CHAPTER 4: The Confrontation

CHAPTER 4: “The Confrontation”

ARIA'S pov

I drove to Sellwood with the address Rebecca gave me burned into my mind. The modest apartment building sat on a quiet street lined with trees. Rain started to fall again as I parked across from it. I sat in the car for ten minutes. My hands gripped the steering wheel. I breathed slowly and deep. The pain in my chest felt like a living thing. It clawed at me with every breath. I wanted answers. I needed to see her face. I needed to know what kind of woman took my husband’s money and his time for seven months. And who was good enough to replace me in my husband’s life.

I finally got out and the cold air hit my face. I crossed the street and found the right door on the second floor. My knock sounded too loud in the quiet evening. I waited. My heart beat hard against my ribs.

The door opened and a young woman stood there. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders. She looked younger than twenty four. Her blue eyes were eerily like Flynn’s. The round belly under her loose sweater made everything inside me go cold. Seven months. The words from Rebecca’s call echoed again.

As soon as she saw me her eyes shot with recognition “You’re Aria,” she said softly. Her voice shook a little. “Flynn said you were beautiful.”

The words hit like a slap. I stayed calm long enough to step inside when she moved aside. The apartment was small but clean. A half finished nursery took up one corner of the living room. Soft yellow walls. A crib still in its box. Tiny clothes folded on a chair. My eyes moved across the room and stopped on a familiar vase. It came from our house. One of the pieces Flynn said he lost in storage months ago.

Proof sat everywhere. A photo of Flynn on the side table. Not smiling at the camera. Just a casual shot like he had been there many times. A jacket that looked like one of his draped over the couch. I felt sick.

“Why my husband? Couldn't you find anyone else?” I said slowly.

Sienna closed the door behind me. She twisted her hands together. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. The pregnancy. It was an accident. I was scared and alone and.. and he helped me. I begged him not to tell anyone about us at first. I was hiding from someone bad. But I told him later that maybe you should know. I thought he would have told you by now. Even if it is still risky for you to know”

Us? She used the word us. So they were something. I stood there and stared at her belly. “So you’re carrying my husband’s child?”

She looked down. Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t plan it. I swear. He was only supposed to help me get back on my feet. The money was for rent and my well-being. I’m so sorry, Aria. You seem like a good person. He talks about you like you’re everything to him.”

Everything to him. The words burned. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw the vase across the room. Instead I asked the only question that mattered. “Does he love you?”

“Yes” Then she shook her head fast. “No… No, not like that. It was never like that between us. He’s been kind. That’s all. But this baby… it’s real now. I’m keeping it. I have to.”

“Then it was like what? What do you have with him?” I asked but I could not look at her anymore. My eyes kept going back to the nursery. The tiny clothes. The life growing inside her. A life Flynn helped create while he came home to me every night. I felt my composure start to crack. The room felt too warm. The air too thick.

“Please you have to go… You can't be seen here Aria”

“Of course, so your little scandal doesn't come out,” I said. My voice came out flat. “And I hope you are happy for what you have done”

Sienna reached out like she wanted to touch my arm but stopped. “Please Aria. It is not like that. And… I really am sorry if I hurt you.”

I turned and left without another word. The door clicked shut behind me. I made it across the street to my car before the first sob broke free. I climbed inside and closed the door. The sobs came harder. They tore out of my chest like something physical. I could not breathe. My chest caved in with every gasp. The world tilted sideways. I gripped the steering wheel and leaned forward until my forehead touched it.

Tears ran down my face and soaked my shirt. Seven months pregnant. He let me believe he was building a life with me while he was building one with her. Every anniversary. Every quiet dinner. Every time he told me he loved me. All of it happened while he paid for her apartment and her baby. While he kept this entire world secret from me.

My stomach twisted so hard I thought I might be sick. I cried until my throat felt raw. The rain beat harder against the car roof. It matched the storm inside me. I had seen her. I had seen the proof. Sienna was real, the baby was real and my entire marriage was a lie.

I sat there in the dark car and let the pain wash over me. It felt endless. I did not know how I would drive home. I did not know how I would face him. All I knew was that something inside me had shattered completely. And nothing would ever be the same again.