Page 2 of Not Because You Loved Me

I had never experienced the feeling of being sucker-punched, but I imagined it felt exactly like Trent’s vicious words delivered to my heart.

“Fuck you, Trent!”

The words tore out of my throat before I could stop them. I wrenched myself back, putting distance between us.

“I am not pregnant, I have never been pregnant, and fuck you for even suggesting I cheated on you!”

“I saw the test!” he roared, clenching and unclenching his fists. “That's the whole reason I asked you to marry me!”

The world went entirely still. Like all the air had been sucked out of the room, and what was left was a deafening silence. The chest pain returned, striking so hard and deep it felt like a torn intercostal muscle, cutting off my breath. All those months. All the sweet gestures. The sudden desperation in his eyes when he slid the ring onto my finger. I had convinced myself he had fallen hopelessly in love with me, that he was showing it through actions rather than words.

I stared at him, my voice barely a whisper. “What did you just say?”

His father called his name, but Trent ignored him, his jaw set in stubborn rage. “I thought I was doing the right thing. Stepping up. I proposed because you were carrying my child.”

A ragged sob clawed its way up my throat. I couldn't look at his parents. I couldn't look at Gideon. They were his family. The people I thought were becoming my family.

“I thought you proposed because you loved me,” I whispered.

The anger in Trent’s eyes flickered for a fraction of a second. He blinked, looking like himself again. But he didn't say a word. He didn't deny it.

ohhhh

I wiped a rogue tear from my cheek, a harsh laugh escaping me as the pieces crashed into place.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” I looked at him, really looked at him, through a lens stripped clean of every delusion. “You never fell in love with me. You were attentive because you thought I was carrying your baby... You proposed out of obligation. Not because you loved me.”

Trent’s voice lost its aggression, softening into quiet desperation. “I saw the test, Katerina. Just confess.”

I scanned the room. Shock and pity stared back at me from every familiar face, while extended family members tried their best to look away.

“I don’t know how a test ended up in my bathroom, but it wasn’t mine,” I said, looking Trent dead in the eyes. “If I were pregnant, I would have told you. I never cheated. And when I eventually have a family with the right man, I know I'll be a wonderful mother.”

Trent flinched as if struck. I watched the truth sink into his expression, layer by painful layer. The moment his mouth opened to speak, I turned my back.

I gathered my coat and bag, my movements sharp and methodical. Voices called after me, but I tuned them out. Putting on my boots felt like an impossible task with my hands shaking and desperately trying to keep myself together.

After I finished dressing, I walked back through the living room and found Gideon physically holding a pale, shaken Trent back. Cynthia, Trent’s mother, was crying quietly.

“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Prescott,” I said, keeping my voice steady through sheer willpower. “I’m leaving. Happy New Year.”

“Kat, wait… please!” Trent panicked, straining against his brother.

I offered one final, solemn look.

“Goodbye, Trent.”

I walked out into the freezing night air. Behind me, something heavy crashed against the inside of the door, but I didn't stop. I didn’t let my car warm up; I had to get out of there because I didn't think I could take much more.

I made it all the way home, ignoring the violent buzzing of my phone in the cup holder. It wasn't until I pulled into my driveway, staring at the flashing New Year's notifications lighting up my screen, that I finally collapsed against the steering wheel and let myself break.

CHAPTER 1

Trent

Three months earlier — September 30

I ran back up the steps to Katerina’s place, wondering, not for the first time, if I should have given her a longer kiss goodbye.