Chapter 1
Chapter 1
My evening gown was stained with spilled wine an unsightly mark that made it inappropriate for hosting. I decided to change before returning to our guests.
As I passed one of the guest rooms, a familiar voice caught my attention.
“Cal, level with me- did you really miss that emergency call the night Mila was born?”
At the mention of my daughter, I froze. Through the gap in the door, I could see Callum reclined on the sofa, slightly buzzed from the party. Mila sat beside him, while several of his friends were scattered
around the room.
After a pause, he simply said, “I didn’t hear it.”
I remembered that night. Callum’s work had always been demanding, and there were times when he’d miss calls during important meetings. I couldn’t understand why his friend was pressing this point.
I was about to leave when I noticed Callum suddenly sit up straight, his eyes sharpening with clarity.
“You all know, don’t you?” he asked cryptically.
The room fell silent, and something in their exchanged glances made me linger.
Callum’s voice grew distant, lost in memory. “Sophie was in the hospital that night. She called me crying, begging me to stay with her.”
“She was… someone I once loved, so I went.”
“She’s always been a light sleeper, and I kept my phone on silent when I was with her. That’s why I missed Aria’s call.”
Sophie Blake – his childhood sweetheart.
I’d always known about Sophie. When Callum and I got together, he’d assured me it was just teenage infatuation, swearing he’d never betray my trust. I believed everyone had a past – as long as they remained faithful in the present.
But this… my husband, who claimed to love only me, had chosen to comfort his ex while I was pregnant.
I stood paralyzed, watching as Callum glanced at Mila with pained affection.
“Thank God my little girl was okay. I couldn’t have lived with myself otherwise.”
Chapter 1
“And what about Aria?” one friend asked.
Callum hesitated before hugging Mila closer. “Of course I love her.”
But that love, I now realized, wasn’t as pure as I’d believed.
Someone else spoke up: “Cal, didn’t Sophie say she’d take you back, even with a child, if Aria wasn’t in the picture?”
“That night, when you learned about Aria’s complications… did you ever hope, even for a moment…?”
The room fell deathly quiet.
I held my breath, waiting to hear if my husband – the man who promised to love me forever – had ever wished, even briefly, for my death to clear the path for his first love.
Callum calmly covered Mila’s ears before answering: “Yes… I did. But Aria is my wife now, and I won’t betray her.”
My heart plummeted. He’d hoped I would die – if only for a moment.
“Sophie’s just family now,” he continued, smiling. “Mila’s beloved aunt. They’re even planning to watch the fireworks together tonight, right sweetie?”
Mila nodded eagerly. “Yes! Daddy and I are meeting Aunt Sophie at the beach for fireworks!”
“What about your mom?” someone asked.
Mila tilted her head thoughtfully. “Mommy’s jealous of Aunt Sophie, so it’s a secret. We can’t tell her.”
Callum chuckled, kissing her head. “That’s my clever girl.”
I stood there, numb, as their laughter washed over me. On the night I nearly died bringing our daughter into the world, my husband had been with another woman.
And now that same daughter, my precious Mila, was unknowingly turning the knife in my heart, calling me jealous while helping her father keep secrets.
In that moment, everything felt absurdly surreal.
