Chapter 75 Seventy Five
Sofia didn’t go to Priscilla’s office immediately.
Instead, she stepped outside, pulling out her phone and inhaling deeply as the city noise washed over her.
Seven years.
Less than a year.
Pregnancy.
Engaged.
Baby shower.
Her mind replayed the baby shower scene with new clarity—the tension, Antonia’s unease.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Sofia’s fingers tightened around her phone.
There was a missing piece.
And she was going to find it.
Because no woman behaved that way unless she was hiding something.
And no man reacted like Kennedy had… unless the past was far from finished.
Sofia lifted her chin, resolve hardening inside her.
Kennedy might have left the city.
But she was still here.
And she intended to uncover the truth.
Whatever it was.
\----
Lunch was supposed to be simple.
That was what Antonia had told herself when she and Lucy settled into their usual corner table at the small café two streets away from the apartment. The place smelled of toasted bread and warm spices, sunlight spilling through the wide glass windows, catching dust motes in the air. It was familiar. Safe.
Normal.
For the first time in days, Antonia felt almost like herself again.
Lucy was mid-story, gesturing animatedly with her fork. “—and then she had the audacity to tell him he was overreacting, like she hadn’t just double-booked his birthday dinner with a networking event.”
Antonia laughed softly, genuinely this time. “No way.”
“Yes way,” Lucy insisted. “Men are emotional creatures too. Society just pretends they’re not.”
Antonia shook her head, smiling as she lifted her glass of juice. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet you love me,” Lucy replied smugly.
Antonia opened her mouth to respond...
Beep.
The sound came from her phone.
Sharp. Sudden.
Her smile faltered.
She glanced down reflexively, expecting maybe a message from Austin, or Helen checking in again, or a notification she could safely ignore.
Instead, her screen lit up with a number she didn’t recognize.
Unknown sender.
Her chest tightened instantly.
Lucy noticed the change in her expression. “Everything okay?”
Antonia didn’t answer.
She stared at the screen, her thumb hovering uncertainly over the message notification. Something cold slid down her spine, an instinctive dread she had learned not to dismiss anymore.
Slowly, she tapped it open.
The words stared back at her.
"Kennedy told me about your bathroom encounter.
I also spoke to your fiancé. The timeline of when you both met and your pregnancy is off.
I am going to find out what you’re hiding."
The world tilted.
Antonia’s breath left her lungs in a sharp, painful rush.
Her vision blurred, the café suddenly too bright, too loud, too close. The chatter around her melted into a distant roar, like water rushing in her ears.
“No,” she whispered.
Lucy leaned forward immediately. “Antonia?”
Antonia’s fingers began to tremble violently. Her phone slipped from her grasp, clattering onto the table between them.
Lucy’s eyes dropped to the screen.
She read the message once.
Then again.
Her face went pale.
“Oh my God,” Lucy breathed.
Antonia’s chest seized painfully. She pressed a hand to her sternum, trying desperately to draw in air, but her breaths came shallow and uneven.
“I—Lucy, I think I’m going to faint,” she whispered.
Lucy was on her feet in an instant, rushing to her side. “Okay, okay. Hey. Look at me.”
She cupped Antonia’s face gently, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Breathe with me. In… out. Slowly.”
Antonia tried.
Her heart hammered wildly, each beat echoing with the words from the message.
The timeline is off.
I’m going to find out what you’re hiding.
“I knew it,” Antonia gasped. “I knew this would happen.”
Lucy grabbed her water and pressed it into her hands. “Drink. Small sips.”
Antonia obeyed mechanically, her hands shaking so badly that Lucy had to steady the glass.
“Who is it?” Lucy asked softly, though her eyes already held the answer.
Antonia swallowed hard. “Sofia.”
Lucy’s jaw tightened. “Kennedy’s girlfriend.”
“Yes,” Antonia whispered. “She knows. Or at least she suspects.”
Lucy exhaled slowly through her nose. “Damn it.”
Antonia closed her eyes, her mind spiraling. Images collided violently—Kennedy standing inches from her in the hallway, Sofia’s arm linked through his at the baby shower, Austin’s ultimatum, Priscilla’s warmth and pride.
All of it was unraveling.
“She spoke to Austin,” Antonia said, her voice barely audible. “Lucy… she spoke to Austin.”
Lucy’s eyes darkened. “That’s how she figured it out.”
Antonia nodded weakly. “The timeline. He told her too much.”
Her stomach churned violently.
“How long do you think you have?” Lucy asked quietly.
Antonia laughed weakly, a sound bordering on hysteria. “Before she finds out? Or before everything explodes?”
Lucy didn’t smile.
“Both.”
Antonia pressed her hand to her belly instinctively, panic flooding her veins. The baby shifted slightly, a small movement that grounded her even as fear clawed at her throat.
“She’s going to dig,” Antonia said. “She won’t stop.”
Lucy nodded. “She won’t.”
Antonia’s eyes filled with tears. “And when she finds out… she won’t come to me. She’ll go straight to Kennedy. Or Priscilla.”
Lucy’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Or both.”
The thought nearly broke her.
Priscilla’s face flashed in her mind—her kindness, her unwavering support, the way she had hosted the baby shower with such pride, unaware she was celebrating her own grandchild.
“I can’t let her hear it from someone else,” Antonia whispered, her voice cracking. “I can’t let it come out like that.”
Lucy reached across the table, gripping her hand firmly. “Then don’t.”
Antonia looked up at her, eyes wide and glassy. “What do you mean?”
Lucy held her gaze steadily. “You tell them first.”
Antonia shook her head frantically. “I can’t. Lucy, I can’t. You don’t understand what that would do.”
“I do,” Lucy said gently. “I understand exactly what it will do.”
Antonia’s tears spilled freely now. “It will destroy everything.”
Lucy leaned forward. “Antonia… someone else telling your story will destroy it worse.”
Antonia sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking. “I was trying to protect everyone.”
Lucy softened. “I know.”
“I didn’t want Kennedy to feel trapped,” Antonia continued through tears. “I didn’t want Austin to lose his job. I didn’t want Priscilla to be disappointed in me.”
“And in the process,” Lucy said softly, “you disappeared.”
Antonia’s breathing hitched.
Lucy squeezed her hand. “You’ve been living in survival mode for months. Every decision you make is about damage control. That’s not living.”
Antonia wiped at her cheeks with trembling fingers. “What if they hate me?”
Lucy didn’t answer immediately.
“They might,” Lucy added, “they’ll hate the lie more than the truth. And they’ll hate the fact that someone else exposed it most of all.”
Antonia’s phone buzzed again.
She flinched violently.
Lucy glanced at the screen.
Another unknown message.
Lucy turned the phone face down without reading it. “You don’t need to see that right now.”
Antonia’s hands clenched into fists. “She’s already moving.”
“Yes,” Lucy agreed. “Which means your time to control the narrative is shrinking.”
Antonia slumped back in her chair, exhausted. “I don't feel so good, Lucy.” She said, resting her hand on her belly.
Lucy leaned closer. “I'll take you to the hospital.”