Chapter 4 The Night That Changed Me

"You weren't supposed to get pregnant." Ava froze. Her mother said it casually, like she was commenting on the weather, while calmly slicing apples at the kitchen counter. It was early morning. Ava hadn't slept a single minute after what happened in the park. She'd driven straight here, still in yesterday's clothes, makeup smeared, and heart completely broken. "What did you just say?" Ava whispered. Her mother didn't flinch. "You heard me." Ava gripped the back of a chair, trying to stay upright. "Explain." Her mother finally looked up, her eyes cool and distant. "You were only twenty three.

You and Ethan had already separated twice. Your marriage was unstable. Then suddenly, you were pregnant?" Ava's voice shook. "So?" "So I thought it was a mistake. I thought... maybe it wasn't your baby." Ava stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean? Whose baby did you think it was?" Her mother let out a slow sigh and set the knife down. "Ethan came to me back then," she said softly. "He told me there'd been a mix up. That he'd been with Talia. That she might've been pregnant. But you were the wife. It was easier if you raised the child." Ava's knees almost buckled. "No... no. That's not true. I was pregnant. I carried Noah. I delivered him." Her mother didn't say anything. "What are you saying?" Ava's voice cracked. "That I made it up? That my entire pregnancy was fake?" Her mother's voice turned firm. "You were desperate, Ava. You cried every night after each failed test. When this... opportunity came, we all agreed not to ask too many questions." Ava stepped back like the walls were closing in. Talia's words echoed again: "Are you even sure he's yours?" She had laughed at the time. Now she felt sick. "Was it IVF?" Ava asked. "Was Talia a surrogate? Tell me everything." Her mother reached into the drawer and handed her an envelope. Ava opened it with shaking hands. Inside was a medical consent form... and a signed contract. But it wasn't signed by her. It wasn't even signed by Ethan. It was signed by Talia. The date? Two months before Ava's first positive test. "This can't be real," Ava whispered. "She wanted to help you," her mother said quietly. "She said it was her way of coming back into your life." "This was her way?" Ava snapped. "She gave me her baby, then stole him back?!" "She didn't steal him," her mother said firmly. "She never left." Those three words stopped Ava cold. She never left. A memory hit her hard. The night Ethan proposed. Talia had shown up crying, begging Ava not to marry him. She said Ethan was lying. That he was using her. Ava had slammed the door in her face. But that night... Ethan disappeared for hours. She thought it was wedding stress. Now she wasn't so sure. Ava looked down at the contract in her shaking hands. Talia hadn't just come back into their lives now. She had never left. She had planned this. From the beginning.