The Weight of Broken Promises

Seven years into their marriage, Bella got hit with a truth—Steven had a kid. A six-year-old.

She crouched behind the preschool slide, barely breathing, as Steven bent down to scoop the boy up.

"Daddy, you haven't come to see me in forever."

"Be good, Ollie. Work's been crazy. Listen to your mom, alright?"

Bella froze.

Same face. Same eyes. It was obvious.

Everything about them screamed it—The man who swore he'd love her forever had been cheating on her this whole time.

Steven and Bella weren't just a couple. They were childhood sweethearts.

She once took a knife for him. Nearly died. Lost their baby. Lost the chance to ever have one again.

Steven had held her hand back then, eyes red, saying, "I don't care if we never have kids. As long as I have you, that's enough."

She still heard the shake in his voice.

Now?

Every promise. Every memory. All of it—gone.

Bella Beaufort stumbled back, heart cracking in a thousand pieces.

She couldn't look. Couldn't move. One more second and she'd snap—either scream at him or break down right there in the dirt.

She turned and ran.

At the preschool gate, her bestie—Heidi—was already out of the car the second she saw Bella's face.

"Bella, what happened? Nico said you went back for something—what's going on?"

Nico was Heidi's son. She'd dragged Bella along for the parent-teacher thing.

Bella looked like she'd seen a ghost. Tears blurred her vision.

"I need you to look someone up."

"Who?"

"Steven." Her voice cracked. "He has a son."

***

[Babe, I won't be back for another week. Did you miss me?]

Bella stared at Steven's text as tears slipped down.

Every July, he disappeared for two weeks. Said it was business overseas.

Six years, she never questioned it.

Now? The truth hit like a slap to the face.

He wasn't working. He was with them—his lover and their kid.

If she hadn't gone back for Nico's jacket, she'd still be clueless.

Rain slammed against the windows. Thunder shook the walls. Lightning lit her pale face in the glass.

She flipped through the photos in her hand, shredding herself with them.

Maybe she should've seen it coming.

The Roccas were old-school. They'd never let someone who couldn't have kids into the family.

Unless... this was the plan all along.

And Steven? The guy who swore he'd love her forever?

Where did he fit into that lie?

Her chest ached.

She and Steven had been inseparable since they were kids. Everyone said they were endgame.

At eight, she fell out of a tree. He jumped under her, broke his arm, and still grinned through the pain.

At twelve, she got her first period and ruined her skirt. He noticed and panicked, though he had long known what this was all about.

At eighteen, he risked his life in an illegal race just to win her a ring and propose.

He'd told her, "Bella, I'll love you forever."

That kind of love