On our wedding night, I was completely exhausted. The whole day had been a whirlwind, full of excitement, plans, and promises. As Scott leaned in for a kiss, I gently turned my head away. “I’m so tired,” I whispered, trying to explain without ruining the moment. Scott smiled and, without a word, wrapped his arm around me. He understood. He always did. But my rest didn’t last long.
In the middle of the night, something woke me up. The bed was shaking, ever so slightly, as if someone was moving beside it. Groggy and disoriented, I turned over. The sight I saw made my heart skip a beat. Scott was kneeling beside the bed, holding a baby. My mind raced with confusion.
“Scott,” I whispered, barely able to process what I was seeing. “Who is this?”
Scott looked at me, his eyes full of something I couldn’t read, his body tense. He struggled to find the right words. “This is Ella,” he said softly. “She’s my niece. My stepsister, Maya… she passed away a few weeks ago.”
His words hung in the air, heavy and filled with questions. I stared at him, trying to grasp what was happening. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” I asked, my voice shaky, the weight of this revelation crashing down on me, especially on our wedding night.
Scott lowered his head, guilt taking over his face. “I was scared, Everly. Scared you’d walk away if you knew.”
The silence that followed was thick, thick enough to swallow the room. We both lay there, neither of us knowing how to move forward. The next morning, we packed up and went to Scott’s estate, with Ella in tow, as though we had both silently agreed to what was happening. I felt swept along by Scott’s choices, unable to speak up or voice my worries. My heart was heavy, caught between the love I had for him and the unsettling things he was hiding from me.
Days passed, and every time I looked at Ella, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. I loved Scott, but there were pieces of the puzzle that didn’t fit. One evening, with Ella resting in my arms, I decided to ask Scott more about Maya and why he was so determined to raise her child. But his answers were vague, leaving out any details about Ella’s father. His reluctance to share anything made me feel like I was walking in the dark, desperately searching for the light.
Frustrated and restless, I couldn’t stop thinking about the missing pieces. One afternoon, while Scott was at work, I decided to search his study. Maybe I could find the answers I was desperate for. On his desk, among scattered papers, I found something that took my breath away—a photo of Scott beside a pregnant woman, both of them smiling like they had just received the best news of their lives.
The woman was glowing with joy, and Scott looked so proud. It was a moment frozen in time.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It shattered everything Scott had told me. With my hands shaking, I went to find him when he got home. When I confronted him with the photo, his face went pale, the color draining from his cheeks. I held it up, demanding the truth.
“She’s not your niece, is she?” I asked, my voice trembling. “She’s your daughter.”
Scott’s face crumpled as he let out a long, heavy sigh. “Ella is my daughter, Everly,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “I kept it from you because I didn’t want to scare you off. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to marry me if you knew.”
The truth hit me like a ton of bricks, and I didn’t know how to process it. I was torn between my growing attachment to Ella, who had already started to feel like my own, and my shattered trust in Scott. I needed space to think. “Maybe Ella should go live with a foster family,” I suggested quietly, hoping that someone else could give her the fresh start she deserved—one that didn’t come with the weight of lies.
Scott looked horrified. “No, Everly, you can’t be serious.” He was frantic now, shaking his head. “You don’t understand.”
An argument exploded between us, but I stood firm. I had to make the decision for Ella, no matter how painful it was. That night, I packed my things and left the estate, determined to find clarity on my own. I needed to breathe, to step away from everything, and hopefully clear the fog in my mind.
I went to the beach, hoping the sound of the waves could calm my thoughts. But as I sat there, lost in my own confusion, a woman approached me. She looked at Ella in my arms and then back at me, her gaze sharp and calculating.
“Is that Scott’s daughter?” she asked, her voice smooth but with an unsettling edge.
I nodded, surprised by the question. “How do you know Scott?”
The woman’s smile faded quickly, replaced by a cold look in her eyes. “Be careful,” she warned, her voice low and full of warning. “Scott’s not the man you think he is. There are secrets you don’t know.” With that, she turned away, walking off into the distance, leaving me feeling shaken and more confused than ever.
The next day, I couldn’t shake the memory of her words. I needed answers, and I couldn’t stop myself from confronting Scott about the strange woman. He dismissed it quickly, brushing it off as nothing. “There’s nothing to worry about, Everly,” he insisted, looking me in the eyes. “There are no more secrets between us.”
But something in my gut told me there was more to the story. I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Days later, I ran into the woman again—this time at a café. She didn’t hesitate to speak. “You need to leave, Everly,” she urged, her voice full of urgency. “Scott’s past is darker than you realize. He’s tied to people who could ruin your life.”
Her words hit me like a slap. I had no idea what she meant, but my heart pounded with fear. I tried to wrap my mind around it, but everything was spinning. Stunned and afraid, I went back to our house, but my mind couldn’t focus on anything except the truth that was now creeping into my life. I was pregnant.
As I walked through our silent house, Amanda’s warning echoed in my ears. Could I trust Scott? Or had I fallen into a life full of secrets, lies, and shadows that could swallow me whole? My heart pounded with a new, terrifying realization: I didn’t know if I could ever truly know Scott, or if the life I thought I had was already slipping away.
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