The Trouble With Him: A Secret Pregnancy Romance (The Forbidden Love 3)

“I think this baby will be so loved,” he mentions with a smile, then sits beside Mom.

As I look at my family and relish at this moment, I can’t ignore the heaviness inside my chest from the one person missing.

It’s not the same without Millie, but just like Will said, I’ve torn his wife apart.

It wasn’t just about Austin, but because she’s trying her damn hardest to fall pregnant, and it happened to me on a one-night stand.

And only a few minutes away in their own home, I know my sister is crying herself to sleep.

The thought alone pains me, but nothing I can say or do right now will change how she feels.

I’m the evil sister who just ruined her life.

Thirteen

Amelia

“I’m pregnant.”

Ava drops her head, refusing to look at anyone, then focuses on the empty plate in front of her. The words hit like dynamite, every part of me exploding into tiny pieces, shattering beyond repair.

This doesn’t make sense. How can she be pregnant? It must be a joke, a sick twisted joke she’s playing on the family.

But her silence speaks a thousand words.

Beside her, Addy leans in with a thoughtful expression, her brows pulling down in concentration. Did Addy know this and not tell me? Like I’d been purposely kept in the dark.

A sharp pain runs across my chest as I begin to grow hot, trying to fight my emotions.

“Pregnant?” I choke, unable to swallow the lump inside my throat, stopping my ability to breathe at a normal pace. “But you aren’t with anyone?”

I rack my brain to replay all our recent conversations. We often spoke daily, at least via text. But the last few months, we communicated less. Ava often used the excuse of being busy with her work, or she kept her responses closed. So, I narrowed it down to the stress of her breakup with Olivier, or maybe a quarter-life crisis.

Olivier—it must be his baby.

But then I recall her mentioning she hadn’t slept with him for months, not before the night she found him in bed with another man.

The only thing which stands out is the Aussie guy. Maybe she lied and slept with him.

But the lie isn’t what’s bothering me. It’s the fact she fell pregnant.

The one thing I am unable to do.

“Congratulations,” Alexa blurts out, overly cheery. A slight growl escapes my throat at my younger sister’s disregard for my feelings, like she’s taking Ava’s side. “I thought you looked different.”

Still in shock, my gaze shifts toward my father. His silence is deafening. As someone who has fallen under his wrath, I know first-hand just how intimidating he can be. But, I’ve done my time, and Ava is an adult who has clearly made a poor decision and now must face the consequences.

“Who is the father?” Dad grits, barely able to open his mouth to speak.

“Um, this guy. It was one night, but I’ve known him forever, so it’s not like he’s a stranger and…”

One night.

That’s all it took.

Meanwhile, I’ve been fucking my husband in certain positions while using ovulation kits and tracking my basal temperature. I’ve even watched my diet, consuming certain foods to better increase fertility. This has been going on for months, and for what? To see one blue line greet me every month with the ever-so-gut-wrenching ‘negative’ in the small window.

Mom clears her throat. “This is a surprise, but you have our support. How far along are you, honey?”