Careful What You Fake

I opened the message to find it was a photo from Selena.

My mind went completely blank.

A pregnancy test with two lines stared back at me from the screen.

What?

Before my brain could even catch up, another message popped up.

A hospital address.

It was obvious she was there right now.

I grabbed the desserts, jumped on my scooter, and headed straight there.

I never even got to see her. The nurse told me she'd already left.

I rode home in a daze. When I opened the door, the smell of food hit me.

I stopped, then I ran inside.

Selena was sitting at the dining table, food laid out in front of her.

Something in my chest tightened. I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms, my voice coming out quieter than I intended.

"I thought you'd left."

She glanced at the pregnancy test on the table and said, perfectly calm, "The baby's father is still here. Where exactly would we go?"

I thought she wasn't angry, but then she pulled up the video of me bringing hangover remedies to Yuvan and told me it was time to settle the score.

By the time she was done settling it, I had dark circles under my eyes and could barely stand on my own two feet.

I walked into the party that evening with one hand braced on my lower back.

I'd barely found a quiet corner to sit down when Kayla spotted me.

She came over with a cool expression. I found myself thinking that not all pregnant women were the same. Kayla was so composed and steady, nothing like Selena. The memory of last night's consequences made my legs tremble all over again.

I said, "The baby stuff I ordered for you came in. I'll drop it off later."

I seized the opening and cut straight to it. There was no point in pretending anymore.

Selena and Kayla were both pregnant. If Kayla kept her guard up and her condition started showing, things were going to get a lot harder to explain. Better to clear the air now and let everyone move on in peace.

But Kayla ignored my words and said sharply, "Benjamin, why did you hire people to go after Yuvan? I looked into it. Those guys were working for you. I thought you were different. I thought you actually meant well. But you set the whole thing up just to get me to lower my guard, didn't you?"

Then Yuvan's voice drifted into my head, smug and self-satisfied, and suddenly everything clicked.

'I'm a genius. I framed Benjamin for the whole thing. Kayla's going to go after him for this, and whatever goodwill she had left for him is gone. She'll think he's nothing but a two-faced snake. Once she sees that, she'll finally understand that I'm the only one who truly loves her!'

I looked at the fury in Kayla's eyes and knew exactly what had happened. She'd been played.

Completely and totally played!

Yuvan was the biggest obstacle standing between himself and Kayla, and he couldn't even see it.

I also knew that anger like this in the first trimester was the last thing Kayla needed.

I thought about the prenatal care article I'd read the night before, then stood up.

"Hey, stop. Take a breath." I looked at Yuvan. "Don't just stand there. Help her sit down."

Then I took a slow breath and said what I needed to say.

"I've got my hands full with Selena. Whatever's going on between the two of you, leave me out of it. I'm not interested in Kayla. Not even a little. She's pregnant. Selena's pregnant. I've got zero reason to be involved in any of this. You don't believe me? Fine. Look at this."

I pulled out the pregnancy test and held it up. Both of them stared in shock.

Kayla's reaction hit different. Her expression darkened, and she said through gritted teeth, "Benjamin, I'm not pregnant. And that woman on our wedding night? She's an IVF coordinator I hired to get you up to speed."

I didn't even have time to process that before a voice carried across the room, and every head turned.

Kayla turned toward the sound, and whatever color she had left drained from her face completely.