Chapter 2
The phone kept ringing until the nurse came in.
She looked at the screen.
Then at my face.
“Do you want me to silence that for you?”
“Yes, please.”
Her name was Denise.
She had kind eyes and the voice of a woman who had seen too much and still chose gentleness.
She tapped the button.
The room finally went quiet.
Liam settled against me.
I thought that would be the end of it.
I was wrong.
Ten minutes later, my phone lit up with messages.
Ryan: Answer me.
Ryan: Is this a joke?
Ryan: Sarah, whose baby is that?
Ryan: You better not be lying.
Ryan: I’m leaving the reception for five minutes. Pick up.
I did not answer.
Then came another number.
Unknown.
I ignored it.
Then another.
Tiffany.
I stared at her name.
I had never saved it, but I knew the number.
She had called me once, months ago, just to tell me Ryan had chosen “the better woman.”
Now she was calling from her own wedding reception.
I let it ring.
Then she texted.
Tiffany: You disgusting liar. Ryan says you’re claiming the baby is his.
Another message followed.
Tiffany: If you think you can ruin my wedding, you picked the wrong family.
I almost laughed.
She thought this was about her wedding.
My son was asleep on my chest, one hour old, and Tiffany believed the tragedy was her centerpiece.
The door opened.
My sister Maya rushed in carrying a hospital bag, flowers, and the wild expression of someone who had driven too fast.
“I got here as fast as I could.”
She froze when she saw Liam.
Her eyes filled instantly.
“Oh my God.”
I smiled.
“Meet your nephew.”
Maya dropped the flowers on the chair and came to the bed.
“He’s beautiful.”
“He is.”
She touched his tiny foot.
Then she saw my phone lighting up again.
Her face hardened.
“Is that him?”
“Yes.”
“You told him?”
“By accident.”
Maya blinked.
“How do you accidentally tell a man he became a father?”
“He called from his wedding to ask me to beg.”
Maya’s mouth fell open.
Then anger slowly took over her face.
“I’m going to that reception.”
“No.”
“I’ll wear sweatpants. I don’t care.”
“Maya.”
She stopped.
“I don’t want chaos around Liam.”
She looked at the baby.
Her whole body softened.
“Okay.”
But chaos had already left the wedding and started driving toward the hospital.
At 7:42 p.m., Ryan sent one message that made my blood run cold.
Ryan: I’m coming there.
I sat up too fast.
Pain shot through me.
Denise hurried in when the monitor beeped.
“Easy, honey.”
“He’s coming.”
“Who?”
“My ex.”
Maya took the phone from my hand.
Her eyes scanned the messages.
Then she walked to the door and spoke to the nurse in the hall.
Within minutes, hospital security was notified.
My room was marked restricted.
No visitors without my approval.
Denise looked at me.
“You and your baby are safe here.”
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But Ryan had always hated being told no.
An hour later, shouting erupted near the maternity ward doors.
A man’s voice.
Ryan’s voice.
“That’s my kid in there!”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Liam startled awake and began to cry.
I held him tight.
Maya stepped between my bed and the door.
“No one gets in,” she said.
Through the wall, I heard Ryan yelling at security.
Then another voice.
Female.
Sharp.
Humiliated.
Tiffany.
“She is lying! She is trying to trap him!”
The hallway filled with footsteps.
Denise closed my door.
I stared at the wood, shaking.
I had imagined telling Ryan someday.
Maybe calmly.
Maybe through a lawyer.
Not like this.
Not with him pounding on a hospital door in his wedding tux.
Then everything went quiet.
Too quiet.
A soft knock came.
Denise opened the door a few inches.
A security guard stood outside.
“Ms. Carter,” he said.
“There’s someone here asking to see you.”
“I said no visitors.”
“It’s not Ryan.”
My chest tightened.
“Who is it?”
May you like
The guard hesitated.
“His mother.”
