Chapter 1

Camila’s POV:

“D-Daniel.” I started but the sound of my own voice startled me when he paused, with his hand hovering over his car keys on the entryway table. “I... I wanted us to... to have breakfast together. Today. Just today."

I held my breath, bracing for the inevitable because I already knew the script. He would glance at his watch, offer a tight smile, then apologize about an early meeting or a client who couldn't wait. 

This time, though, Daniel stood perfectly still for three seconds then his shoulders dropped as he let go of his keys. I watched, utterly paralyzed, as he turned around and looked at me. "Alright.” He said quietly, walking back into the dining room.

Then he pulled out a chair, sat down, and placed a napkin on his lap while I just blinked, hardly believing it. We hadn't sat down for a meal together in months and even when we did, his face was usually buried in his phone, his fingers flying across the screen while I spoke to the top of his head.

But as I sat back down and poured his coffee, I noticed something different. His phone remained face-down on the table while he picked up his fork and began to eat, completely undistracted. 

‘This is it.’ I thought, my hands trembling as I reached into my robe pocket, my fingers brushing against the plastic pregnancy test I had hidden there. 

Just as the words ‘I’m pregnant’ hovered on the very tip of my tongue, the sound of Daniel dropping his fork onto his porcelain plate cut through the silence.

I blinked, startled as he cleared his throat, leaned back in his chair, and looked directly into my eyes. "I want a divorce, Camila." 

The words echoed in my head but I kept staring at him, my brain refusing to process the syllables that had just come out of his mouth. ‘Divorce?’ Surely I had misheard him. Surely it was a sick joke, or a hallucination brought on by my racing mind.

"What...?" I whispered. "Daniel, what are you saying?" He didn't blink, he just reached for his napkin, wiped his mouth and stood up. 

"I have a mandatory investor meeting to attend right now, so I have to go to the office. But when I return later tonight, I will hand over the divorce papers.”

“Daniel, wait! Stop!" I cried out, finally finding my voice as he turned on his heel and began walking toward the front door. 

“You can't just say that and leave!” I scrambled out of my chair, my vision blurring with tears. "Daniel, look at me! Please, just talk to me!"

He didn't even turn around, instead he glanced at his phone when it buzzed in his hand, then he swiped to answer, and pressed it to his ear.

"Yes, I'm on my.” He said into the receiver and without glancing at his sobbing wife, he opened the front door, stepped out of the house, and pulled it shut behind him.

I collapsed onto the floor of the living room, unable to breathe as I pulled my knees to my chest, sobbing so hard that my ribs ached. How had a morning that was supposed to be the happiest day of my life turned into such an absolute disaster?

Trembling violently, I fumbled for my phone on the floor and dialed the one person I trusted above all else. "Camila?" Samantha’s voice filled the line on the second ring. "Hey, sweetie! So tell me, how did he take the news?!"

"S-Sam..." I choked out. "He... he wants a d-divorce."

"What?!" Samantha gasped on the other end. "What do you mean a divorce? Did you tell him about the baby?"

"No!" I wailed, pressing the palm of my hand against my forehead. "I didn't even get the chance! He just told me he was bringing home papers tonight then he just walked out! He wouldn't even look at me, Sam. It was like I was a stranger to him."

"Oh my god, Camila, calm down." Samantha urged. "Think clearly. Did something happen recently? Was there an argument? Any sign at all that he was thinking about this?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to piece through the wreckage of the last few months. 

"No... I mean, we haven't been close. You know how busy he’s been with the company’s financial crisis. He’s been working late every single night, sleeping at the office... We had a few arguments when he stood me up for dinner, but nothing crazy!”

“Maybe... maybe he just fell out of love with me." I added after a short pause.

"Don't overthink it right now, babe.” Samantha said soothingly. "Men are stupid, and stress makes them do crazy things. Just wait until he gets home tonight like he said. Once he’s back, you can sit him down, tell him about the pregnancy. Don't do anything drastic until then, okay?"

"Okay.” I whispered, desperately clinging to her advice. "Okay, I'll wait."

But the waiting was a special kind of torture. I spent the entire day in the living room pacing back and forth across the rug as hours bled into one another. By midnight, the silence in the house was suffocating so with shaky hands, I called Samantha again. "He's still not here, Sam. I'm losing my mind."

"He's still not back?" Samantha replied, sounding surprised. "Listen, Camila... if you're hurting this badly, don't just sit there. Drive down to the company and face him. If you tell him about the pregnancy right now, there is no way he will go through with this divorce.”

She was right. If he knew he was going to be a father, then maybe he would remember why we started this journey in the first place.

“Thank you, Sam. I love you.” I said fiercely, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. "Love you too, babe. Good luck." I ended the call, stood up, and immediately gasped as my legs wobbled violently beneath me but I forced myself to walk, stumbling up the stairs to grab my purse and my car keys.

The drive through the city was a blur and when I finally pulled up to Daniel’s company and the building was mostly dark, save for the top floor. Inside, the security guard at the front desk instantly recognized me as the CEO’s wife, so he offered a polite nod and waved me right through the turnstiles. 

Then I stepped into the elevator which slid open on the 35th floor that was completely deserted. Exhaling, I walked down the long hallway toward the double oak doors of Daniel’s private office.  

On arrival, I pulled the pregnancy test from my purse and clutched it tightly in my hand. Then I grabbed the brass handle, turned it quietly, and pushed the door open.  

"Daniel, we need to…" The words died in my throat and the pregnancy test slipped from my numb fingers, clattering loudly against the floor.

There, splayed carelessly across Daniel's mahogany desk, was my best friend, Samantha whose fingers were buried tightly in Daniel's dark hair as he moved between her thighs.