Henry’s world shattered when he saw four chilling words scrawled across his car: “Hope She Was Worth It.” His pregnant wife, Emily, is devastated, and no matter how much he swears he never cheated, doubt creeps in.
But the truth?
It’s far worse than betrayal… because someone close to him wants to tear his life apart.
I should feel relieved. But I feel heavy and betrayed.
Emily is in my arms again, sobbing into my chest, clinging to me like she’s afraid I’ll disappear. Her voice is muffled against my shirt, but I can hear her words.
“I’m sorry, Henry. I didn’t want to believe it, but I just… I didn’t know what to think.”
And I can’t blame her.
Because when you see something like that, something bold, cruel, and impossible to ignore, it plants a seed of doubt. And doubt is like rot.
It spreads, warping everything until you can’t tell what’s real anymore.
I hold my wife tighter.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault, Emily.”
But someone is to blame.And she’s standing right in front of us.
Claire shifts uncomfortably under Emily’s teary, piercing gaze. Her arms are crossed, her expression is unreadable, but I can see it in her eyes.
She regrets this.
Maybe not entirely, maybe not in the way she should, but she knows she has crossed a line.
“Tell her,” I say, my voice firm.
Claire sighs like this is an inconvenience to her, like she’s doing me a favor. Then, finally, she confesses.
She tells Emily everything.
About how she wrote the message on my car. How she wanted to drive Emily away. How she thought she was doing me a favor. Because I once said, months ago, that I was scared about becoming a father.