Chapter 4 Her Breaking Point

The café carried the warm smell of coffee and baked sugar, but Sarah barely noticed. She sat by the window, her palms flat against the wooden table, her body stiff as though the wood itself was keeping her upright.

Across the room, the bell above the door chimed. Tiana walked in with the calm grace of a woman who never doubted her place.

Her heels clicked softly with measured steps against the tiled floor.

Without hesitation, she crossed to Sarah's table and sat opposite her.

Sarah's gaze followed her every move. There was no greeting, no smile, just silence heavy enough to make the air thick.

Steam curled from the cup Tiana ordered, fading quickly between them. Her fingers tapped the handle once before she lifted her eyes.

"Why did you send those messages?" Sarah asked, her voice steady, but her hand trembled slightly where it pressed against the table. "Why did you make sure I would see them?"

Tiana's lips curved faintly, her eyes glinting with mock surprise. "How was I supposed to know you'd check his phone? Wives don't usually go through their husbands' messages."

"Stop pretending," Sarah cut in. Her voice cracked, raw with fury. "It was deliberate. You wanted me to know. You wanted to stir trouble in my home."

Tiana sipped calmly, her gaze never wavering. "Even if you hadn't seen them, the truth would have found you. People always believe what they see more than what they are told."

Her words slid across the table like cold steel. Sarah leaned forward, her nails digging into the wood. Her chest burned with the urge to strike, but she forced her voice to stay low.

"So what exactly do you want? Why did you call me here?"

"I want you to step aside," Tiana said plainly. No hesitation. No shame.

Sarah blinked, the words landing like stones in her stomach. "Step aside? Give you my husband?"

Tiana's smile softened, but her eyes carried a cruel steadiness. "He was mine before he was yours. You know our history. He loved me. I loved him. Life separated us, but when Ryan died, the road opened again. I didn't chase him, Sarah. He came closer on his own."

Sarah's throat tightened. "You speak like he belongs to you, like I am the intruder in my own home."

Tiana tilted her head slightly. "No one owes me anything. But James deserves the truth. Look at your son. Look at your husband. When they turn to me before they turn to you, is that not proof?"

The words pierced deeper than any blade. Sarah's mind replayed Daniel's rejection, the way he had pushed her, the joy that lit his face when he ran into Tiana's arms.

The memory pressed her chest until breathing felt like punishment.

Her body leaned back slowly into her chair, her strength draining away. "Why tell me this now? Is this why you called me here?"

"Because you should hear it from me," Tiana said, her tone almost kind, though her eyes betrayed triumph. "Seeing it in my face will make it real. People cling to illusions. I don't want you to have any left."

Sarah's lips trembled. "You are asking me to hand you everything; my home, my place at the table, my son's heart."

"I am asking you to hold your dignity," Tiana corrected, her voice calm. "If you refuse, you'll still lose. Truth doesn't wait for permission. Men remember what they loved, and children follow what they see. You can cling to the chair if you like, but if the man at the head of the table keeps looking elsewhere, what value does the seat have?"

The café hummed faintly around them. A waiter walked past, pretending not to notice the tension choking the table.

Sarah's hands pressed harder into the wood until her knuckles turned white.

"And if I refuse to leave?" she asked. Her voice was sharp, daring, but her body trembled.

"Then time will strip it from you," Tiana replied simply. Her tone carried no malice, only certainty.

Sarah shook her head, her voice rising, jagged with rage. "You are cruel. Shameless. You called me here just to pour out this trash?" She pushed her chair back, ready to stand and leave, but Tiana wasn't finished.

Tiana's movement was unhurried as she reached into her bag. She placed a folded slip of paper on the table and slid it across.

"Look," she said softly.

Sarah's hand hesitated, but curiosity and dread dragged it forward. She unfolded the paper. Two red lines stared back at her, bold and merciless.

Her breath froze. For a moment, the world around her blurred; the café, the chatter, the clinking cups-all dissolved.

Only that strip remained.

"You're lying," Sarah whispered, her voice trembling.

"I'm not," Tiana said, her expression unreadable. "I'm pregnant. With his child."

The words fell like stones into still water, rippling through every inch of Sarah's being. Her hand went slack, and the paper slipped back onto the table.

Her chest rose in uneven gasps. "No. No, this can't be real."

Tiana leaned slightly forward, her voice calm, almost soothing. "It's real. You've already seen it in his eyes, haven't you? The softness that no longer belongs to you. Now there's a child on the way, his blood, his legacy. Tell me, Sarah, would you ask him to deny it?"

Sarah's hands clutched her head, trying to hold it together as the café spun around her. Her vision blurred, lights scattering into painful stars.

Her throat closed, trapping her sobs inside.

Her knees buckled beneath the table. She clung to the edge for balance, her tears dropping fast. "You mean to say... he will leave me... because of this?"

Tiana's voice was quiet but steady. "I mean to say, he will choose what carries his blood. Men may deceive themselves, but not when faced with a child they claim as their own. Would you have him walk away from his child?"

The world tilted again. Sarah's palms pressed hard against her temples, as though she could block the truth from entering her mind.

Her breaths came fast, shallow and ragged.

Tiana watched her calmly, her face softening into a blend of pity and triumph. "This is the truth, Sarah. You fought for what was never fully yours. Now you must decide how much of yourself you will lose trying to keep it."

The sounds from the café faded into a distant hum. Sarah's vision clouded. She blinked furiously, but the light fractured further, scattering into cruel shards.

Her body swayed. Her arms trembled. She tried to stand, but her legs refused. The strength drained from her like water escaping a broken jar.

Tiana leaned closer, her lips curving into a small, measured smile. "You can be kind in this moment, Sarah. Or you can destroy yourself holding onto what no longer belongs to you."

Her voice was the last thing Sarah heard as the ground tilted beneath her.

Her eyes fluttered shut as the café spanned into darkness. The slip of paper with its two red lines lay on the table, silent and undeniable, as Sarah collapsed into the shadows of her breaking point.