Chapter 5
I tried to shake the conversation off, but Lucien’s words stayed with me. It’s not my child.
Could Carla really have lied about something so serious? After everything she’d already done?
I didn’t want to care. I didn’t want to feel anything. But somewhere deep down, the tiniest flicker of curiosity burned. Not for him—no. But for the truth. After all, I had built my entire heartbreak on what I thought I saw. What if it wasn’t the whole picture?
Still, I told myself not to get involved again. I had already clawed my way out of that hole once—I wasn’t going to fall back in.
But the universe had other plans.
A few days later, Carla showed up at my workplace.
She wore designer clothes and oversized sunglasses, as if she were trying too hard to look like she belonged in Lucien’s world. But I could still see the same girl who used to cry about overdue rent and cling to me like a lifeline.
She waited for me outside, blocking the exit.
“Can we talk?” she said.
“No,” I said flatly.
She stepped closer. “Please, Aurora. Just five minutes.”
I didn’t want to hear her voice. I didn’t want to see her face. But part of me needed answers. I sighed and gestured toward the café across the street.
We sat in silence for a while. She looked nervous. Her fingers fidgeted with her ring, and she kept glancing around like someone would spot her.
“You hate me,” she began, looking down. “And I deserve it.”
I stayed silent.
She swallowed. “Lucien doesn’t know the truth. About the baby.”
I stared at her, waiting.
She let out a breath. “I’m not pregnant. I just… I told him I was, hoping he’d finally look at me the way he used to look at you.”
I laughed bitterly. “He never looked at me the way I wanted. Don’t romanticize what you stole.”
“I didn’t plan to take him from you, Aurora. At first, I just envied your life. You were always so… put together. You had love, family, everything. I was just the poor friend tagging along.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You were my friend. And you stabbed me in the back.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I know. And I regret it. But Lucien doesn’t love me. He never did. He said he couldn’t forget you, no matter how hard he tried.”
I wanted to scream. Cry. Throw my coffee in her face. But I just sat there, numb.
“You didn’t just ruin my marriage,” I said quietly. “You broke something inside me.”
She looked crushed. “I’m sorry.”
I stood up. “Keep your sorry. I hope you find peace, Carla. But stay away from me.”
As I walked away, I didn’t look back. Not even once.
That night, I sat in my apartment and tried to untangle the mess inside my mind. If Carla had really lied about the pregnancy, then Lucien wasn’t the father. But that didn’t erase the way he had treated me. The distance. The coldness. The abandonment.
Just because he hadn’t cheated didn’t mean he had loved me.
Love doesn’t disappear just because someone says sorry. It doesn’t fix three years of silence with one truth.
My phone buzzed again.
Lucien.
[Can we meet? One last time.]
I stared at the message.
This time, my heart was quiet. Calm. I wasn’t racing toward him anymore. I wasn’t hoping.
I typed back:
[Tomorrow. Noon. You know where.]
I was finally ready to end this. On my terms.