My Pregnancy Record Proved I Cheated? Then Why Did My Sister Panic? Chapter 07
I heard from the Holloways sooner than IÂ
expected.Â
The doorbell rang early the next morning.Â
Mrs. Holloway stood outside.Â
Her hair was immaculate, but not even herÂ
foundation could hide the dark circles beneath herÂ
eyes.Â
“Can I come in?”Â
I stepped aside.Â
She sat down on the couch with her back perfectlyÂ
straight.Â
“What happened was wrong. Our family owes youÂ
an apology.”Â
“We’ll handle the situation with Chloe, and I’veÂ
already had it out with Nathan.”Â
“We can still talk about you and Nathan gettingÂ
married.”Â
“No.”Â
She froze.Â
“This isn’t about whether you’re willing to take me back. I’m the one who doesn’t want to marry him.”Â
She rose, but her tone had lost some of its edge.Â
“Think carefully.”Â
“Nathan made a mistake, but he’s young. What man hasn’t made a mistake?”Â
“He’ll change.”Â
“You call that a mistake?”Â
I walked to the door and opened it.Â
“Mrs. Holloway, with all due respect, if I’d known. this was what your family considered acceptable, I never would have gotten involved with any of youÂ
in the first place.”Â
She had no answer.Â
“Mrs. Holloway, you were the one who told me a woman from a family like mine wasn’t goodÂ
enough to marry into yours.”Â
“Turns out I agree with you. I’m not good enoughÂ
for the Holloways. You should go.”Â
Her lips pressed into a thin line.Â
She walked past me, the sharp click of her heels.Â
stopping after two steps.Â
“Vivian.”Â
I didn’t answer.Â
I simply gestured toward the elevator.Â
She stood there for two seconds before leaving.Â
The elevator doors opened, then closed.Â
Nathan came that evening.Â
Through the peephole, I watched him stand outside with one hand half–raised toward theÂ
doorbell. He lowered it, then lifted it again.Â
The mark from his mother’s slap had darkened overnight into a deep bruise across the left side ofÂ
his face.Â
I opened the door.Â
He didn’t come in. He stayed at the threshold withÂ
his head lowered.Â
“I saw the investigation findings. They pulled the procedure paperwork too.”Â
I said nothing.Â
“Vivian, I never meant for any of this to happen.”Â
“That night, Chloe was drunk. She kept calling meÂ
and crying.”Â
“She said she was stranded outside a bar and had no way to get home. I only went to pick her up.”Â
I gave him a flat look.Â
“Sure. You picked her up and somehow ended upÂ
in bed with her.”Â
His mouth opened, then closed.Â
“After that night, she said we should pretend nothing ever happened.”Â
“Then she came to me again. She said she’d always envied you. She said she didn’t want anything official. I couldn’t resist.”Â
He pulled one hand from his pocket, then shovedÂ
it back in.Â
“I went with her for the abortion. I told her once itÂ
was over, we were done. She agreed.”Â
“When she pulled out that pregnancy record at the wedding, I was completely blindsided.”Â
“I know I was a coward. I couldn’t even look up.Â
But I swear I never meant to hurt you.”Â
I looked at him.Â
There it was again–that face.Â
He had worn the same expression while people.Â
were spreading lies about me.Â
His brows were slightly drawn. His lips wereÂ
pressed together. His eyes held that helpless.Â
innocence that seemed to say he hated what wasÂ
happening too, but there was nothing he could do.Â
Back then, I had thought he was being pressured,Â
caught in the middle with no real choice.Â
Eventually, I understood.Â
Nathan was never trapped.Â
He simply made sure he was always standing inÂ
the safest possible place.Â
When Chloe cried, he softened not because he feltÂ
sorry for her, but because he didn’t want anyone toÂ
think he was heartless.Â
He signed the paperwork for her abortion notÂ
because he was taking responsibility, but because.Â
a baby would have made his life moreÂ
complicated.Â
At the wedding, he stayed silent not because heÂ
was afraid to defy his mother, but because silenceÂ
let everyone else make the decision for him.Â
While the internet tore me apart, he kept his headÂ
down and somehow managed to look like anotherÂ
victim.Â
From beginning to end, Nathan had never set outÂ
to hurt me.Â
He had simply never once thought to protect me.Â
Anger surged through me.Â
“It’s not that you never meant to hurt me. You justÂ
never thought about anyone but yourself.”Â
He lifted his head, his lips trembling.Â
“You say you went to pick her up.”Â
“You say you couldn’t resist. It wasn’t that youÂ
couldn’t. You didn’t want to.”Â
“She threw herself at you, and you figured thereÂ
was no reason to say no.”Â
“Then afterward, all you had to say was, ‘She came onto me, and suddenly your hands were clean.Â
How many times have you pulled that routine on me?”Â
He took half a step back.Â
“You call yourself a coward.”Â
“Nathan, you’re not a coward.”Â
“Cowards are afraid to act. You made a calculatedÂ
choice.”Â
“You were figuring out how to handle everything so you’d come out best.”Â
I slapped him across the face.Â
“Chloe got pregnant. You went with her for anÂ
abortion, signed the paperwork, and thought thatÂ
closed the book.”Â
“Then she pulled out the pregnancy record at ourÂ
wedding and you stayed silent, because you knewÂ
I was the one getting torn apart, not you.”Â
I couldn’t keep my voice down anymore.Â
“People like you disgust me because you’re notÂ
obviously cruel.”Â
“You cry. You apologize. You say you were wrong.Â
But every choice you make is the one that protectsÂ
you most.”Â
“You sell yourself as the poor guy caught in theÂ
middle, when really, you’re the coldest person inÂ
the room.”Â
“You let Chloe believe you loved her. You let meÂ
believe you would protect me. You let your motherÂ
believe some woman had taken advantage ofÂ
you.”Â
“You fooled everyone–including yourself.”Â
His mouth hung open.Â
His lips trembled, his eyes reddened, and tears. began to fall.Â
But he didn’t say a word.Â
Every excuse he had ever used on me had beenÂ
stripped away.Â
“The one favor you ever did me was staying silentÂ
at the wedding.”Â
“If you’d defended me, I might still be stuck in thisÂ
mess with you. So thanks.”Â
He stepped forward and reached for my arm.Â
I backed away.Â
“Don’t touch me. Get the hell out.”Â
I slammed the door so hard the frame shook.Â
Through the peephole, I saw him standing outsideÂ
with his hand still suspended in midair.Â
I turned and leaned back against the door,Â
breathing hard. My fingertips tingled, and my headÂ
was still buzzing.Â
Men like Nathan were always safe from blameÂ
because no one ever called them scumbags.Â
He was just quiet.Â
He was just passive.Â
He just couldn’t resist.Â
He was just caught in the middle.Â
He wrapped himself in the image of a good man,Â
but there was nothing inside. Anyone who gotÂ
close to him ended up drained dry and couldn’t even point to where he had hurt them.Â
I closed my eyes and slowly let out a long breath.Â
This time, he was the one left outside my doorÂ
crying.
