He laughed.
Completely unaware.
Sarah emerged shortly afterward wearing a loose dress and resting one hand on the fake baby bump.
If I hadn’t known better, I would have believed it myself.
The party dragged on for hours.
At one point, I overheard Nicholas talking with friends.
“This changes everything,” he said proudly.
“You start thinking long term.”
One friend laughed.
“Settling down?”
Nicholas grinned.
“When there’s a family involved, you have to structure things correctly.”
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
Finally, everyone gathered around for the big reveal.
Nicholas wrapped an arm around Sarah and raised his voice.
“Thank you all for coming. This means so much to us.”
Then he launched into a speech about becoming a father.
About family.
About love.
That was my cue.
Heart pounding, I picked up a glass and stepped forward.
“Before we reveal anything,” I said loudly, “there’s something everyone should know.”
The crowd fell silent.
Nicholas frowned.
Sarah gave me the smallest nod.
I took a breath.
“The baby is mine.”
The silence that followed felt almost physical.
Nobody moved.
One woman gasped loudly.
Nicholas turned white.
“What?”
I kept my voice calm.
“Sarah and I started seeing each other again.”
His jaw dropped.
“She realized what kind of man she was marrying.”
Guests looked between the three of us.
Nicholas released Sarah’s waist immediately.
“What is he talking about?”
