almost everything. I didn't tell her about the baby. I wasn't ready for anyone else to know, not yet.

When I finished telling her what happened, she leaned back and looked at me. She wasn't surprised. She was angry.

"How long?"

I looked down. "I don't know. I didn't ask him."

She immediately stood up. "You need to find out."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because you deserve to know exactly how long they've been lying to you."

I looked away. "I don't think I want to know."

"Yes, you do."

I looked back at her, and her expression softened.

"If you don't ask him now, you'll spend every night wondering. You'll keep asking yourself how many times they lied to your face. You'll wonder how long they were together while you had absolutely no idea."

My chest tightened.

"You deserve the truth, Amelia."

Before I could respond, my phone started ringing again. It was Damian. Marisol looked at the screen and then looked at me, and neither of us said anything.

I stared at his name, and my finger hovered over the answer button. Then I pressed it.

"Amelia." His voice sounded relieved. "Thank God. I've been trying to reach you all night."

"Don't."

There was silence.

"Don't apologize."

"Amelia, please—"

"I said don't."

I tightened my grip on the phone. "I only want one thing from you. Answer me honestly."

He went quiet. "Okay."

I took a deep breath, and then I asked the question that had followed me throughout the entire night.

"How long, Damian?"

Nothing. There was no answer. I could only hear his breathing on the other end of the phone. And somehow, that silence told me everything I needed to know. This wasn't one night, and it wasn't one mistake.

"How long?" I asked again.

There was another long silence. Then he finally answered.

"Almost two years."

Everything inside me went cold. For a second, I couldn't breathe. Almost two years. They had been lying to me for almost two years.

For almost two years, we had attended family dinners together. Sophia had hugged me goodbye, and Damian had come home to me afterward as though nothing had happened.

My legs went weak, and I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself.

"You've been sleeping with my sister for two years?"

"Amelia, please let me explain—"

I hung up.

For several seconds, neither Marisol nor I said a word. Then my phone started ringing again. It was Damian. Something inside me told me not to answer, but I answered anyway.

"There's something else," he said immediately.

My entire body went tense. "What?"

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he finally said it.

"Sophia is pregnant."

For a second, I thought I had heard him wrong. Then the phone slipped from my hand.