Marina’s blood ran cold. She couldn’t speak. The shock of the slap had left her dazed, but now his words hit her harder than the blow.
“Evan, what are you talking about?” she finally managed to say. “I haven’t cheated on you. I would never do that.”
He laughed, but it wasn’t a laugh. It was a sound of brokenness, of something fractured deep inside him.
“You can’t be pregnant with my baby, Marina,” he said, his voice low and seething. “I had a vasectomy four years ago. I can’t have children.”
Her world seemed to tilt as she processed his words. A vasectomy? Four years ago?
She had spent two years in the emotional turmoil of negative tests, convinced something was wrong with her. But now… now it seemed as if it had all been for nothing. All this time, Evan had been hiding something from her.
Her mind raced as Evan continued to accuse her of infidelity, his words growing more vicious with every passing moment. The room stood frozen in shock. Her parents were silent, tears streaming down her mother’s face. Evan’s parents looked as if they were witnessing a nightmare.
And then Jeff, Evan’s younger brother, stepped forward. He kneeled beside Marina, brushing the crystals off her dress as he helped her up. His face was pale with shock as he looked at his brother.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jeff demanded, his voice trembling with anger. “You just hit your pregnant wife in front of everyone.”
Evan didn’t respond. He was pacing now, his hands running through his hair. “For two years, I let you make me feel guilty for not giving you a baby,” he shouted. “And now you’re standing here, pretending like nothing’s wrong. How long has this been going on? Who’s the father?”
Marina’s heart shattered as she stood there, feeling more alone than ever. Her mind raced, but there were no answers. There was nothing but Evan’s accusations and her parents’ disappointed, shocked faces. She didn’t know how to defend herself, not when Evan was so convinced of her guilt.
“I need a paternity test,” she said, her voice trembling but resolute. “We’ll get it in a week. We’ll get the truth.”
But in those seven days, everything changed. Evan withdrew into himself, locking himself away in the guest room. The house felt emptier with each passing day. Marina’s family, once her support system, turned against her. They all believed Evan’s accusations. Her mother, her sister, even her friends—everyone thought she was guilty. Everyone except Jeff.
