ANNA’S POV

My heart was shattered. I desperately needed a shoulder to cry on. I’d tried ringing Clara earlier, but the call went straight to voicemail. Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I dug the phone out of my pocket for round two. It rang once… twice… three times. No answer.

As if the universe wanted to kick me while I was down, the skies opened up.

The rain lashed down. I sat on the concrete outside my parents’ house, soaked to the bone, shivering as the downpour plastered my dress to my skin. Raindrops blurred with my tears until I couldn’t tell them apart.

I felt completely hollow.

James had stabbed me in the back. Melissa threw me under the bus. My mother kicked me to the curb. Even my sister was gloating over my misery.

I stared at the blurry screen. Maybe James would pick up. Maybe he still gave a damn, or maybe this was just a sick joke or some massive misunderstanding.

With trembling fingers, I dialed his number and held my breath.

It rang out. I tried again. Once, twice... and then a click.

“James,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

Silence hung on the line before a harsh voice spoke. “Who is this?”

My stomach tied in knots. I would know that voice anywhere, but it held zero warmth.

“It’s me, Anna,” I murmured. “Please… we need to talk.”

Click. The line went dead.

My heart ripped wide open. I stared at the phone until the screen went black. The pathetic reflection staring back at me was a stranger. I was a broken woman, sold out by the people I loved most.

But I couldn’t throw in the towel. Not yet.

If I cornered him face-to-face... if he knew about the baby, he couldn't just walk away. He had promised me a ring. He couldn't deadbeat his own flesh and blood.

A glimmer of hope pushed me to my feet. My knees wobbled.

The cab ride felt endless. My palms sweat bullets, my stomach churning. When the car finally pulled up to his gate, I froze. A guard stood watch. James had muscle on the payroll? Since when?

I marched up, clutching my bag. "Open the gate. I need to see James."

The guard looked me up and down like I was trash. “Miss, no strangers allowed.”

“Please,” I croaked. “Tell James I’m here. He knows me.”

He didn’t budge. “I can’t let anyone in without clearance.”

“I’m his fiancée!” I blurted, the word tasting like ash in my mouth. “Just tell him Anna is here. Please.”

Before the guard could argue, the gate swung open. Catching him off guard, I shoved past him and bolted inside.

That's when I spotted him. James.

And right on his arm... Melissa.

My heart flatlined. I couldn’t draw a breath. So this wasn't some twisted nightmare.

Melissa. My ride-or-die since college.

She stood there, her hand wrapped around his bicep, her head resting on his shoulder like they were soulmates. For all I knew, maybe they had been all along.

James locked eyes with me. His gaze was dead. “What are you doing here?”

I took a shaky step. “James, we need to talk. Just listen.”

He scowled. “Spit it out and get lost.”

I swallowed hard. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence was deafening.

Then Melissa’s laughter shattered the quiet.

“Oh, give it a rest, Anna. Save the soap opera.” She sneered at my soaked clothes. “You look like a drowned rat. Who would buy a sob story like that?”

I turned to face her, voice cracking. “Melissa… how could you? You knew everything. You knew how much I loved him.”

She tilted her head, faking sympathy. “Loved, Anna. Past tense. If you weren’t so thick, you’d have realized you were never enough for him.”

James kept his mouth shut. He just stood by, letting her drag my name through the mud.

“James,” I pleaded, tears mixing with the rain. “You know it’s your baby. We gave each other five years. You promised me a future.”

He barked a cruel laugh. “I said a lot of things. Talk is cheap.”

Melissa stroked his chest. “You see, Anna, some of us actually know how to keep a man satisfied.”

Her words hit like a sledgehammer. My knees buckled, but I forced myself to stand tall. “You were my best friend,” I trembled. “You knew everything about us. And you still…”

“I still what?” she smirked. “Took what you couldn’t hold onto? Don’t play the victim, Anna. You always thought the sun shined out of your ass. Newsflash: it doesn't.”

James’s face was stone. “You heard the lady. Scram. You don’t belong here.”

“I’m carrying your baby!” I shrieked, clutching my stomach.

He scoffed, glancing at Melissa. “Maybe you should pin it on one of your side pieces. Because that kid isn’t mine.”

Something inside me snapped. I lunged forward. “James, please! You know I’d never cheat!”

“Enough!” he roared. “You are dead to me. The only woman fit to wear my ring and bear my children is standing right here.”

He shot a glare at the guard. “If this trash ever shows up again, toss her out.”

“James, please!” I dropped to my knees, begging in the mud as I clawed at his pants. “Don’t do this to us. Don’t abandon our baby!”

Melissa chuckled. “Look at yourself, Anna. Pathetic.”

James shoved me hard. I hit the pavement. A blinding pain ripped through my abdomen, tearing a gasp from my lungs.

Then came the heat. A wet warmth pooled between my legs.

Blood.

I froze, pressing trembling hands against my belly. “No… no, God, no…”

Melissa recoiled in disgust. “She’s bleeding all over the driveway.”

James didn't even blink. “Take out the trash.”

The guard seized my arms, dragging me across the concrete.

I screamed and thrashed, but he hurled me into the street and slammed the iron gate shut with a heavy clang.

I curled into a ball, clutching my stomach as the blood soaked my thighs. My breaths came in ragged gasps. The world spun, tilting into darkness. I closed my eyes. This was it. This was how I died.

But through the haze, tires screeched.

A luxury sedan slammed on the brakes. The door flew open, and a wealthy woman bolted out.

She sprinted toward me, her heels clicking frantically against the pavement before she dropped to her knees in the mud.

Her face went pale, her eyes wide with sheer terror. And eerily, she looked exactly like me—just an older version.

She cupped my cheek with trembling hands.

“My daughter!” she wailed, her voice cracking. “Oh my God, my daughter!”

The word echoed in my fading consciousness.

Daughter?