The Baby Couldn’t Tie Him, The Lie Did Chapter 02

The Baby Couldn’t Tie Him, The Lie Did Chapter 02

When I got home, the first thing I saw was the photo frame beside the TV.

I’d custom-made it for Valentine’s Day last year.

A collage of nine photos.

Every single one had been carefully chosen by me.

At the center was our college graduation picture.

Technically, it was a throwaway shot I’d begged a classmate to send me.

Everyone else in the photo was looking toward the camera.

Only Julian and I were looking at each other through the crowd.

I ripped the frame off the shelf and threw it straight into the trash.

Then I turned toward my mother.

“What did their wedding photos look like?”

The second I asked, her eyes turned red too.

She pulled me into a hug, her voice rough with anger.

“You remember that woman in my neighborhood I told you about? The one who works as a housekeeper? Something happened with her family today, so she asked me to cover one of her cleaning jobs.”

She paused, swallowing hard.

“The second I walked into that house, I saw…”

Her voice failed.

After a long silence, she sighed bitterly.

“I told you from the beginning people like the Everetts were never right for you. Julian’s heartless. And that girl… the villa she’s living in…”

“Mom,” I interrupted softly, “I want to go home.”

Not this apartment.

Not Silverport.

Home.

My mother immediately got up and started packing for both of us without another word.

Halfway through, though, she suddenly looked toward my stomach.

“Vivienne… what about the baby?”

My hand instinctively rested over my belly.

Six months.

Julian had loved this child from the very beginning.

Ever since I got pregnant, he’d practically handled everything himself.

Every prenatal appointment, no matter how busy he was, he took time off to come with me.

Whenever my morning sickness got bad, he looked more worried than I did.

There were parenting books stacked all over the house. He’d even enrolled in online parenting classes before I had.

And this baby hadn’t come easily.

After years of trying, IVF had been our only option. The doctors told me my chances of conceiving naturally were extremely low.

Thinking about all that made my chest ache.

“I’m keeping the baby,” I said quietly. “I can raise him myself.”

After we finished packing and booked flights out of Silverport for the next morning, I lay awake in bed unable to sleep.

That was when Julian came home.

He stood by the bedroom door holding a pink bunny plushie in his hands.

“I’m sorry, Vivienne.”

Before tonight, I’d imagined this moment a thousand different ways.

I thought I’d scream at him. Throw things. Tell him to get out.

But now that he was actually standing in front of me, all I felt was numb.

When I didn’t respond, he walked over and grabbed my hand tightly.

“Vivienne, I…”

“When did it start?” I cut him off. “And don’t lie to me.”

Julian closed his eyes briefly.

“Three years ago. The Christmas I went back to the Everett estate.”

Three years.

They’d been together for three years.

“She was originally the woman my family chose for me,” he said quietly. “Vivienne… she waited for me for three years.”

He stopped, inhaling deeply before continuing.

“She told me she’d never marry anyone else. She wasted years of her life waiting for me. She’s a good woman, Vivienne. I just… I couldn’t bear to hurt her.”

Every word felt like a knife carving into me.

I suddenly remembered all those Christmases he’d spent away.

He always said his mother wasn’t in good health.

Said she missed him terribly.

Said he owed her too much to refuse.

So every year, while everyone else spent the holidays with family, I spent Christmas alone.

And all that time, the woman beside Julian had been her.

I looked at the man standing beside my bed and forced out a smile uglier than tears.

“What about me?” I whispered. “Was I supposed to waste six years of my life on you?”

The doctor had warned me repeatedly not to let my emotions spike during pregnancy.

But at that moment, I couldn’t think about any of it.

Then suddenly, a violent pain twisted through my stomach.

My vision went black.