Chapter 5 — The Pin
The turning point arrived completely by accident.
Or perhaps...
Not by accident at all.
Vanessa attended a charity gala wearing an elegant emerald dress.
Hundreds of guests filled the ballroom.
Nathan introduced her proudly.
"My future wife."
She glowed beneath the lights.
Halfway through the evening, an elderly volunteer carrying decorations stumbled.
A small decorative pin slipped from a fabric ribbon.
It bounced across the marble floor.
Nobody noticed.
Except Ethan.
He bent to pick it up.
At the exact same moment...
Vanessa turned.
Their shoulders brushed.
The tiny pin touched the side of her stomach.
Instead of soft resistance...
There was a dull...
Plastic sound.
Tap.
Not flesh.
Not muscle.
Not the gentle firmness Ethan remembered when Claire had been pregnant years ago.
Vanessa's eyes widened with genuine panic.
She stepped backward so quickly she nearly fell.
"Don't touch me!"
The entire ballroom fell silent.
Nathan rushed over.
"What happened?"
Vanessa forced a smile.
"Nothing..."
But Ethan noticed her hand gripping the side of her belly.
Not protectively.
Desperately.
As though she were afraid something inside might move...
Or worse...
Come loose.
May you like
That night, Ethan wrote only four words inside his notebook.
It's not a baby.
