Love Lost to Memory Loss

The fluorescent lights in my office buzzed like trapped insects, their harsh glare making everything look sickly and unreal. Three days had passed since the gala—three days of replaying Luca's casual dismissal over and over in my mind like a broken record. *Former fiancée.* The words still felt like glass shards in my throat.

I stared at the marketing reports spread across my desk, the numbers blurring together into meaningless patterns. My hands trembled as I reached for my coffee mug, the ceramic cold against my palms. The morning sickness had been particularly brutal today, leaving me hollow and shaky.

A soft knock interrupted my spiraling thoughts. Knox's familiar silhouette appeared in my doorway, his concerned expression immediately sharpening when he saw my face.

"Thea?" He stepped inside, closing the door behind him with deliberate care. "I've been calling you since Tuesday. You missed our lunch yesterday."

I tried to arrange my features into something resembling composure, but the effort felt monumental. "Sorry, I've been... busy."

"Bullshit." Knox moved closer, his voice gentle but firm. "You look like you haven't slept in days. What happened?"

The kindness in his voice was my undoing. The tears I'd been holding back for seventy-two hours finally spilled over, hot and unstoppable. My shoulders shook as I buried my face in my hands, the professional mask I'd been wearing finally cracking completely.

"Oh, Thea." Knox was beside me in an instant, his warm hand settling on my shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

"No, we won't." The words came out broken, barely audible. "Knox, I'm pregnant."

His hand stilled on my shoulder, and I felt the shift in his breathing. When I finally looked up at him through my tears, his face had gone pale, but his eyes remained steady on mine.

"Luca's?" he asked quietly.

I nodded, fresh tears streaming down my cheeks. "He doesn't know. He can't know. Not after..." I couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't voice the humiliation of that night.

Knox's jaw tightened, and I saw something dangerous flash in his usually gentle eyes. "What did he do?"

"He introduced me as his former fiancée. At the Porter Foundation gala. In front of everyone." The words tumbled out in a rush, each one scraping against my throat. "He was there with her—Maria. Beautiful, perfect Maria who's helping him embrace new beginnings."

Knox's hand moved to cup my face, his thumb brushing away my tears with infinite tenderness. "Thea, I'm so sorry."

"And now she wants to meet for coffee. For career advice." A bitter laugh escaped me. "She wants tips on corporate consulting from the woman she replaced."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Knox said firmly. "Not for him, not for her, not for anyone."

I leaned into his touch, drawing strength from his unwavering presence. "I don't know how to do this, Knox. I don't know how to be pregnant and alone and... God, what if I'm terrible at it? What if I can't—"

"Stop." His voice was soft but commanding. "You're not alone. You hear me? You're not doing this alone."

The certainty in his voice made something tight in my chest loosen slightly. Knox had been my anchor since high school, the one constant in a world that kept shifting beneath my feet. Even when I'd chosen Luca, even when I'd built a life that didn't include him the way he deserved, he'd never wavered in his friendship.

"Knox, I can't ask you to—"

"You're not asking. I'm telling you." He pulled his chair closer, his hands covering mine. "Whatever you need—doctor's appointments, midnight ice cream runs, someone to hold your hair back when morning sickness hits—I'm here."

The simple declaration broke something open inside me. For the first time since Luca's accident, I felt like maybe I could breathe again. Maybe I could survive this.

"What about your job? Your life? You can't just—"

"My life is fine. And my job has flexible hours for a reason." Knox squeezed my hands gently. "Besides, Willa would never forgive me if I let you go through this alone. She's probably already planning to cook you nutritious meals and lecture you about prenatal vitamins."

Despite everything, I felt my lips curve into the first genuine smile I'd managed in days. "She would, wouldn't she?"

"Absolutely. You know how she gets." Knox's own smile was warm, familiar, home. "So what do you say? Ready to let the Mitchell siblings take care of you for a while?"

I nodded, unable to speak past the gratitude clogging my throat. For the first time since my world had shattered, I felt like maybe—just maybe—I wasn't completely broken after all.