Her eyes glistened as she shook her head. “How could you do that to me?”
The words stabbed straight through me.
“You kissed me,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “You made love to me after your betrayal. Didn’t you even think how dangerous that was? For me? For our baby?”
“I’m clean, Elena,” I said quietly.
Her eyes flashed. “How do you know that?”
The tension sat heavy in my chest, but I forced myself not to look away. “I extended my stay on the project for another month.”
She froze, confusion cutting through her anger.
“I waited,” I continued, my voice low. “Two weeks after… what happened. Then I got tested. A full screening. I stayed until the results came back negative. I wasn’t going to touch you—or come near you—until I knew you were safe.”
Her lips parted slightly, shock flickering across her face. “Didn’t you feel guilty at all?”
Something twisted sharply in my chest. “I regret it every second. And I never meant to hide it from you. For God’s sake—” I dragged a hand over my face, my breath uneven. “I was waiting for the right time. You were pregnant.”
She let out a soft, bitter laugh, her eyes burning through me. “There is no right time to tell the truth, Adrian.”
“Elena—”
“Yesterday, today, tomorrow—” she shook her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. “The impact is still the same.”
I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t find a single word that didn’t feel like another wound.
“Why are you quiet?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Can’t explain it?”
“I’m sorry.” The words barely left me. I had nothing else to offer her.
She gave a tight, broken smile. “No. You’re not sorry.”
“I am, Elena,” I said, my breath shaking. “I fucking am.”
There was a quiet silence between us before she asked, “Do you love her?”
The question sliced through me. I hated that what I did had driven her to doubt something she should’ve never had to question.
So I leaned in slightly, my fingers tightening against the table. “Elena, I was an idiot. I was selfish. But I wasn’t in love with her. Not for a second.”
I held her gaze, not looking away. “I have never loved anyone the way I love you.”
“So no,” I said, firm and absolute. “I don’t love her. I never did.”
CHAPTER 7
Adrian
A month had passed since that night, and our lives hadn’t been the same since. Elena no longer cried in front of me, at least not where I could see, but I knew she was still far from okay. I could feel it in the way she moved around me, in the quiet distance she kept, in the way her eyes never stayed on mine for too long. Every silence between us felt like a reminder of what I’d broken.
But for whatever it was worth, I swore to myself—to God, to anyone who would listen—that I would fight for her, for us, and I’d do anything to earn her forgiveness.
“Ready to go?” I asked her.
She didn’t answer, but she followed me out of the house. Today was our scheduled ultrasound, and I was going with her to the doctor. There was no way I was letting her go alone.
The doctordimmed the lights, the machine buzzed to live as Elena lay on the examination bed, her shirt slightly lifted. I stood beside her, wanting so badly to hold her hand.
