My Best Friend Saved Me, Then Stole My Fiancé And My Wedding Chapter 04

My Best Friend Saved Me, Then Stole My Fiancé And My Wedding Chapter 04

The noise died.

Then Clarissa shoved through the crowd.

Her hand cracked across my other cheek.

Her eyes were red when she turned to the cameras.

“I’m so sorry everyone had to see this. The truth is, Maren has been obsessed with Mr. Calloway for years.”

“I never thought she’d go this far. Writing something like that and trying to pin it on him.”

I pressed my hand to my burning cheek and stared at her.

Graham appeared next, Reid right behind him.

Graham didn’t hold back.

“Maren, are you that desperate? Going after your best friend’s husband?”

Reid stepped forward. There was guilt in his eyes, but his voice was steady.

“Miss Whitmore and I are just friends. Nothing has ever happened between us.”

“Sloane is my wife. She always has been.”

Whatever was left inside me went dark.

The crowd turned on me.

“Obviously. Like someone like Mr. Calloway would ever want her. She probably wrote that journal herself.”

“Going after her best friend’s husband and then lying about it. That’s a special kind of pathetic.”

Every word hit like something sharp sliding under my skin.

In the chaos, someone shoved me.

I hit the ground hard.

Reid flinched. He started toward me.

Sloane caught his arm, gripping her temple.

“Reid, my head. It’s splitting.”

All three of them swarmed her. They rushed her out without looking back.

I looked down. Blood was seeping between my legs.

The people still watching went pale.

That was when they finally backed off.

Right before everything went black, my phone lit up. Reid.

[If Sloane learns the truth about your pregnancy, the shock will undo all her recovery progress.]

[I’ll send someone to take you to the hospital. Take today as a warning.]

[Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again.]

You got what you wanted, Reid.

There wouldn’t be a next time.

I woke up in a hospital bed.

The doctor stood over me, holding a clipboard. Her voice was gentle.

“I’m sorry, Miss Whitmore. We couldn’t save the baby.”

The room tilted.

I took the medical paperwork. My hands weren’t shaking. I just couldn’t feel them.

Two months pregnant. I hadn’t even known.

She was gone before I ever knew she was there.

The pain in my chest was the kind that didn’t have edges. It just filled everything.

My phone buzzed.

Sloane had sent me a photo. Her sonogram.

I went rigid. The messages kept coming.

[Maren, I’ll be honest with you. My memory came back six months ago.]

[But I’d already fallen for Reid. So I kept pretending.]

[I saw your medical chart when they brought you in. I knew you were pregnant. Everything today was on purpose. I’m the only one who gets to carry Reid’s baby.]

[Look at them. Everyone’s so excited about my baby. There’s no room for you in our world. There never was.]

She attached a screenshot.

A group chat called [Family Only].

I wasn’t in it.

I scrolled through the messages.

The four of them had been talking nonstop.

Thousands of messages in three hours.

Who would be the godfather. Who would be the godmother. How to decorate the nursery.

What to name the baby. Whether it would look more like Reid or Sloane.

Every message pulled the warmth out of me.

I signed the medical paperwork.

I pulled my printed resignation from my bag, stacked it on top, and handed both to the doctor.

“Give these to Reid for me. Please.”

She was right. There was no place for me in their world.

But I still had the rest of my life.

And none of them would be in it.

…

Somewhere across the hospital, Sloane stroked her belly and smiled. Clarissa, Graham, and Reid circled her.

Reid watched the scene and felt the pressure building behind his temples.

That night, he’d been too drunk to see straight. He’d thought she was Maren.

One night. That was all it took.

He exhaled and forced himself to think straight.

Maren would understand. She always did. He’d make it up to her later.

Just like every other time.

But something sat wrong in his chest. He couldn’t name it.

He stepped out of the room, told them he needed air, and called Maren.

Blocked.

He tried texting. Blocked there too.

The knot in his stomach tightened.

A doctor appeared in the hallway, heading straight for him. Her expression was grim.

“Mr. Calloway, we reviewed her charts and previous scans. Miss Mercer’s amnesia resolved at least six months ago.”

Reid’s jaw locked. “That’s not possible.”

The doctor looked at him like she pitied him.

“Miss Whitmore left these for you.”

Reid took the papers.

The resignation letter was on top.His chest tightened sharply.

He turned to the next page.

The floor dropped out from under him.