My husband cheated on me in front of everyone. I «got revenge»! I spent the night with a homeless guy… And got pregnant… But when I went for the abortion, I froze at what I saw….

Sorry, this was a mistake. I ran out into the street without hearing his reply. John met me at home, sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea, as if nothing had happened.

He even smiled when I came in. «There’s my runaway,» he said. «Scared of the corporate? Should’ve told me, I’d have walked you out.»

I stood in the doorway and looked at this man I’d lived with for eight years. How could he talk to me so calmly when just hours ago he was kissing someone else? «John,» I started. «By the way…» he interrupted me. I was thinking.

Maybe it’s really time for us to have kids? You wanted that. The salon’s bringing in steady income now. We can afford it…

He spoke so naturally that for a second I doubted myself. Did I see what I thought I saw? Maybe it seemed that way? Maybe it wasn’t cheating, just friendly interaction that I misunderstood? «What do you think?» John asked, coming up to me. «Emily, you’re acting weird.

Everything okay?» He hugged me, and I smelled his familiar cologne mixed with someone else’s perfume. A subtle, sweet scent that definitely wasn’t mine. «Where were you last night?» I asked. «Looking for you,» he answered without blinking.

Then I went home, thought you’d be here already. And where were you? A lie. The boldest, most cynical lie.

And he didn’t even try to make it believable. The next three weeks passed in some strange game. John played the perfect husband.

Bought flowers, suggested romantic dinners, talked about our future. And I pretended to believe him, trying to forget that night with Arthur. But forgetting didn’t work.

Not because I fell in love with the stranger. No, it was just a mistake, a moment of weakness. But now there was a secret between me and John, growing heavier each day.

I tried to get back to normal life. Worked at the salon, met with friends, went to movies with John. But inside, anxiety grew, like I was standing on the edge of a cliff and knew I’d fall sooner or later.

And I fell that morning when I woke up nauseous and realized I had a delay. Ten days late. I bought the test at a pharmacy on the other side of the city, as if someone might recognize me and tell John.

Two lines appeared right away, bright and clear. I sat in the bathroom on the closed toilet lid, staring at those lines. A baby? From whom? John and I had made love that same week I was with Arthur.

Mathematically, either could be the father, but by the dates… By the dates, there was more chance it was from the stranger and that night. I hid the test in my makeup bag and went out to John, who was having breakfast, reading news on his phone. «How’s it going, sunshine?» he asked, not looking up from the screen.

«Fine,» I answered. And that was my first lie in our new life, which had already begun. For two weeks, I carried this secret like a time bomb. Every morning I woke up thinking.

Today I’ll tell John. Every evening I went to bed without saying anything. I tried to convince myself the baby was from my husband…