The doctor’s office smelled of antiseptic and cold sterile air, a sharp contrast to the warm summer breeze outside. My hands trembled as I clutched the envelope with my test results, the paper crinkling under my fingers. Matheus had driven me to the appointment, his steady presence a lifeline as I grappled with the possibility of being pregnant. The dizziness, the nausea—it all pointed to something I wasn’t sure I was ready to face. Not with Roberta’s shadow looming over us, her unborn child a constant reminder of the fracture in my marriage. As Matheus pulled up to the house, I took a deep breath, steeling myself to share the news with Oliver. But the moment I stepped through the front door, the air shifted, heavy with something dark and unspoken.
Oliver stood in the living room, his arm
