You Faked Your Death for Her？Great！I Had His Baby Chapter 01

You Faked Your Death for Her？Great！I Had His Baby Chapter 01

At seven that night, Ethan came home carrying a bag of strawberries.

My favorite.

“Evie, I need to talk to you about something.”

He set the strawberries on the coffee table and sat across from me, looking serious.

“I told you before that I wanted to hike the Presidential Traverse over Thanksgiving. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be gone at least two weeks.”

He paused and sighed.

“Which means I probably won’t make it back in time for the wedding.”

“Our wedding planner booked everything for Thanksgiving weekend. If I don’t make it back in time, or I come back in no shape for a wedding, trying to force it through won’t do either of us any good.”

“So maybe we should push it back.”

I said nothing.

When he saw no reaction from me, he leaned forward.

“And I did the math. Even if I make it back by mid-November, I’ll still need time to recover.”

“We haven’t taken our engagement photos yet, you still have your hair-and-makeup trial, and we need to send out the invitations. None of that’s going to happen in time.”

“So instead of scrambling at the last minute, we might as well message everyone today and tell them the wedding’s canceled.”

“Canceled?”

I repeated the word softly.

I wasn’t sure whether I was asking him or saying it to myself.

I’d waited six years for this wedding.

Six years.

Six years ago, Ethan told me we’d get married once his career was stable.

I believed him.

Four years ago, he said we’d set a date after our parents met.

So I pushed our parents to make it happen.

Two years ago, he told me to wait a little longer.

Don’t rush.

This year, my parents had apparently made getting me married their personal mission. They took turns calling three times a week.

I didn’t want to be pushing thirty and still stuck being Ethan Holloway’s fiancée.

I wanted to get married, focus on my career, go after my next promotion, have a baby when the time was right, and finally turn the page.

Ethan never seemed to be in any hurry.

The day we finally set the wedding date, I bought coffee for the whole team.

Mom booked a flight that same night so she could come help.

Now, with one casual word, Ethan crushed all that anticipation.

Canceled.

I’d already heard his grand plan for the backcountry.

I’d already heard why.

Still, hearing him cancel our wedding to my face felt like having a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

The cold went straight to the bone.

I opened my mouth to ask, “Do you have any idea how excited Mom is?”

I swallowed the question.

Ethan had already lowered his head and started typing a group text saying the wedding was canceled.

He didn’t even look at me.

After he sent it, he reached over and patted my head.

“When I get back from the Presidential Traverse, we’ll pick another date.”

“We’re both still young. No need to rush, right?”

I looked into his eyes.

A sentence from that afternoon flashed through my mind.

A few sweet words and she’ll fall right back in line.

So this was his first move: cancel the wedding outright and smooth it over with a few sweet words.

“Ethan.”

I kept my voice level.

“The Presidential Traverse is dangerous. Are you sure you want to go?”

This was the last chance I was giving him.

He blinked, then smiled and pinched my cheek as if soothing a child.

“Evie, you know I’ve always wanted to push myself.”

“It’s the last thing I want to do before we get married.”

“You don’t want me still thinking about it after the wedding, do you?”

I didn’t pull away.

I didn’t smile either.

“I met these hiking buddies recently,” he continued. “They’re experienced. They’ve all done serious backcountry routes before.”

“And if the signal’s bad, I might not be able to reach you. Don’t worry.”

His gaze shifted away for a moment.

I nodded.

“Okay.”

He blinked, clearly not expecting me to agree so easily.

“You’re not upset?”

“Didn’t you say it’s the last thing you want to do before we get married?”

I looked at him.

“I support you.”

He smiled and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

I turned my head to reach for the strawberries and avoided the kiss.

He didn’t seem to care.

Instead, he launched into his hiking itinerary.

He talked about entering at Appalachia Trailhead, passing Lakes of the Clouds Hut, and stopping at Madison Spring Hut.

I ate the strawberries, listened, and nodded along.

The fruit was sweet. I tasted nothing.

Another sentence kept replaying in my head.

That woman wants me with her throughout the pregnancy.

That woman.

Who?

Ethan was rich.

Handsome.

Women had never exactly stayed away from him.

For years, I’d worried that one day someone would replace me.

Maybe that was why I’d been so desperate to get married.

But now that it had actually happened, I felt numb.

I didn’t know who she was.

I wasn’t going to ask.

Ethan kept talking until he finally added, “I’ll bring you back a rock from the Presidential Traverse.”

“I heard the views above the clouds are incredible.”

The corner of my mouth lifted.

“Okay.”

Satisfied, he got up and went to shower.

I stayed on the couch, picked up my phone, and opened my message thread with Dad.

The last message was from before Ethan and I had even finalized the wedding date.

[That guy had the same family friend ask about you again this year. He’s still waiting for you to give him a chance. It’s been seven years. If things still aren’t working out, maybe you should seriously consider him.]

I remembered him.

Someone from my hometown.

People said he’d gotten into serious trouble somewhere and had been doing time for years.

Every year without fail, he had the same family friend come to my parents’ house and ask whether I’d give him a chance.

Dad always gave the same answer.

“My baby girl has a fiancé.”

The family friend would laugh, leave, and come back the next year.

I’d always thought the whole thing was crazy.

I’d never responded.

Tonight, I stared at Dad’s message.

Seven years.

Once a year.

Somehow, that sounded more reliable than a man who kept saying we’d settle down once we were married while secretly planning to stage his disappearance.

The shower kept running.

I lowered my eyes to the screen and typed.

[Dad, tell the family friend he can come this year.]

I hit send.

Then I locked my phone, turned it facedown on my thigh, and looked up at the ceiling.

Three years dating.

Six years engaged.

Ethan had always thought I was just a little impatient.

He had no idea.

My clock for Ethan had run out. And I wasn’t winding it back.