Chapter 6
Three weeks later, persistent morning sickness began plaguing Eleanor nonstop.
Nausea washed over her every morning while brushing her teeth. The faint smell of cooking oil turned her stomach instantly, and all the spicy dishes she'd once loved became completely unpalatable.
Blaming her discomfort on a simple upset stomach, Eleanor bought over-the-counter digestive medication from a local pharmacy, yet two full days of treatment brought no relief whatsoever.
A subtle, hesitant look crossed the pharmacy clerk's face as she paused mid-conversation. "Ma'am... have you considered taking a pregnancy test?"
Eleanor froze.
A sharp realization hit her hard: her monthly cycle was nearly two weeks overdue.
Leaving the pharmacy with a plain paper bag clutched tightly in her hand, Eleanor hurried home and locked herself inside the bathroom.
She tore open the pregnancy test kit packaging, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
She read the instruction manual three times over just to process every line clearly.
Following the listed steps carefully, Eleanor set the test stick on the sink counter and sat down on the toilet lid, staring at her phone's countdown timer.
Three minutes. One hundred and eighty slow seconds.
Never had time dragged on so painfully slow in her life.
When the timer hit zero, Eleanor stood shakily and picked up the test stick.
Two bold, unmistakable lines stared back at her.
Her hand jolted violently, and the test stick slipped into the bathroom sink. As she stared blankly at those two clear lines, her mind went completely numb and empty.
She was pregnant.
Subconsciously, Eleanor rested a gentle palm on her still-flat abdomen. No physical changes showed yet, no subtle movement, no noticeable curve, but a tiny new life was already growing quietly inside her.
She should have been overjoyed.
For three long years, she'd waited, hoped, and dreamed endlessly of having a child of her own.
Yet a cold, sinking dread settled heavily in her chest.
A sudden memory crashed into her thoughts unbidden.
The last time she'd been intimate with Ryan had been two months prior. Drunk that night, he'd mumbled another woman's name, not hers.
But her night with Lucas had happened only three weeks ago.
Cold dread spread through her veins in an instant.
Slumping down onto the toilet lid, Eleanor buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
This baby wasn't Ryan's.
It belonged to Lucas.
Lost in overwhelming grief for what felt like an eternity, Eleanor finally stepped out of the bathroom and sank onto the living room sofa, sitting motionless and hollow inside.
The television remained switched off. Heavy drawn curtains blocked most natural daylight, casting the entire room in dim, somber shadows, as if weighed down by an invisible burden she couldn't shake off.
Just then, her phone lit up with two new incoming messages.
One from Ryan: [I won't be home tonight.]
Right after it popped up a message from Lucas: [Heavy rain rolling in today, don't forget your umbrella, Ellie.]
Eleanor stared at the two messages, one above the other, as if they were from two different worlds.
Slowly, her palm drifted back to rest over her abdomen.
A bold, reckless thought took firm shape in her mind.
She wanted this baby more than anything in the world. She'd longed for motherhood for endless years.
What if Ryan never found out the truth?
If she stayed silent about the timeline, he would never have any reason to grow suspicious.
They'd undergone countless fertility screenings over the years, with doctors always explaining their delay was simply down to random luck.
After three years with no success, a sudden pregnancy would seem perfectly normal to family and friends alike. No one would ever think to question it.
Eleanor's hands trembled with inner conflict.
She knew her plan was wrong. She knew it was reckless, irrational, teetering on the edge of madness.
Yet the desperate desire to keep this child was impossible to ignore.
Vivid memories flashed through her mind unbidden: Ryan doting on Olivia across a restaurant table, Olivia casually looping her arm through his at galas.
Then came the rare soft smile on Ryan's face she hadn't seen in years, and his endless string of late nights and missed family dinners.
He owed her this much.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Eleanor opened them again with a quiet, unshakable resolve she'd never held before.
She picked up her phone and typed a message to Ryan: [Can you come with me to my prenatal checkup next week?]
A long, drawn-out silence followed after she hit send.
Eventually, a single cold word appeared on the screen: [Okay.]
Staring at that reply, Eleanor smiled faintly.
No trace of joy lingered in her expression, only a bitter, hollow sorrow settling deep in her heart.
Resting her hand gently over her stomach, she whispered a quiet apology into the quiet room.
She couldn't even say for sure who she was apologizing to.
Perhaps Ryan. Perhaps Lucas. Perhaps the tiny unborn life growing inside her.
One truth remained unwavering, though. She would never give this baby up. Not for any reason at all.