chapter 5
712 Words
JADEN
No matter how many spreadsheets I flip through or meetings I bulldoze my way through, my brain keeps dragging me back to her.
Her name.
Her eyes.
Her kiss.
It’s been over a month, and I still can’t shake her. CraveMore is demanding my attention with new product strategies, board presentations, and the LA shoot Wilder keeps trying to hype up like it’s a Vegas bachelor party.
But it’s all background noise now. She’s the main event, even in her absence.
I’m starting to think I imagined her.
Because no one that real—that raw, that electric—just disappears.
..............
ANGELA
The dinner is a blur.
Mason pulls out my chair like a gentleman, like he didn’t kiss my sister just a few nights ago. His hand brushes mine like he hasn’t scorched my trust to ash.
Sophia William sits at the head of the table, eyeing me like I’m the hired help who got too comfortable.
My father is quiet. Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe it’s pride swallowing what’s left of our fragile relationship. Cassandra offers polite conversation, but I can hear the ice underneath it.
And Lena… Lena acts like nothing happened. She laughs at Mason’s dry jokes, passes the salad, and wears a shade of lipstick that matches mine too closely.
I force myself to eat.
But halfway through the main course, something shifts in my stomach. The queasiness returns, low and curling like a threat. I excuse myself, pretending I’m just tired.
On the ride home, I sit in silence. Even the city feels muted.
Back in my apartment, I kick off my shoes and head straight to the bathroom. Still no blood. Still that nagging weight in my lower belly.
I catch my reflection. My hand instinctively grazes over my abdomen.
"There’s no need worrying yourself," I whisper. "Tomorrow will give us a confirmation."
I crawl into bed and curl under the covers. My last thought before sleep claims me is a single, resounding question:
What if I really am pregnant?
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The next morning, I wake up with a pounding headache and a sour taste in my mouth.
The nausea doesn’t hit immediately, but it lingers under the surface like a held breath. I try to go about my day as usual—emails, a coffee I barely touch, sketching designs I don’t feel inspired by.
By noon, I can’t take it anymore.
I pack up early and head to the nearest convenience store.
The fluorescent lights buzz above me like an interrogation room. I grab the test—the most expensive one with the digital read. It feels more real in my hand than I want it to.
Back home, I pace the bathroom like a caged animal.
Then I pee on the stick.
Then I wait.
Five minutes feel like five years.
I try not to look.
But eventually, I do.
Pregnant.
The word blinks on the tiny screen like it’s screaming.
I sit on the cold tile floor, the test in my hand.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
I cover my mouth as a sob tries to escape. It doesn’t come out. Nothing does.
Just silence. And my heart racing like it’s trying to outrun reality.
I don’t know whether to cry, scream, or laugh.
What the hell am I going to do now?
I think of my father.
I think of my ruined engagement.
I think of my sister.
And then I think of him. The stranger with the sad eyes and the hands that held me like I was breakable.
A name I can never forget.
Jaden
What do I do now?
Do I keep it?
Can I?
Will he take this baby from me, if he finds out?
This child wasn’t conceived out of love. It was born from betrayal and grief and chaos. But when I close my eyes, I picture a tiny version of me. Or maybe of him. With big eyes and wild dreams.
I press my palm flat against my abdomen.
Whatever decision I make, it will change everything.
But one thing I know for sure—
No one can find out.
Not yet.
Not until I decide who I am going to be.
A woman with a broken heart.
Or a mother with a secret.
- Writer
