“If you truly loved me, you would have understood that your sister is the one who actually knows how to make me happy.” Those words from Garrett instantly destroyed the three years we had spent building a life together.
I can still hear his voice as clearly as that afternoon while we stood in our new home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The house was filled with the scent of fresh paint and empty boxes, yet the keys in my hand felt like a promise that had just withered away.
Two hours before that moment, we had finally signed the paperwork for the house at the local notary office. I had the legal folder and all the receipts tucked into my bag along with a silly sense of excitement about the future.
I was already imagining lace curtains on the windows and slow Sunday mornings cooking breakfast in our brand new kitchen. I truly believed I finally had something solid like a real home and a man I was supposed to marry in three months.
Then my phone started ringing and I saw that the caller was my younger sister, Melody. Melody was always the type of person who wanted things that didn’t belong to her, smiling while she calculated exactly how much she could take from others.
We hadn’t spoken in two months because she had borrowed money for an emergency only to post photos from a luxury resort in Cabo. I answered the call on a sudden impulse without thinking about the consequences of speaking to her.
“Sienna, please forgive me, but I just couldn’t keep this a secret any longer,” she said in a trembling voice that sounded far too rehearsed. “Garrett was going to tell you tonight, but I felt it was much better if you heard the truth directly from me.”
My blood ran cold as I gripped the phone tighter while standing in the middle of the empty foyer. “What are you talking about, Melody?” I asked with a sense of dread growing in my chest.
There was a small and cruel silence on the other end of the line before she finally spoke again. “I am pregnant, and Garrett is the father,” she whispered with a tone that suggested she was enjoying my pain.
I don’t remember breathing for several seconds after those words hit me like a physical blow. I just stared at the empty living room where the afternoon sun was streaming through the large windows.
“I don’t believe you,” I finally managed to say through my shock as I leaned against a stack of boxes. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me because he has been with me for months and he is going to take responsibility now,” she replied.
She told me that things were fine with me but that he only felt truly alive when he was with her. Then the call ended abruptly and left me standing in the silence of my supposed dream home.
Ten minutes later Garrett walked through the front door whistling while carrying a bag of paint samples for the walls. He acted as if nothing was wrong even though he had just set my entire world on fire without a second thought.
He didn’t even try to look surprised when I told him that Melody had just called me to reveal their secret. He simply set the samples down on a box and sighed deeply as if my discovery was an inconvenience to his day.
“I was planning to sit down and talk to you about this tonight,” he said with a calm that made me feel sick. “Is it really true?” I asked him while trying to keep my voice from breaking.
“Yes, it is true,” he answered without a single hint of shame or regret in his voice. I felt like I was going to faint but my anger was the only thing keeping me upright in that moment.
“How long has this been going on?” I demanded as I stepped toward him. “It has been about six months now,” he replied while rubbing the back of his neck as if I were the one being difficult.
“And you still went through with buying a house with me today?” I screamed at him in total disbelief. “Things changed, Sienna, and even though I didn’t plan for the pregnancy, I have to think about my son now,” Garrett said coldly.
I let out a broken laugh because I couldn’t believe he was calling the baby his son already. “And what was I to you besides the person who helped you save every penny for this place?” I asked.
His expression became hard and calculating as he looked around the room we had picked out together. “Don’t start with the drama because my name is on the paperwork too and Melody needs a stable home for the baby,” he stated.
It took me a moment to realize that he actually expected me to just give up the house to them. “You want to move her in here?” I asked while my heart hammered against my ribs.
“It just makes more sense for you to step aside so we can start our family in a proper environment,” he answered. He went upstairs to grab a few things and came back down with a suitcase he had apparently already packed.
He had the nerve to kiss my forehead before leaving as if he were doing something noble by abandoning me. The next two weeks were a blur of tears and silence as I stayed in my old apartment and ignored the world.
I kept my phone off to avoid going crazy until I eventually saw a post from Melody online. She was standing on the porch of the new house in a tight white dress with her hand on her stomach.
Garrett was hugging her from behind and the caption said that this was finally their new beginning. I grabbed my keys and drove to the house immediately because I realized they were actually moving in that very day.
The moving truck was already parked out front and men were carrying a cream colored sofa onto the porch. Melody was standing at the entrance wearing dark sunglasses and barking orders at the movers like she owned the place.
She didn’t even flinch when she saw me get out of my car and walk toward her with purpose. “It is good that you showed up so we can avoid any scenes later on,” she said with a smug smirk.
“Get out of my house right now,” I told her firmly while standing on the walkway. She just laughed and told me to get over it because Garrett had already made his final decision.
I tried to push past her to open the front door with the key I still carried in my pocket. I put the key in the lock but it would not turn no matter how hard I tried to force it.
