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My Fiancé Chose His Pregnant Mistress—Until He Found Out I Lost Our Baby Too
Novelix
Completed
After three years of long-distance, I finally transferred cities to surprise my fiancé Darian on his birthday. At the bakery, I met another pregnant woman picking up a cake for a man named "Darian"—who was also allergic to mango. When she threw herself down the stairs to frame me, Darian shoved me aside without a second glance, screaming that I'd hurt "his" baby. What he didn't know? I was pregnant too. And when I lost our child alone in a hospital bed, I finally understood: the man I loved for three years never belonged to me at all.
Chapters (3)
第1章
After three years of long-distance dating with Darian, I finally got approval to transfer from my company's Seattle headquarters to its Chicago branch to be closer to Darian.
I wanted to surprise him, so I flew in on his birthday.
When I went to pick up the cake I'd ordered ahead of time, the bakery owner glanced between me and another customer and laughed.
"What are the odds? Both of your partners are named Darian."
"And get this—they both said no mango filling."
I turned to the pregnant woman beside me and gave her a smile.
"My fiancé's severely allergic to mangoes."
She smiled too, resting a hand lightly on her swollen belly.
"So is my boyfriend."
I stood outside Darian's high-rise apartment with the cake in my hands, picturing over and over how surprised he’d be when he saw me.
But by ten that night, he still wasn't home.
My legs had gone numb by the time I finally texted him, asking why he'd been ignoring me all evening.
"Sweetheart, some of the guys from the office threw me a last-minute birthday thing tonight."
"Forgot to tell you. Don't be mad, okay?"
The little knot of worry in my chest melted almost instantly when I heard his familiar voice.
Then the elevator chimed.
I hurried forward with the cake—and the smile froze on my face.
Standing beside Darian was the pregnant woman from the bakery.
"Darian, who is she?"
The second our eyes met, the smile dropped off his face. His gaze skittered away.
As if worried I might overhear, he leaned toward the woman and lowered his voice.
"Josie, a coworker needs a quick word. Why don't you head inside and get some rest?"
A dull, prickling ache spread through my chest until I could barely breathe.
No wonder every time we video-chatted and I brought up moving to Chicago, he'd come up with a dozen reasons to talk me out of it.
"Amelia, you're doing so well at headquarters. Don't uproot your whole life just for me."
I'd always believed him.
For three years, I'd treated those words like the bedrock of our long-distance relationship.
Only now did I realize someone else had been beside him the whole time.
And I was nothing more than his "coworker."
I opened my mouth to say something, but Darian had already rushed over and was steering me toward the stairwell.
"Let's talk outside."
I planted my feet.
Then a soft, innocent voice drifted from behind me.
"You look familiar. Weren't you the woman I ran into at the bakery today?"
"Small world. So you and Darian work together."
Her gaze dropped to the cake in my hands.
The frosting had already started to melt, and the cake looked pitiful in the box.
Darian forced out a dry laugh, panic written all over his face.
Out of Josie’s sight, he pressed his palms together and mouthed a silent plea.
And the engagement ring on his finger—the one I'd helped him pick out—stabbed right through my heart.
I couldn't even wait for the elevator, though it was only two floors above me.
I turned and bolted into the stairwell.
Twenty-five floors.
I ran down every single one until I was completely spent.
Only when I finally stumbled outside and dragged fresh air into my lungs did the tension in my body start to ease.
The birthday cake I'd guarded so carefully the whole way there was completely ruined.
I was walking toward a trash can, ready to toss it, when someone snatched it from behind me.
I spun around.
Darian had followed me down.
"Amelia, I can explain."
"There's nothing to explain."
I turned to leave, but his panicked voice chased me.
"You've got it all wrong. Josie is Zack's girlfriend."
At the familiar name, my steps faltered.
Zack had been Darian's best friend since college.
"He died in that pileup on I-90 earlier this year. Josie was already pregnant."
"His parents asked me to look out for her. I couldn't exactly say no…"
Darian looked so sincere that, humiliatingly, a small part of me almost wavered.
Then thunder cracked overhead.
I flinched so hard my whole body jolted, and on instinct, I stepped toward Darian.
But he shoved me aside without thinking and yanked out his phone.
"Josie, don't panic. Stay inside the apartment, okay?"
"Lock the door. I'm on my way up."
Then he turned and sprinted toward the lobby.
A flash of white lightning split the sky, throwing his retreating figure into sharp relief.
He never looked back.
It was as if he'd forgotten I was afraid of thunder too.
The first year we were together, a storm had frightened me so badly I'd sobbed and shaken over the phone.
Back then, Darian had been on a business trip in Boston.
He didn't even finish his meeting before switching flights and taking the first one home just to be with me.
But now I wasn't the person he worried about anymore.
I bent down, picked up the cake box he'd dropped, and threw both the cake and the ring from my left hand into the trash.
The ring wasn't the only thing I threw away.
I threw Darian away too.
第2章
By the time I got to the hotel, I was soaked to the skin.
A dull ache had also started low in my abdomen.
I wanted to change into dry clothes—then remembered my suitcase was still sitting in the emergency stairwell of Darian's building.
I pulled out my phone and found a string of new messages.
Every one of them was from Darian.
"I'm sorry, Amelia. Josie's pregnant. I had to make sure she was okay."
"Where are you? Let me come find you."
Rain lashed the windows without letting up.
I stared at his messages until my emotions settled into something cold and steady.
"Darian, we're done."
I hit send, then blocked his number, his texts, and every social media account he had.
Then I emailed my supervisor.
"Mr. Ford, I'd like to withdraw my transfer request and stay at the Seattle headquarters. Is that still possible?"
His reply came quickly.
"Yes. HR will restart the process first thing tomorrow."
I let out a long breath and looked toward the window.
The thunder barely let up all night.
The next morning, I waited until Darian would normally have left for work, then quietly went back for my suitcase.
What I didn't expect was to find Josie waiting for me in the stairwell.
She stood on the landing, one hand cradling her belly, her eyes ice-cold.
When her gaze caught on the faint mark the ring had left on my finger, she suddenly smiled.
"You're Darian's fiancée, aren't you?"
Before I could answer, she stepped toward me, one deliberate step at a time, until my back was against the wall.
Her chin tilted up.
Her expression was pure, undisguised contempt.
"Darian told you the baby's Zack's, didn't he?"
She kept crowding me into the corner, mockery gleaming in her eyes.
"You really think Darian's generous enough to raise another man's kid?"
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.
I froze.
My mind went blank; even breathing felt impossible.
The faint smirk at the corner of her mouth told me she was enjoying every second of it.
"I recognized you at the bakery yesterday. You were just too stupid to recognize me."
"Now grab your stuff and get out. You don't belong here."
A bone-deep chill spread through me.
And all at once, everything clicked into place.
No wonder Darian had brushed off every one of my attempts to visit Chicago that year.
Even when I did come, he always booked me a hotel.
Once, I'd complained that the walls were thin and the bed was uncomfortable.
He'd just soothed me gently.
"Sweetheart, a friend's crashing at my place right now. It'd be awkward."
So the "friend" had been Josie.
I drew a slow breath and forced myself to stay calm.
"Darian and I are engaged. We have a wedding date. His family and friends all know about me."
"What about you?"
Josie's smile stiffened.
The shock on her face told me everything.
Darian had been lying to her too.
But I had no interest in arguing with her.
I stepped forward.
"Move."
Josie immediately blocked me, spreading her arms wide.
Her eyes flashed with challenge.
"Don't you want to see Darian one last time?"
Before I could work out what she meant, the distant elevator chimed.
At almost the same moment, Josie grabbed my hand and pressed it against her stomach.
She looked me dead in the eye.
Triumph flashed through her gaze.
Then she threw herself backward.
Her body tumbled straight down the stairs.
Her scream tore through the empty stairwell.
The elevator doors slid open.
The instant Darian rushed out, the color drained from his face.
"Josie!"
"I didn't—"
I barely got the words out before Darian charged at me and shoved me hard to the ground.
My back slammed against the concrete steps.
Pain exploded through me.
But it was nothing compared to the vicious cramp that suddenly ripped through my lower abdomen.
As my vision started to blur, I used the last of my strength to look up at him.
"Darian… help me…"
But he only shouted at me.
"Cut the act! If anything happens to Josie or the baby, I'll never forgive you!"
My breathing grew shallow.
My vision faded in fragments until everything went dark.
The last thing I saw was Darian sweeping Josie into his arms and rushing toward the elevator without ever looking back.
第3章
When I woke up again, I was lying in an ER observation room.
The air was sharp with disinfectant.
A female doctor in light blue scrubs stood beside my bed, sympathy in her eyes.
"Ms. Jones, I'm so sorry."
"You had heavy bleeding after the injury. You were pregnant, but we weren't able to save the baby."
"You also have soft-tissue bruising and a mild concussion. You'll need to rest for the next several days, and you should get in touch with someone who can take care of you as soon as possible."
I tried to speak through my stiff lips.
No sound came out.
The only person who could have taken care of me was the same person who'd caused the miscarriage.
Darian had once whispered to me, countless times, that he wanted a real home with me.
He wanted a daughter who looked like me.
Or a son who looked like him.
Then, all of a sudden, he'd stopped bringing up kids at all.
Only now did I understand.
By then, Josie was already pregnant.
A few nurses drifted past my door, chatting quietly.
Their voices pulled me back.
"That couple next door is so sweet."
"She lost the baby after that fall, and he hasn't left her side once."
"He just told her that once she's better, he's taking her to buy that necklace she's been wanting."
I only had to hear that much to know exactly who they were talking about.
"That man is my fiancé," I said quietly.
Both nurses froze.
Awkward, startled looks crossed their faces.
I braced my aching body against the mattress and tried to sit up.
I wanted to go next door.
One of the nurses immediately stopped me.
"Ms. Jones, you can't be out of bed right now."
They helped me lie back down.
Then, probably to head off a scene, they moved me to a quieter observation room on the other side of the unit.
Maybe that was for the best.
Because even I couldn't say what I might do if I actually saw the two of them together.
On the day I was discharged, I ran into Darian and Josie anyway.
The second Josie spotted me outside the hospital lobby, tears started streaming down her face.
"Amelia, you psycho!"
"You pushed me down the stairs and killed my baby!"
She lunged at me, hand raised, ready to claw at my face.
I instinctively lifted my arms to shield myself.
Darian caught my wrist in a crushing grip.
There wasn't a trace of warmth in his eyes.
Only dark, tightly leashed anger.
"Amelia, you owe her this."
"She's a wreck right now. Just take a few hits and stop making it worse."
I ripped my wrist out of his hand and glared at him, my eyes burning.
My voice shook.
"I don't owe her anything!"
"She threw herself down those stairs to set me up! She cornered me first!"
"And she pushed me. My baby—"
Something like confusion flickered in Darian's eyes.
But before I could finish, Josie screamed over me.
"Amelia, you won't stop chasing after Darian, you killed my baby, and now you're trying to blame me?"
"Darian, call the police! She has to pay for this!"
People passing through the lobby stopped in their tracks.
Disgusted, judgmental stares swung toward me.
"Oh my God. And she looks so harmless too."
"If she really pushed a pregnant woman, someone needs to call the cops."
Josie clutched Darian's sleeve so tightly her fingertips went white.
"Darian, that was our baby…"
The hesitation in his eyes vanished in an instant.
When he looked at me again, there was nothing but ice.
"Amelia, apologize to Josie. Now."
I stared back at him in despair and shook my head.
"I didn't—"
But my voice was quickly drowned out by the swelling murmurs around us.
No one wanted to hear my side.
Then Darian pulled out his phone and dialed 911.
"Hello, I'd like to report an assault that caused a miscarriage."
My head snapped up.
I stared at Darian, standing several feet away.
The face I'd once loved more than anything looked like a stranger's.
Josie ducked her head as if wiping away tears.
Hidden behind the crowd, she shot me a vicious, twisted smile of victory.
"I didn't push her."
"I have proof—"
Darian cut me off coldly.
"Amelia, you were always good at making excuses for yourself."
"This time, save it for the police."
Then he stopped looking at me altogether.
He pulled Josie protectively into his arms and murmured soft reassurances.
