Chapter 4 - REBECCA CALLED MY PREGNANCY A “DESPERATE PERFORMANCE”
Rebecca did not contact me directly.
She contacted everyone else.
By the end of the week, three relatives had sent me messages asking whether I was “trying to stop Ryan from moving on.”
One cousin finally forwarded the family-group chat.
Rebecca:
Mariana has suddenly announced a pregnancy after being served divorce papers.
Please use common sense.
Another relative:
Could it be Ryan’s?
Rebecca:
After eleven infertile years? Highly unlikely.
I stared at the message.
The woman had seen Ryan’s abnormal fertility results.
She still used our childlessness against me.
Then Vanessa posted something subtler.
A photograph of two champagne glasses.
Caption:
THE TRUTH ALWAYS OUTLIVES THE PERFORMANCE.
I blocked her.
That part was easy.
The pregnancy was not.
At sixteen weeks, I developed complications requiring reduced activity.
At eighteen, one baby showed growth concerns.
At twenty, the specialists became cautiously optimistic again.
Gabriel moved into a guesthouse near my rental.
Not with me.
Near me.
He attended appointments only when invited.
I was learning the difference between support and control.
Then Ryan finally requested a private meeting.
I declined.
Everything through lawyers until paternity could be established safely.
He sent one email.
IF THESE CHILDREN ARE MINE, I WILL DO THE RIGHT THING.
The right thing.
As though fatherhood were a debt collection notice.
I did not answer.
Then something unexpected happened.
Vanessa called Rachel.
Not me.
My lawyer.
She wanted confirmation the pregnancy existed.
Rachel gave her nothing confidential.
Then Vanessa said:
“Ryan told me Mariana had a hysterectomy.”
I nearly dropped the phone when Rachel repeated it.
A hysterectomy.
Ryan had told his mistress I physically could not become pregnant.
He needed me to be medically impossible so his new life could feel clean.
Then Vanessa revealed something else.
Ryan had proposed to her before the divorce was final.
He said:
“There will never be children from the first marriage. Nothing complicated.”
Nothing complicated.
Three heartbeats disagreed.
And at my twenty-two-week scan, Dr. Chen gave me another fact Ryan would eventually have to face.
All three babies were boys.
May you like
Three Montgomery sons.
The very thing Rebecca had spent eleven years claiming I was incapable of giving her family.
Related Stories
