Chapter 1
The examination room felt smaller than usual. White walls. Sterile smell. Afternoon sunlight filtering through venetian blinds onto the examination table.
I sat there fidgeting with my engagement ring. Spinning it around my finger over and over.
Just a routine check-up. Nothing to worry about.
Dr. Wilson knocked and entered. That professional smile she always wore. Clipboard in hand. Her expression was serious but warm.
"Madison, congratulations. You're pregnant, about 6 weeks along."
The words hit me like a physical blow. The room tilted.
What? What did she just say? My hands started shaking.
"That's impossible." My voice came out as a whisper. "I've never... I mean, I'm still a virgin."
Six weeks? That can't be right.
The engagement ring felt like it was burning my finger.
Dr. Wilson's eyebrows raised slightly. "The test results are quite clear. Perhaps you should discuss this with your partner."
The clipboard slipped from my numb fingers. Clattered to the floor.
This isn't happening. This can't be happening.
"There must be a mistake," I said. But the test results stared back at me. Black and white. Undeniable.
How? How was this possible?
Campus looked different somehow. The same stone pathways. The same maple trees dropping golden leaves. Students scattered across the quad with books and laptops.
But everything felt foreign now.
I walked aimlessly. Clutching the test results like evidence of a crime I didn't remember committing.
Five years with Connor. Five years of holding hands, stolen kisses, but never...
My memory played back our conversations. Connor's respectful smile. "I respect your choice, Maddie. We'll wait until we're married."
Connor told me he's infertile. Some childhood illness damaged his... he said we'd need fertility treatments when we're ready for kids. That's why he was so understanding about waiting.
I found myself at the library and sat on the wooden bench outside where we'd had our first real conversation sophomore year.
Our engagement party is next month. How do I tell him I'm pregnant when we've never even slept together?
Students walked by laughing. Normal people with normal problems. Not impossible pregnancies that defied biology.
"He's going to think I cheated," I whispered to the empty air. "He'll cancel everything."
Five years down the drain. Our whole future destroyed.
The ring on my finger felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
The coffee shop downstairs from the fraternity house buzzed with evening energy. Warm yellow lighting. Students hunched over laptops. The smell of espresso and conversation.
I'd texted Connor to meet me here. Needed to see his face. Test his reaction without revealing the truth.
He slid into the booth across from me. That familiar smile that had captured my heart freshman year.
"Hey, babe. You sounded upset in your text."
Should I tell him? How do I even start?
"Just stressed about finals," I said instead. "And our engagement party next month."
Connor reached across the table. Took my hand in his warm, familiar grip. "You've been looking tired lately, Maddie. Maybe you should see a doctor?"
A doctor? Why was he suggesting that?
Something in his tone made me pause. Too casual. Too prepared. Like he'd been thinking about this conversation before I'd even brought it up.
"I'm fine," I said carefully, watching his face. "Just the usual college stress."
"You sure?" He squeezed my hand. "You've seemed... different. Distracted. And you barely touched your dinner last night."
"Don't worry about the party," he continued. "Everything's already arranged. The venue, the catering, the guest list. Just focus on taking care of yourself."
I studied his face more carefully.
"Maybe you're right," I said slowly, testing the waters. "About seeing a doctor."
His smile widened just a fraction. Relief? Satisfaction? "Good. I just want you healthy and happy, Maddie. You're the most important thing in my world."
But something felt wrong. Something in the way his eyes didn't quite meet mine when he said it.
My dorm room felt like a prison cell after the warm coffee shop. Ashley was already asleep in the next bed. Soft breathing in the darkness.
I lay staring at the ceiling. Moonlight painted patterns through the curtains.
There has to be an explanation. People don't just get pregnant from thin air.
My mind raced through the past few months. All those fraternity parties. The loud music. The drinks Connor would bring me.
I always felt so dizzy afterward. Foggy. Like I was swimming through molasses.
But Connor was always there. Always watching out for me. Always making sure I got back to the room safely.
The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. How protective he'd been at those parties. How he'd hover nearby whenever I had a drink. How he'd appear out of nowhere when some other guy tried to talk to me.
"She's had enough," he'd say with that charming smile. "Let me get her home."
Those missing hours. Those gaps in my memory where I'd wake up the next morning in my own bed, still in my party clothes, with no memory of how I'd gotten there.
I sat up in bed, my heart pounding.
What if Connor knows exactly what happened? What if he's been lying to me this whole time?
The test results lay on my nightstand. Proof of something I couldn't remember. Something that shouldn't have been possible.
"I need to find out what really happened," I whispered into the darkness. "Before I lose everything."
Tomorrow, I start investigating. Tomorrow, I find the truth.
Even if it destroys everything I thought I knew about my life.
The engagement ring caught the moonlight through the curtains. A symbol of promises and trust and a future that suddenly felt built on quicksand.
But what if it's all been a lie? What if the last five years have been one long con game, and I've been too blind to see it?