Truth At A Cost

Truth At A Cost

~STELLA~

Two weeks ago, I'd wanted this baby gone. Now every morning, my hand found my stomach before I was even fully awake.

Somewhere between the fear and the silence, the baby had stopped feeling like Dylan's. It had started feeling like mine.

Dylan’s message had disappeared less than five minutes after I saw it. He hadn’t given any sort of explanation… or apology. No second message either, and it somehow served as just another reminder that my ‘husband’ existed only when he wanted to.

“Stella.” Valerie’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I looked up from the passenger seat. “What?”

She held her phone in her hand, her eyebrows slightly raised. She had some sort of excitement on her face. “He found something.” My heart raced at those words.

After nearly two weeks of searching, Valerie finally convinced an old cybersecurity friend of hers to help us trace Dylan's last active location.

If Dylan was still in London, and we saw him at the hospital two weeks ago, then there was a chance we could find out the truth.

The truth was all I wanted. I wasn't even after revenge or a fight.

“Do you think this is a mistake?” I asked quietly, a flicker of doubt arising within my chest.

Valerie glanced at me. “We’ve already made too many mistakes to count this as one.”

If he knew about the baby, I'd stop running. If he didn't, I'd keep the secret buried away forever.

After a moment, I nodded and a smile appeared on her face as her feet pressed against the accelerator. “Finally.”

We left London behind us. The familiar streets faded into quieter roads and larger houses hidden away from everything.

The farther we went, the more uncomfortable I became. This wasn’t somewhere I expected Dylan to be.

An hour into our drive, Valerie's phone rang. She got an emergency call from work and had to leave.

At first, I was confused, but when she explained, instant worry replaced my confusion as I asked, “Is the patient okay?”

“She’s fine, but I need to go.” My brain went blank for a second before I noticed her finger on the navigation.

“You’re close. The location is only a couple of minutes away.” I looked at the road ahead then back at her.

“I don’t know if I can do this alone.” A sigh escaped me.

She reached over and held my hand. “Yes, you can. I believe in you.”

I swallowed very hard. “Vale—”

“Stella.” Her eyes softened. “Two weeks ago, you thought you couldn’t survive finding out you were pregnant.” Her gaze dropped briefly to my stomach. “But look at you, you did.”

I looked away because she was right.

She added, “And now you’re fighting for the truth.” Those words were warm enough to stick to my heart.

I nodded slowly as she squeezed my hand before stepping out, muttering she'd call me.

“And Stella?” I looked at her. “Whatever you find, don’t let him make you feel like you’re the problem.”

I didn't take over the wheel until we safely got her a ride back to town, and suddenly, I was alone.

The rest of the drive felt different and heavier… not just creepy. Every turn felt like it was taking me closer to something I wasn’t ready to face.

When I finally arrived, I slowed down. The exact location was a modern house standing at the end of a private road.

It was beautiful, expensive, and cold—definitely the kind of place Dylan would choose.

I parked outside and stared at it, my fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

What if he knew? What if he didn’t? What if I was about to destroy whatever was left of us?

I stepped out and walked toward the entrance.

Christ. The way my heart pounded with every step was crazy.

I took a moment to catch my breath and compose myself, but while I did, my eyes caught something strange. The door was slightly open. Who left their door open? Especially somewhere this private?

Slowly, I pushed it. “Dylan?”

There was no answer as I walked into the living room, my six senses fully activated. The kind of silence in a house as beautiful as this was creepy.

The house was beautiful, but it didn’t feel like home, and then I heard it. There was a sound from somewhere deeper inside at the end of the hallway.

It sounded like groans. I froze. My mind searched for an explanation. Maybe he was watching something. Or maybe someone was visiting.

Slowly, I moved through the hallway. I should've obeyed every instinct that had told me to leave. But I kept walking until I reached the doorway.

I reached for the exact door, already praying my mind was wrong.

I twisted the handle, and nothing had prepared me for the scene my eyes witnessed.

Dylan, my husband, had a dick thrusting in his ass, and behind him was Taylor. Taylor was his best man at our wedding. Taylor had knotted all over his butt.

My stomach turned, and I almost threw up, but I suddenly forgot how to walk away because this was my husband.

This was what he'd been doing for months.

For a moment, my brain refused to understand. Everything went quiet, and the pain hit so bad that breathing almost hurt. A sound escaped my lips and Dylan froze the moment his head turned.

When his eyes met mine, all the color disappeared from his face. “Stella?”

My name sounded like a stranger’s word. Taylor stepped back without a single remorse crossing his face.

I couldn’t scream or cry either. “Is this the meeting?”

The pain struck too deep. My belly hurt. My hand slowly moved to my stomach, and right in it was the only thing that had made me feel alive again.

Stack naked, Dylan took a step toward me, but I drew back, and only then did I turn away quietly.

I couldn't let him and his boyfriend see me break.

“Stella, wait—” he called from behind, but I didn't turn. “I can explain.”

I thought I knew Dylan, but he was just someone I never knew, and the worst part was that I had almost called him and told him about our baby.

I turned, headed outside the house. No. I wouldn't break down in here—

A sudden force slammed into the back of my head. Stars exploded behind my eyes, and the world tilted violently.

My knees crashed to the ground as my vision fractured. I tried to scream, but no sound came. Not even a mumble. Everything in me numbed.

For half a second, my blurry vision caught Taylor with a baseball bat in his hand.

“Should I just kill her?” I heard him ask Dylan as he cackled.

Before darkness consumed me, my eyes caught a figure at the door.

Rhys.