PART 3: THE SECRET BEHIND BROOKE’S PREGNANCY
For three days, I stayed in the hospital.
Three days of doctors checking my baby.
Three days of my father sitting beside me.
Three days of silence.
And in those three days…
I learned something important.
Silence could be more painful than screaming.
Because every quiet moment gave me time to remember.
Michael’s face.
His cold eyes.
The way he carried Brooke.
The way he left me on the floor.
I replayed it again and again.
Not because I wanted to suffer.
Because my mind was trying to understand.
How did I not see it?
How did I miss every sign?
The late nights.
The secret calls.
The sudden distance.
The way he stopped touching me.
The way he stopped asking about the baby.
I had explained everything away.
Work stress.
Pressure.
Fear of becoming a father.
I defended him.
Even when he was hurting me.
My father noticed the change in me.
“You’re blaming yourself.”
I looked out the hospital window.
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Sophia.”
I sighed.
“Maybe I should have known.”
My father immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“I trusted him.”
“That is not a mistake.”
I looked at him.
“Then what is?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Betraying someone who trusted you.”
Those words stayed with me.
Because he was right.
Michael’s choices belonged to him.
Not me.
Not my pregnancy.
Not anything I did.
That afternoon, Daniel arrived.
My older brother.
The one person in my family who always knew when I was pretending to be strong.
He walked into my room carrying a folder.
And I knew immediately.
Something happened.
“What is that?”
He looked at my father.
Then at me.
“Information.”
My heart tightened.
“About Michael?”
Daniel nodded.
My father became serious.
“Tell her.”
Daniel opened the folder.
“We started looking into Michael’s finances.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
My father answered.
“Because people don’t change overnight.”
I understood.
Michael’s betrayal didn’t start with Brooke.
It started somewhere else.
Daniel continued.
“His spending increased dramatically over the last year.”
“How?”
“Luxury hotels.”
“Private accounts.”
“Large transfers.”
My stomach turned.
“Transfers to who?”
Daniel looked at me.
“That’s the problem.”
He placed several documents on the table.
“Most of them are hidden.”
I picked up one page.
My hands went cold.
Because I recognized something.
A company name.
“Brooke?”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
I stared.
“No.”
My father looked at me.
“You know this company?”
I nodded slowly.
“Brooke’s family owns it.”
Silence.
That changed everything.
Because suddenly…
This wasn’t just an affair.
This was planned.
A few weeks later, I was discharged.
But I didn’t go back to my house.
I went to my father’s estate.
The place where I grew up.
The place where I felt safe.
The first night there…
I couldn’t sleep.
My baby moved.
A tiny kick.
I placed my hand on my stomach.
“Mommy is here.”
And for the first time in days…
I smiled.
Because no matter what happened…
I still had something worth fighting for.
The next morning, I received a message.
From Michael.
We need to talk.
I ignored it.
Then another.
Please.
Then another.
I know I made mistakes.
Mistakes.
That word again.
I turned off my phone.
But then my father walked in.
“He came to the gate.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“He wants to see you.”
My first reaction was anger.
My second was curiosity.
“What did you tell him?”
My father almost smiled.
“That he no longer has permission to enter my property.”
A part of me wanted to laugh.
But I didn’t.
Because this wasn’t over.
I asked him to let Michael in.
My father looked surprised.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I thought about it.
“Because I want to hear what he says.”
Twenty minutes later…
Michael entered the room.
He looked different.
The confidence was gone.
The arrogance.
The certainty.
All gone.
He saw me.
Then his eyes moved to my stomach.
And something flickered.
Regret.
Maybe.
“Are you okay?”
I almost couldn’t believe the question.
I stared at him.
“Now you’re asking?”
His face fell.
“I deserve that.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then he sat down.
“Sophia, I know you hate me.”
I interrupted.
“I don’t hate you.”
He looked surprised.
“I don’t have the energy to hate you.”
That hurt him more.
Because hate meant emotion.
Indifference meant something was gone.
“I love you.”
I shook my head.
“Stop saying that.”
His eyes filled.
“Why?”
“Because love is not what you did.”
He looked down.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I leaned forward.
“You looked at me bleeding.”
His face tightened.
“And you still walked away.”
He closed his eyes.
A tear fell.
“I thought you were okay.”
The excuse was so weak.
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“You thought?”
He looked up.
“Mom said—”
I laughed.
A bitter laugh.
“There it is.”
“Your mother.”
He was silent.
Because he knew.
Eleanor had influenced him.
But Michael had made his own choices.
Then I asked the question I had been holding.
“Why Brooke?”
His expression changed.
I noticed.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“Michael.”
He looked away.
“Answer me.”
Finally, he whispered:
“I don’t know.”
I knew he was lying.
“You do.”
He didn’t respond.
Then my father walked in.
“Enough.”
Michael stood.
“Mr. Sterling, I—”
“No.”
My father looked at him.
“I gave you a chance to be honest.”
A pause.
“You wasted it.”
Michael left.
But something bothered me.
The fear in his eyes.
Not the fear of losing me.
Something else.
The next night…
I received a call from an unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
But something made me answer.
“Hello?”
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Then a woman’s voice.
Quiet.
Shaking.
“Sophia?”
I recognized it.
Brooke.
My blood ran cold.
“What do you want?”
She started crying.
“I need your help.”
I almost laughed.
“You need my help?”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“I made a mistake.”
I stayed silent.
Then she said:
“Michael isn’t the only one who lied to you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
A pause.
Then:
“Eleanor knows everything.”
I frowned.
“About the affair?”
“No.”
Her voice became weaker.
“About the baby.”
I froze.
“What about the baby?”
Brooke took a shaky breath.
Then she said something that changed everything.
“The baby isn’t Michael’s.”
The room went silent.
My hand moved to my stomach.
“What did you say?”
Brooke started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Brooke.”
“The baby…”
Her voice trembled.
“Is part of a plan.”
And before I could ask anything else…
The call ended.
I sat there unable to move.
Because suddenly…
The betrayal became something much darker.
Michael didn’t just cheat.
Brooke didn’t just betray me.
They were hiding something.
Something involving my family.
My company.
My child.
And the person behind it…
May you like
Was the woman who had been smiling in my house the entire time.
Eleanor Sterling.
