Part 2: The Secret Behind My Baby Changed Everything
The silence that followed Chloe's outburst was heavier than anything I had ever experienced.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Andrew slowly turned away from me and stared directly at Chloe.
"What did you mean?" he asked quietly.
Chloe forced an awkward laugh.
"I—I didn't mean anything."
"You said the baby isn't mine."
"I was angry."
"You don't say something like that because you're angry."
His voice remained calm, but I recognized the danger hidden beneath it.
For the first time since I discovered their affair, Andrew wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at her.
My hands instinctively rested on my stomach.
I had spent the last four months loving this little life growing inside me.
There had never been another man.
Never.
So why had Chloe said those words?
"Andrew," I whispered. "You know I've never cheated on you."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped closer to Chloe.
"Tell me the truth."
She shook her head violently.
"Forget what I said."
He grabbed her wrist.
"I said tell me."
She winced.
"You're hurting me."
"I don't care."
The irony almost made me laugh.
Only minutes ago, she had been urging him to destroy me.
Now she was terrified that same cruelty had turned toward her.
She pulled free and took several steps backward.
"You promised you'd trust me."
Andrew's eyes narrowed.
"You also promised me the child was mine."
I felt as though the room had tilted beneath my feet.
What did she mean, promised?
Andrew looked at me.
His expression was no longer filled with rage.
It was confusion.
"When you told me you were pregnant..." he said slowly, "...Chloe showed me something."
"What?"
"A medical report."
I frowned.
"I've never seen any medical report except my prenatal records."
"She said she'd hired someone to investigate you."
I stared at Chloe in disbelief.
"You what?"
She folded her arms, trying to regain control.
"You traveled to Boston last year without Andrew."
"My mother was having surgery."
"You stayed there three days."
"Because she almost died."
"You met someone."
"No."
Andrew reached into his jacket pocket.
He unfolded several worn pages.
"I found these weeks ago."
He handed them to me.
My hands trembled.
The papers looked official.
There was my name.
My date of birth.
Medical terminology.
Then I saw the sentence highlighted in yellow.
Probability of paternity: Excluded.
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
"This..." I whispered.
"...is fake."
Andrew frowned.
"What?"
"My doctor has never performed a paternity test."
"It's your hospital."
"No, it isn't."
I pointed at the logo.
"This hospital closed five years ago."
Andrew looked down.
His face slowly changed.
He pulled out his phone and searched the hospital's name.
Within seconds, the result appeared.
Permanently Closed.
His breathing became uneven.
He looked back at Chloe.
"You gave me this."
She swallowed.
"It... it looked real."
"You said you verified it."
"I—"
"You told me Emily cheated."
"You believed me."
The room filled with another long silence.
Then Andrew whispered something that completely stunned me.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"I wanted answers."
I laughed bitterly.
"You chased me around the house with a golf club."
"I lost control."
"You planned my murder."
His eyes widened.
"I never wrote that."
I felt another chill crawl down my spine.
"What are you talking about?"
He grabbed his phone.
"The messages."
"They're on your phone."
He unlocked it.
Opened the conversation.
His face went completely white.
Half the messages I'd read were gone.
Others had changed.
Entire sections had disappeared.
"What..."
He scrolled faster.
"I didn't write this."
I looked over his shoulder.
The sentence that had terrified me earlier—
Once she's gone, everything belongs to me.
—was missing.
Instead, another message appeared.
She'll leave once the divorce is final.
I frowned.
"No."
"I saw it."
"So did I," Chloe interrupted quickly.
Andrew looked at both of us.
"Someone edited this conversation."
I could hardly process what he was saying.
Messages don't simply rewrite themselves.
Unless...
Someone had access to both phones.
Someone who wanted us fighting each other.
My stomach tightened.
Chloe suddenly reached for her purse.
"I don't have time for this."
Andrew blocked her path.
"No."
She forced another smile.
"We're all emotional."
"Give me your phone."
"No."
"Now."
She hesitated.
That hesitation lasted only two seconds.
Then she turned and sprinted toward the front door.
Andrew chased after her.
She almost reached the entrance before he caught her arm.
Her purse flew across the floor.
Everything spilled out.
Lipstick.
Perfume.
Keys.
Cash.
And...
A second phone.
Not hers.
A black encrypted phone with no case.
It slid across the hardwood floor until it stopped beside my feet.
The screen lit up.
One notification appeared.
Mission Failed. Richard Carter Has Arrived.
Every drop of blood drained from my face.
Mission?
Andrew picked up the phone.
"What is this?"
Chloe lunged for it.
He held it out of reach.
The notification disappeared.
Another one instantly appeared.
Leave immediately. Do not mention Victor.
Andrew looked at Chloe.
"Who's Victor?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, tears suddenly streamed down her face.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"They'll kill me."
"Who?"
She covered her mouth.
Andrew unlocked the mysterious phone using facial recognition while she struggled against him.
The device opened.
Neither of us was prepared for what we saw.
There were hundreds of photographs.
Not of vacations.
Not of parties.
Of me.
Leaving my office.
Visiting my doctor.
Shopping for baby clothes.
Walking alone.
Someone had been following me for months.
Then Andrew opened another folder.
Audio recordings.
Phone calls.
Hidden camera videos.
Financial files.
Private emails.
Everything about my life had been collected.
Someone had built an entire operation around me.
Andrew scrolled to the final document.
Its title froze every one of us.
Operation Carter Inheritance
Below it were four names.
Emily Carter
Andrew Lawson
Chloe Bennett
And one final name neither Andrew nor I had ever heard before.
Victor Blackwell — Primary Controller
Andrew looked at Chloe in disbelief.
"You've been working for someone?"
She finally broke.
"I never wanted any of this."
"Who is Victor?"
She collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
"You think I was your mistress?"
She looked directly at Andrew.
"I was hired."
The room went silent.
"Hired?" he whispered.
"To make you fall in love with me."
I felt my heartbeat stop.
She continued through tears.
"Everything was planned from the beginning."
"The affair..."
"The photos..."
"The fake paternity report..."
"The messages..."
"It was all part of the assignment."
Andrew staggered backward as though someone had punched him.
"No..."
"I was never supposed to love you."
He looked utterly broken.
"Who hired you?"
Before Chloe could answer...
A loud explosion shattered every window in the house.
Glass rained across the living room.
Outside...
Three black SUVs screeched to a stop.
Men in tactical gear poured onto the lawn.
And standing beside the lead vehicle...
was a tall silver-haired man wearing an expensive black suit.
Chloe took one look through the shattered window...
and screamed in absolute terror.
"He's here..."
Then she whispered the name that changed everything.
May you like
"Victor Blackwell."
End of Part 2...
