Chapter 3: The Secret That Changes Everything

Elizabeth knew the moment Lewis decided to dig deeper.

It wasn’t something he said.

It was the silence.

For three days after their phone call, he didn’t contact her again. No messages. No unexpected appearances. No pressure.

Anyone else might have assumed he had backed off.

Elizabeth knew better.

Lewis Anderson never moved loudly when he was hunting the truth.

She went through her routine carefully work, home, minimal contact with the outside world. She dressed in looser clothes. She skipped caffeine. She avoided mirrors longer than necessary.

Still, the sense of being watched lingered.

At work, she struggled to focus. Words blurred together on the manuscript in front of her, her mind drifting constantly back to the life growing inside her.

The baby.

Her baby.

She pressed a hand lightly against her abdomen, a subtle gesture no one noticed. A reminder. A promise.

“You’re safe,” she whispered under her breath.

But even as she said it, she wasn’t sure she believed it.

Lewis stood in his office, staring at the city from fifty floors above ground.

“She confirmed the appointment,” Caleb said quietly behind him. “Prenatal care. Same clinic. No partner listed.”

Lewis closed his eyes.

The confirmation didn’t bring relief. It brought something heavier responsibility.

“She lied to me,” Lewis said.

“She’s afraid,” Caleb replied.

Lewis turned sharply. “Of what?”

Caleb hesitated. “Of you.”

The words hit harder than any accusation.

Lewis returned his gaze to the window, jaw tight. “I never hurt her.”

“You didn’t protect her either.”

Silence fell.

Lewis remembered the way Elizabeth had begged him to listen. To trust her. To choose her over rumors and carefully planted lies. He had believed he was being rational.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

“What else?” Lewis asked.

“She lives quietly,” Caleb continued. “No extravagance. No social appearances. She’s built a life completely outside your world.”

Lewis’s fingers curled slowly.

Not for long.

“Prepare a car,” he said. “I’m seeing her tonight.”

Caleb frowned. “Lewis”

“I won’t ambush her,” Lewis said coldly. “But she’s not hiding my child from me.”

Elizabeth felt sick all afternoon.

Not nausea fear.

It settled in her bones as she packed up her things at work, glancing toward the office windows one last time before leaving. The sky outside had darkened ominously, rainclouds gathering low.

By the time she reached her building, rain was already falling.

She stepped out of the cab and froze.

Lewis stood beneath the awning.

No suit jacket. Dark shirt. Sleeves rolled up. He looked like a man who had shed formality in favor of confrontation.

Her heart dropped to her stomach.

“You followed me again,” she said flatly.

Lewis’s gaze swept over her, sharp and assessing. “You look tired.”

“That wasn’t an invitation.”

“I won’t come inside,” he said calmly. “I just want to talk.”

Elizabeth hesitated.

The rain intensified, drumming against the pavement. Passersby hurried past, heads down, uninterested in two people standing at the edge of something fragile and dangerous.

“Five minutes,” she said finally.

Lewis nodded once.

They stood beneath the awning, close enough that she could feel his warmth, smell the faint trace of his cologne familiar enough to make her chest ache.

“I know you’re pregnant,” he said quietly.

Elizabeth’s breath stuttered.

She stared straight ahead. “You don’t know anything.”

“I do,” Lewis said. “Elizabeth… it’s mine, isn’t it?”

Silence stretched painfully.

She could lie again.

She should lie again.

But exhaustion won.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Lewis’s world tilted.

For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

“How long?” he asked hoarsely.

“Six weeks.”

His jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Elizabeth finally looked at him. Her eyes were red, tired, defiant.

“Because you don’t get to own everything you touch.”

Lewis flinched.

“I’m not trying to own you,” he said.

She laughed bitterly. “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

Rain soaked into the cuffs of his shirt, but he didn’t move.

“I would have shown up,” he said. “I would have done the right thing.”

“You had five years to do the right thing,” Elizabeth shot back. “You didn’t.”

The words sliced deep.

Lewis inhaled slowly. “You should have told me anyway.”

“And let you take control?” she challenged. “Let your family decide my future again?”

His eyes darkened. “My family won’t touch you.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I can,” he said firmly.

She shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”

Lewis stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Then let me prove it.”

Elizabeth’s hands trembled. “I don’t want your protection.”

“You want safety,” he countered.

“I want freedom.”

Lewis studied her carefully. “Freedom with a child isn’t as simple as you think.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t patronize me.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I’m offering partnership.”

She scoffed. “You don’t know how to be a partner.”

The truth hung heavy between them.

Lewis exhaled slowly. “What are you planning to do?”

Elizabeth hesitated only a second. “I’m keeping the baby.”

Relief surged through him, swift and powerful.

“And?” he prompted.

“And I’m raising it on my own.”

“No,” Lewis said quietly.

She stiffened. “You don’t get to say that.”

“I do,” he replied. “Because that child is half mine.”

“And entirely my responsibility,” she shot back.

Lewis’s gaze softened, just slightly. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

“I already am.”

Rain streamed down between them.

Lewis reached out, then stopped himself. “Move in with me.”

Elizabeth stared at him in disbelief. “Absolutely not.”

“For safety,” he added. “For stability. For the baby.”

“You mean for control,” she said.

He didn’t deny it.

“I need to know my child is protected,” Lewis said. “With me.”

Elizabeth stepped back. “You don’t get to rewrite our story.”

Lewis leaned closer, voice low. “This isn’t about the past.”

“It always is,” she whispered.

She turned and walked toward the building entrance, her heart pounding painfully.

“Elizabeth,” Lewis called after her.

She paused but didn’t turn.

“This isn’t over,” he said.

She nodded once. “I know.”

Elizabeth locked her door and leaned against it, her legs trembling.

He knew.

The secret was no longer hers alone.

She pressed her hand to her stomach, breathing shakily. “I’ll protect you,” she whispered again.

Outside, Lewis stood in the rain long after she disappeared.

A child.

His child.

And the woman he once lost standing between him and everything that mattered.

This time, he wouldn’t let circumstances or her fear push him away.

Not again.