Chapter 3

3

Suffocating under the weight of my thoughts, I grabbed my sneakers to go for a run and clear my head.

Right then, my phone buzzed with an incoming text from an unknown number.

【Maren loves me, not you. Do yourself a favor and let her go. Stop clinging to her like a pathetic loser.】

Instinct told me it was Gavin.

Refusing to back down, I texted back: 【What gives you the right to say that? If she didn't love me, why would she stay with me for three whole years?】

After a brief pause, I added: 【And why would she be carrying my child?】

Maren had always been strong-willed and principled, raised under strict family rules.

In the three years we had been together, she had never entertained any other men besides this lingering shadow of Gavin.

【Hilarious. You can fool anyone else, but don't fool yourself.】

【If she actually loved you, why didn't she marry you after three years? Let me guess―she turned down every single proposal you made, right?】

【Let me enlighten you. She swore back in college that she would never marry anyone but me.】

I froze in place as if struck by lightning.

Every word he typed hit a raw nerve.

During our three years together, I had proposed twice.

Both times, she had gently turned me down.

The first time, she said, "Kian, let's think about it a bit more. We're going to be together anyway, there's no rush."

The second time, she said, "Kian, we haven't saved enough to support a proper family yet. Let's wait a little longer."

She kept dragging it out until she accidentally got pregnant.

I thought the pregnancy was a blessing from above, a chance for us to finally tie the knot and build our dream home.

Afraid that she wouldn't look good in her wedding dress once her belly grew, I had already started planning a third proposal.

I never imagined things would turn out this way.

I clenched the velvet box in my pocket. The sharp edges of the diamond cut into my palm with a stinging ache.

【If you still don't believe me, watch this. Tomorrow morning, my ex-wife and I are signing our divorce papers. I'll text Maren saying I'm heartbroken and need her by my side. Let's see if she drops everything to come to me.】