You clutched the test results in trembling hands, your heart thundering in your chest. Two lines. You were carrying his child.

You didn’t even wait a second. You ran—heart full, tears burning with joy—as you told him.

“Evan,” you breathed, the words almost trembling out of you. “I’m pregnant.”

For a second, time stopped. Then his face broke into that smile—the one that made the world feel safe. He pulled you into his arms, laughing, kissing your forehead. “We’re going to be parents,” he whispered, voice shaking with happiness.

You thought that was it. That love was enough.

Until his mother found out.

She didn’t even let you sit. Her voice was sharp, like the click of her heels on marble floors. “You’ll take the money,” she said, sliding the envelope across the table. “Ten million. Leave my son and get rid of that child.”

You stared at her, the world spinning, your stomach twisting with nausea that wasn’t just morning sickness anymore.

“Abort?” you whispered. “You’re asking me to—”

“I’m telling you,” she cut in coldly. “Evan has a future. You don’t.”

You wanted to fight back, to scream, to tell her that love wasn’t a transaction. But when you looked at Evan, he couldn’t even meet your eyes. His silence said everything.

The tears came silently as you placed a hand over your belly. Inside you was something pure—something that didn’t deserve to be bargained for.