Lila stared at Adrian.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
"What truth?" she asked.
Adrian's mother remained silent.
The former fiancée lowered her gaze, almost as though she had been waiting for this moment.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Lila, let's go somewhere else."
"No."
Her voice was quiet, but firm.
"If there is something I need to know before marrying you, I want to hear it now."
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
He had imagined telling her countless times.
Just never like this.
His mother spoke.
"When Adrian and she ended their engagement, it wasn't because she simply left him."
Lila looked at the woman.
"What happened?"
The woman finally spoke.
"Adrian wanted to marry me."
Lila's chest tightened.
"That isn't exactly a secret."
"No," she replied. "But what he didn't tell you is that I was pregnant."
Silence.
Lila's eyes widened.
Adrian immediately shook his head.
"No."
The woman looked at him.
"You know that's not true."
Lila turned toward him.
"Adrian?"
He looked terrified.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't know?" the woman asked bitterly.
"I found out after we had already broken up."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it wasn't my child."
Lila froze.
The woman laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
Adrian's mother looked confused.
"What are you saying?"
Adrian's voice was low.
"When she told me she was pregnant, I went back to her because I thought the child was mine. I wanted to take responsibility."
He looked at Lila.
"But a test later proved I wasn't the father."
Lila's heart pounded.
"Then why did you keep seeing her?"
"I didn't."
The former fiancée stepped forward.
"You did."
"I helped you because you were struggling."
"You still cared about me."
"I cared about what happened to you."
"That's not the same thing."
Lila looked between them.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The phone calls.
The secrecy.
The hesitation.
The distance.
But there was still one question.
"Who was the father?"
The woman looked away.
Adrian answered.
"I never found out."
Lila stared at him.
"You never found out?"
"She refused to tell me."
The former fiancée's expression hardened.
"Because the truth would destroy more than just me."
Lila's stomach tightened.
"What truth?"
The woman looked directly at her.
"I didn't come back because I wanted Adrian."
She paused.
"I came back because I needed him."
Adrian frowned.
"Needed me for what?"
She smiled sadly.
"For the child."
Lila's breath caught.
"What child?"
The woman looked at Adrian.
Then back at Lila.
"My child."
She took a step closer.
"And whether you believe it or not…"
Her voice dropped.
"…that child may be yours."
Adrian went completely still.
Lila stared at him.
The room seemed to disappear around them.
And for the first time since she had met Adrian, she saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear of losing his relationship.
Something much deeper.
Something that could change all their lives.