Chapter 1

I had just found out I was pregnant when Yvette Grant announced she was expecting too.

The day I returned from my check-up, I barely stepped through the door when I heard her soft, saccharine voice.

"Caleb, what do you think we should name our baby? I'm scared… What if it hurts too much?"

Caleb Lawson held her shoulders with a gentle gaze that could melt candle wax. As they laughed and chatted, Caleb suddenly glanced up and saw me at the door.

I slowly walked toward him. "Caleb, what does she mean by that?"

His arm stayed firmly around Yvette as he sighed. "Go to our room, Natalie. I'll explain later."

"Explain it to me now!" I demanded.

Caleb's expression hardened. "Natalie, don't make a scene, alright?"

While suppressing my tears, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

"What are you doing?" Yvette, distressed over Caleb getting hit, immediately pushed me away and shielded him behind her.

She puffed out her stomach slightly and said, "I'm carrying Caleb's baby. What right do you have to hit him?"

It felt like my heart had been torn wide open in that instant. Tears streamed down my face.

Caleb frowned deeply as he watched me cry. I could see from his gaze that his patience was thinning.

"Natalie, don't listen to her. The baby isn't mine."

Before I could even process his words, Yvette let out a dramatic sob. Her big, red-rimmed eyes were filled with grievance as she looked at Caleb like he had just betrayed her.

"Caleb, you promised me you wouldn't tell anyone! How could you tell her?"

"Natalie is my wife. I have no reason to keep this from her."

Hearing his cold words, Yvette stopped crying. Instead, a cruel smirk crept onto her lips.

"Then shouldn't you also tell her the rest? That for my sake, and for the sake of my baby, hers will grow up fatherless?"

I immediately turned to Caleb. My chest tightened as if it were filled with ice while my breath came in shallow gasps.

However, Caleb didn't say a word—his silence was as good as confirmation.

Yvette, unable to hide her satisfaction, caressed her belly with pride.

"Caleb is making such a huge sacrifice for me so others won't judge me. I'm really touched. In the future, my baby will be Caleb's firstborn. As for yours, whether it becomes an adopted child or something else, we'll discuss that later."

Throughout it all, Caleb didn't refute any of Yvette's words.

Fury surged inside me, so I clenched my fists and pounded against his chest. At first, he just stood there and took it. Then, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward our bedroom.

"Let me go! Tell me what's going on!"

I couldn't understand. Was Yvette really that important? So important that our baby didn't even deserve a father?

Caleb's eyes burned with undisguised irritation as if he was displeased with my actions.

"Yvie has always had a girl-next-door image. It would ruin her reputation if word got out that she got pregnant before marriage, and she wouldn't survive the shame and mockery of it," he said.

"So you expect me to take the fall instead?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Caleb shook his head. "This is just temporary. Once she gives birth safely, I'll tell everyone the truth."

As I stared at Caleb, he suddenly felt like a stranger—someone I could no longer recognize as the man I loved.