Chapter 1: The Mistake

One wild night, one stupid mistake—and now I’m pregnant with my stepbrother’s baby. How the hell did I end up here?

I kept replaying that dinner from the other night, the one where Mom and Dad leaned across the table and urged Chase to settle down. He just shrugged and said, "I already have someone I like."

My mind went blank. That’s it—I’ve become the other woman. I stared at my plate, the words echoing in my skull. I wasn’t the main character in this story—I was the problem.

I spent all night applying for grad school overseas, plotting to get an abortion and disappear before anyone could find out.

Sitting outside the clinic, waiting for my number, my hands trembled in my lap. My knee bounced uncontrollably. Every time the nurse called a new number, my stomach twisted tighter.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist.

My stepbrother stood over me, his eyes a mix of anger and desperation. "Do you really hate me that much?"

He didn’t wait for an answer. "You’d rather just get rid of the baby and disappear than talk to me? Is that really how little I matter to you?"

It was one of those cold, gray Chicago mornings that pressed down on your chest, muting the city’s noise until the world felt impossibly far away. The fluorescent clinic lights flickered, casting harsh shadows on the linoleum. I never thought my life would get so tangled—especially not with the person who used to watch Saturday morning cartoons with me on our battered old couch.