CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6
At the hospital, the doctor confirmed my baby was safe.
That was the only sentence I cared about.
My back was sore. My hands still trembled. My heart still felt like it had been dragged across broken glass.
But my baby’s heartbeat filled the room, steady and strong.
I cried then.
Not loudly.
Just enough to let the fear leave my body.
My best friend, Claire, arrived with my attorney twenty minutes later. Claire took one look at me in the hospital bed and said, “The wedding is canceled.”
For the first time all day, I smiled.
“Yes,” I said. “It is.”
My attorney already had the police report, the audio recording, and access to the security footage. She moved quickly.
The wedding vendors were notified.
My accounts were locked down.
Ethan’s access to every shared planning portal was removed.
The engagement ring was photographed, documented, and placed in an evidence bag because he claimed I had stolen it from his mother’s family collection.
He had not.
I had paid for it.
By morning, the truth widened.
My accountant found withdrawals I had never approved from a business card Ethan had persuaded me to add him to “for wedding expenses.” Thousands had gone to his startup. More had gone to Margaret’s home renovations.
The florist deposit was never about flowers.
The caterer was never about food.
They were trying to drain me before the wedding so I would feel trapped afterward.
When Ethan called from an unknown number, I answered only because my attorney was beside me.
“Ava,” he said softly. “I panicked. My mom pushed too hard.”
I closed my eyes.
Still blaming her.
Still hiding behind her.
“You locked the door,” I said.
Silence.
“You stood in front of it.”
His voice cracked. “I’m the father of your baby.”
May you like
“No,” I said. “You are the man who made me need police protection while I was carrying your baby.”
Then I ended the call.
