Chapter 6: The Message That Changed Everything
I read the message three times.
Not because I didn’t understand the words.
Because I wanted them to change.
I wanted my eyes to be wrong.
I wanted the screen in front of me to say something else.
Anything else.
But it didn’t.
We need to talk before Marcus finds out who the father really is.
The room felt colder.
I looked at Tasha.
She was staring at her phone like it had betrayed her too.
“What does that mean?””
Her lips parted.
No words came out.
“Tasha.””
She looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
I laughed quietly.
A painful, empty sound.
“You don’t know?””
She shook her head quickly.
“I swear, I don’t know what he means.””
I held the phone up.
“Then explain why he thinks there’s something I don’t know.””
“I can’t.””
“You can’t?””
“I mean I don’t know.””
Her voice broke.
“Marcus, I swear to you, Ethan and I never slept together.””
I stared at her.
“You already told me that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“Then why is he saying that?””
She looked at the phone again.
“I don’t know.””
I watched her face.
I hated that part of me was still searching for honesty there.
After everything.
After all the lies.
Some part of me still wanted to believe the woman I loved.
That was the cruelest thing about loving someone.
Even when they hurt you, your heart keeps looking for reasons to stay.
“Call him.””
Tasha looked up.
“What?””
“Call him.””
Her face changed.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.””
“Why?””
Silence.
“Why?””
She looked away.
And that small movement told me everything.
“You’re afraid of what he’ll say.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
I stepped closer.
“You know something.””
She shook her head.
“I don’t.””
“Then call him.””
“Marcus…”
“Call him.””
She stared at me.
For a moment, I thought she would refuse.
Then she picked up the phone.
Her fingers hovered over Ethan’s name.
She hesitated.
Then pressed call.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
My heart pounded with every ring.
Then—
“Hey.””
Ethan answered.
Casual.
Like this was a normal conversation.
Like he wasn’t the reason my marriage was falling apart.
Tasha looked at me.
Then put the phone on speaker.
“Ethan.””
A pause.
“Tasha?””
His voice changed.
“You’re okay?””
“I need to ask you something.””
Another pause.
“What happened?””
“Your message.””
Silence.
“What message?””
She looked at me.
“The one you just sent.””
A longer silence.
Then Ethan sighed.
“Did Marcus see that?””
My jaw tightened.
Tasha’s face went pale.
“Yes.””
Another silence.
“Ethan.””
“What?””
“What did you mean?””
I heard him breathe.
Then he said:
“I meant exactly what I wrote.””
My hands curled into fists.
Tasha closed her eyes.
“What are you talking about?””
“I’m talking about the fact that you need to tell him everything.””
“I told him.””
“No, you didn’t.””
The words hit the room like a slap.
Tasha looked at me.
“What does that mean?””
Ethan’s voice became quieter.
“There are things you’re still hiding.””
My stomach dropped.
I stepped toward the phone.
“Then tell me.””
Silence.
“Marcus?””
“Yes.””
I could hear his breathing.
“You’re there.””
“Yes.””
Another pause.
Then:
“I think you deserve the truth.””
Tasha grabbed the phone.
“No.””
Ethan ignored her.
“You think this baby happened because of some perfect moment between you and Tasha.””
I felt my body go still.
“But it didn’t.””
“Tasha?””
She looked terrified.
I turned to her.
“What is he talking about?””
“Marcus, I—”
“No.””
I raised my voice.
“Let him talk.””
Ethan continued.
“Tasha needs to tell you about the night she came to my apartment.””
My blood ran cold.
I looked at my wife.
“You told me nothing happened.””
Her face turned white.
“Because nothing did.””
Ethan interrupted.
“Not with me.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
My voice barely came out.
“What does that mean?””
Ethan sighed.
“It means there is someone else.””
The phone slipped from Tasha’s hand.
It hit the couch.
Nobody spoke.
Someone else.
The words repeated in my head.
Someone else.
Not Ethan.
Someone else.
I looked at Tasha.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
“Tasha.””
She didn’t answer.
“Tasha.””
A tear fell down her face.
“I can explain.””
I took a step back.
“Explain what?””
She covered her mouth.
“Marcus…”
“Who?””
She shook her head.
“I’m sorry.””
My chest tightened.
“No.””
I whispered.
“No.””
The pain changed.
The affair with Ethan had been one kind of betrayal.
This was something else.
Because I had spent the entire day believing I understood what happened.
I thought I knew the enemy.
I thought I knew the mistake.
I thought I knew the secret.
But I didn’t.
I knew nothing.
“Who is it?””
Tasha looked at the floor.
“I don’t know how to say it.””
“Try.””
She started crying.
“It was before Ethan.””
“When?””
She closed her eyes.
“Before I met him.””
“How long before?””
“Three months.””
My mind started racing.
Three months before Ethan.
Three months before she started working late.
Three months before she began pulling away.
“Who?””
She didn’t answer.
“Tasha.””
Her voice broke.
“Someone from work.””
My heart sank.
“Another coworker?””
She nodded.
“Who?””
She looked at me.
And the fear in her eyes told me this was not just another name.
This was someone I knew.
Someone close.
Then she whispered:
“Your brother.””
The world stopped.
I stared at her.
“What?””
She covered her face.
“I’m sorry.””
“My brother?””
She nodded.
“Daniel.””
I took a step backward.
“No.””
“Marcus…”
“No.””
I laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
“No, that’s impossible.””
“I didn’t want it to happen.””
“Stop.””
“I was angry and hurt and—”
“Stop.””
My voice echoed through the room.
Tasha went silent.
My brother.
Daniel.
The person who stood beside me at my wedding.
The person who gave a speech about how lucky I was.
The person who called Tasha “the sister he never had.””
My mind replayed every memory.
Every family dinner.
Every holiday.
Every time Daniel hugged my wife.
Every time he said they had a good relationship.
I felt sick.
“How long?””
Tasha whispered:
“Two months.””
“Two months?””
“Yes.””
“Two months with my brother?””
She cried.
“It ended.””
“When?””
“Before Ethan.””
I looked away.
The timeline was becoming impossible.
My wife.
My brother.
Another man.
A child.
My entire life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written.
“How did it happen?””
Tasha shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
“No.””
I looked at her.
“You do.””
She wiped her tears.
“We were both struggling.””
“With what?””
“You.””
I froze.
“Me?””
She nodded quickly.
“Not because you did anything wrong.””
“That’s not what you’re saying.””
“I’m saying we felt like we could talk to each other.””
I stared at her.
“My wife and my brother.””
She closed her eyes.
“I know.””
“You both betrayed me.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
But it also made me angrier.
Because there was no excuse left.
No misunderstanding.
No accident.
A choice.
That’s what it was.
A choice.
I walked away from her.
I needed space.
I needed air.
I needed to get away from the woman who had been the center of my world.
Then my phone rang.
I looked down.
A name appeared.
Daniel.
My brother.
Tasha saw it.
Her face changed.
“Marcus…”
I stared at the screen.
The person who had spent his entire life beside me.
The person who had broken something I never thought could break.
The phone kept ringing.
I answered.
But before I could speak, Daniel said:
“Marcus, please don’t hang up.””
My grip tightened.
“How long were you going to let me believe it was Ethan?””
Silence.
Then his voice cracked.
“Who told you?””
I closed my eyes.
Because that answer was all I needed.
He didn’t deny it.
He didn’t ask what I was talking about.
He knew.
May you like
And then Daniel said the one thing that made me realize the betrayal was deeper than I ever imagined.
“Marcus… Tasha isn’t telling you the whole truth about the baby.””