Updated Feb 23, 2026 • ~3 min read
POV: Rory
I’m late.
Two weeks late.
I don’t think anything of it at first. Stress can mess with cycles. And I’ve been under more stress than anyone should be.
But then I’m nauseous.
Then exhausted.
Then… suspicious.
“You should take a test,” Priya says.
“It’s probably just stress—”
“Or you’re pregnant. Take a test.”
I buy three tests from three different stores.
All positive.
All three.
I stare at the little plus signs.
Pregnant.
I’m pregnant with Dominic’s baby.
The man I just left.
The man who kissed another woman.
The man whose marriage to me might not even be legal.
Oh God.
“What are you going to do?” Priya asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Rory, he has a right to know—”
“Does he? We’re getting divorced. Or annulled. Whatever. Why bring a baby into this mess?”
“Because it’s HIS baby too.”
I put my head in my hands.
“I can’t do this. I can’t be pregnant right now. I’m living in your guest room. My marriage is falling apart. I’m about to be legally nobody’s wife. How am I supposed to raise a baby?”
“You’re not alone. You have me. Your family. And whether you like it or not, you have Dominic.”
“Dominic chose Celeste—”
“Did he? Because from what you told me, he chose you. Too late, but he chose you.”
“And then Celeste moved out, so now he’s free. He’ll probably go back to her.”
“Or he’ll fight for you.”
“I don’t want him to fight for me because of a baby. I want him to fight for me because he loves me.”
“So don’t tell him yet. Figure out what YOU want first.”
What do I want?
I want this to not be happening.
I want to go back in time to before Celeste woke up.
I want my simple life back.
But that’s not an option.
“I need time to think,” I say.
“How much time?”
“I don’t know. A few days? Until after court?”
Court is tomorrow.
The final hearing on the annulment.
I was planning to not even go. Let the lawyers handle it.
But now…
Now there’s a baby.
Everything’s different.
That night, I can’t sleep.
I keep thinking about the baby.
Dominic’s baby.
Our baby.
The life we made during those months when we were happy.
Before Celeste. Before the chaos.
When it was just us.
Do I tell him?
Do I not?
If I tell him, he’ll feel obligated to stay. To try to make it work.
But I don’t want obligation.
I want choice.
If I don’t tell him, I’m raising this baby alone.
Can I do that?
Financially, maybe. With help.
Emotionally? I don’t know.
My phone buzzes.
Dominic: “Please come to court tomorrow. I need to see you.”
I stare at the message.
Court. Tomorrow.
Where our marriage officially ends.
Where I become nobody’s wife.
And where I’ll be keeping the biggest secret of my life.
END OF CHAPTER 19
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