Brianna:

"Tessa sent me a picture of her ultrasound."

"And?"

"And. Tessa wasn't lying," I hissed.

Nick coughed and choked, shook his head in disbelief, and was looking more confused than ever. "That's impossible! Very fucking impossible. Before you and I met, we hadn't had sex in months!" He yelled, with the angriest look on his face I had ever seen. "If that's the case, then she was fucking fooling around too. Because I swear to God Brianna, that is or was not my child!"

"So what you're telling me is, you were married to Tessa, and you never had sex with your wife. Got it..." I mocked. How in the hell can you be married to someone and not have sex with them? Not even to relieve what needs to be relieved?

"I'm telling you the truth, Brianna. I never wanted to have sex with her because I was not in love with her! And I tried avoiding her at all costs. For months, I avoided her!"

I looked back at my phone and tilted my head to the side as I studied the picture once again.

"I understand you're having a hard time believing anything I'm telling you when it comes to Tessa. Given the circumstances, as I hid being married. But damn it, Brianna! I'm telling you the fucking truth! And I wish to God that you will finally believe me! How in the hell can we move on with our lives if you can't even fucking believe me?"

Nick looked at me, shaking his head, then turned and walked into the living room. He stopped walking, rested his hands on his hips, then stared at whatever he was staring at. He looked down to his feet, then quietly said. "I need you to believe me, Brianna. And I don't want to fight with you about this anymore. Yes, I fucked up by having an affair with you, but I never fucking slept with Tessa. Tessa and I only had sex within our first year of marriage. Even then, I felt ashamed of having sex with her, and she was my damn wife."

"You told me she had you in her mouth, that it happened right before I found out about you. You didn't have sex with her then?"

His head waved. "No. And what I said to you before is what happened. And that is until she tried, and I immediately shoved her off. Nothing ever fucking happened that night. I swear. Let's just say something did happen that day. The fact is, she was supposedly already pregnant. And I'm going to repeat it. That's not my child," he insisted as he turned around and faced me. "This is just another attempt of her trying to break us up."

I sighed—Nick's right. There's no way our relationship will ever work if I can't ever believe anything he says. However, that is his fault for me not trusting him. But I must look past the past and look to our future. He has told me time after time that he would not do what he did to Tessa, and I have to believe him. He's tried so hard to prove to me that I am who he wants. That I am the love of his life, and he has repeatedly said he would never be unfaithful to me. In all reality, even though he was married to Tessa, and by what he claims, he hasn't been unfaithful to me.

I set my phone down, then walked over to him and rested my head against his chest as I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry. But you have to understand where I'm coming from too. With you married and having an affair with me, it makes it look believable when it comes to Tessa claiming she was pregnant by you."

"I know," he whispered, caressing my back. "But I'm telling you the truth. The only lie I have ever said to you, well, it wasn't a lie, really; it was more like I hid the truth. And that was married that I was married."

I looked up and arched a brow. "You said you had a roommate. That was a lie."

"I said roommate because that's what she was. So that's really no lie there. I just hid who that roommate actually was."

"So, what now?" I exhaled.

"I'm going to visit her tomorrow and get to the bottom of this. I will get her to admit who she was pregnant by."

"I'm going with you. I want to hear it with my own ears. And I want to see it with my own eyes, Tessa's reaction when you confront her about it."

"That's fine."

"Now that dinner is cold, shall we eat?" I giggled.

******

As Nick drove to the hospital, I thought about all the things I wanted to say to Tessa, mostly about if she were to admit the truth. I was anxious. And I know Nick was more than anxious to confront Tessa and prove to me that he's not the liar I've made him out to be. I will admit, I'm a bit nervous to hear the truth. Because if it comes down to Tessa telling the truth. Then Nick and I are over for good. And that's something I don't want happening. I love Nick way too much, but there's no way I can go on in life worrying if Nick is out there having an affair or if he's lying to me daily about who knows what.

I will not put up with that at all.

My nerves were going haywire while Nick and I walked into the hospital. And as we got inside the elevator, he held me tightly against him. He was assuring me; everything will be okay. "The truth will all come out today. And we're not leaving until it does."

My heart was pounding, and when the doors opened, Nick held my hand tight as we walked to the nurses' station to check-in. And before the nurse opened Tessa's door, Nick looked at me, raised my hand to his lips, and kissed it with a smile. "This is it. This is the day we get to move on," he said quietly as the nurse opened the door.

Tessa was sitting in a chair reading a book when we walked in. "Hello, Tessa," Nick said.

With Tessa's eyes still focused on the book, she spoke, "I've been expecting you."

"You have, have you?" Nick mocked.

She looked away from her book and over to us, without an emotional look on her face. "I know you're here to ask about the baby you and I were supposed to have. The picture is right over there on the table," she pointed.

Nick looked at me, then back to Tessa. "Kind of hard for us to share a child when we never had sex, Tessa. Wouldn't you say?"

"You're in denial, Nick. You're trying to make it look good for the home-wrecker," she scowled.

"She's not a home-wrecker, Tessa."

She looked at Nick and mockingly shrugged a shoulder, looking at him like he was full of shit.

"Tessa. I would like to know who's baby you were carrying. Because you and I both know that was not my child."

She evilly laughed. "The child was yours, Nick."

Nick angrily stepped over to the table and picked up the picture, looking at it. "Who are you trying to kid, Tessa? Me? Brianna? Who? Because you know damn well, this isn't or wasn't mine!" He yelled, showing Tessa the picture. "It's impossible for this to be mine! You have to have sex to get pregnant, Tessa. And that was something we never had."

My eyes roamed back and forth from Tessa to Nick. Tessa was trying hard to make what she was saying true, but so was Nick. And I could see Nick was getting ready to lose it, so I stepped forward. "Who's, was it, Tessa? I've had it up to here with these sick games you've been playing on Nick and me," I hissed, holding my hand above my head. "Someone here needs to confess the truth," I demanded.

Nick looked at me, shocked that I spoke, then he looked over to Tessa.

"I already told you and Nick. That was his child."

I looked at Nick and could see his blood was boiling. Then, both Tessa and I jumped when Nick slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it, Tessa! Tell the fucking truth for once! That was not my child! And you fucking know it!"

Nick reached and grabbed a chair, then angrily slammed it down in front of Tessa and sat. I walked up behind Nick, then stood still, resting my hands on his shoulders as I studied Tessa's face. Tessa was not going to give up her story, and she wanted to stick with it. She also wanted me to believe it. So Nick had nobody left in his life.

"Brianna and I are not fucking leaving this room until you tell the truth. We can sit here all day and argue about it if that's what you want us to do."

Tessa looked at Nick and me, then opened her book and stared at it. "I guess we're sitting here all day because I'm telling the truth. You're the one here who's lying."

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then loudly sighed as I frustratedly crossed my arms against my chest.

"I'm serious, Tessa. Tell the damn truth. You know damn well that child was not mine."

She slammed her book shut and angrily glared at Nick. "Alright, fine! You really want to know the fucking truth?" She yelled, throwing the book across the room.

"Yes, I want the fucking truth!" Nick yelled.

She laughed. "You won't be able to handle the truth," she mocked with an evil grin.

"Tell me, Tess," Nick groaned. "At this point. I can handle anything."

She looked from Nick to me and smiled. "Fine. It's Jake's."

"Jake's?" Nick asked. "Jake, who?"

"You know, Jake. It was Jake from State Farm."

"That's not funny," Nick snapped. "Who. The. Fuck's. Was it?"

She laughed and laughed wickedly for a minute or so. Then, out of the blue, she stopped laughing and looked at Nick and me with a serious look on her face. "Fine. Since it's the truth you want. I'll fucking tell you. It was Jason's."

"Jason?" Nick asked, sounding confused. "Jason, my brother, Jason?"

My eyes widened. And Tessa smiled. "I told you, you wouldn't be able to handle the truth. And yes. Your fucking brother's child. Are you happy now?"

I was shocked. But I was also happy to hear it wasn't Nick's.

"How is it my brother's? He lives in New York!" Nick paused, turned away from Tessa, and as I saw him furrow his brothers, I could tell he was thinking hard. And when he began pulling on his lip, I knew something came to his mind. "Wait a minute," Nick said quietly. "He was in town a while back, and I remember him calling me, wanting me to meet him. But I was busy and couldn't make it."

"Jason came over and took me out to dinner. He mentioned you couldn't meet with him, so he figured he would take me out instead. I had a little too much wine to drink that night, and when he dropped me off, he ended up coming inside. We talked for a while, then it happened. We were up all night fucking. You never did come home that night. And now I know why. You were with her," she said, looking at me. "After it happened, I tried having sex with you in case I had gotten pregnant. But you denied me each time. After I found out I was pregnant, I tried getting you drunk to take advantage of you. You did get drunk, but you still denied me and said you were in love with someone else."

I gasped.

She knew. That's why she kept confiding in me! She wanted me to admit to something I had no clue about. And that's why she wanted me to meet Nick that night!

"You said you were in love with a girl named Brianna."

Holy fuck!

"Of all people. My brother. My fucking brother!" Nick yelled, ignoring that she just admitted to knowing he admitted to loving me. "And why the fuck would you carry this around?" He asked, holding the up picture.

"Because. After you admitted to me, you were in love with Brianna; I knew it would become handy to use it against you and to try to break the two of you up."

I didn't know what to say.

I'm in shock from her admission that all I could do was stand still and think about the times she pulled me to the side, telling me she thought her husband was cheating on her. For months, I had an inkling she knew about Nick and me, and this just confirmed everything I thought I was.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

She looked at him, slowly shook her head, then her head changed directions of the way she was shaking it, then shockingly admitted about something that caught my attention, getting me out of the state of shock I was in.

"That wasn't the first time I slept with him."

"What?"

"Jason and I were sleeping with each other for months before you and I married. And the night before we married, I spent the night with him. And it was the best fucking night of my life."

"Wow," exited my mouth.

Nick stood fast. "I've heard enough."

"You asked for the truth. You got the fucking truth. I hope you're happy now," Tessa retorted, flipping her chair around to face the window. "You two can go now. I have nothing else to say."

Nick grabbed hold of my hand. "Come on. Let's get the fuck out of here."

Not a word said between Nick and me as we walked through and left the hospital. On our way to the car, I thought Nick was walking alongside me until I asked him a question and got no response. I stopped, turned around, and saw him a few feet back, looking down at his phone, messaging someone.

"Nick?" I called out. He looked up, placed his phone in the inside pocket of his jacket, and sprinted to me.

"Sorry. I was sending my brother a message."

"What did you say?"

"I said she's all yours, and good luck."

******

Nick:

"So, I hear you got Tessa pregnant?"

"I guess," he said like it was no big deal.

"Jason. If you and Tessa were sleeping together before we married. Why the fuck would you push me to marry her?"

"Because she was pregnant then too," he hesitantly admitted.

I rubbed my face and sighed. "The night before my wedding? I confronted you that night, saying I couldn't go through with the wedding. You pushed and pushed. Then you called me a fucking loser and that I had no balls ever to get married. Then, I find out today she spent that night with you? With the two of you fucking all night? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, Nick. I'm so fucking sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. She was pregnant, and I was scared of what you would do if you found out that child was mine. Then I got the relief of my life when she miscarried not long after you two married."

"I thought that child was mine."

"I can honestly tell you it wasn't yours then, either."

I closed my eyes, breathed in deep, then slowly exhaled. As bad as I wanted to be pissed at my brother. I couldn't. I look at this situation as a blessing. A huge fucking blessing. However, it still doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in him because I am. And I let him know how disappointed I was with him. "The one thing I will tell you is this. Stay the fuck away from Brianna. And if you ever lay one finger on her, and I find out about it? I'll beat you so fucking bad you'd wish you were never born."

"Don't worry. It'll never happen."

"I know it won't. Because I know Brianna, and I know how much she loves me that she would never do such a thing. She's nothing like Tessa, and I will repeat it. You can have Tessa. She's all yours, and if she's who you want in your life, you can find her in the psychiatry ward at Harmony hospital."

******

"Sorry," I said as I sat back in my chair. I laid the napkin over my lap, then smiled when I looked up at Brianna. "Jason admitted to everything, then he apologized. The one good thing about learning about Jason and Tessa. Tessa finally figured out how, to tell the truth. And I think that's the first time she has ever told the truth."

"When I was watching Tessa, I studied all of her facial expressions and her body movements. Before she admitted the truth, I could tell she had something she wanted to tell you. And after she admitted the truth, I noticed how relieved she was to get what she was hiding off her chest. I saw it on her face, I heard it in her voice, and I saw it with how relaxed her body became."

I sliced my steak, and as I brought the food up to my mouth, I looked at her. "I saw that too. But now I know why she acted the way she did on our wedding night and throughout our short marriage. And that's because she had a guilty conscience hanging over her."

Brianna smiled a beautiful smile. One I hadn't seen on her face in a long time, and it melted my heart. "One thing is for sure. We can now move on with our lives, and now I can apologize to you."

I curiously looked at her. "Apologize for what?"

"For not believing you. And I will admit. After hearing Tessa say that when she got you drunk, and you admitted to being in love with me, I wanted to jump in your arms and kiss you until my lips fell off," she giggled. "That admission from her just proved you and Tessa never had sex and that you were in love with me way before I admitted my love for you."

I stabbed my fork into my steak, brought it up to my lips, and grinned from ear to ear as I looked at her. "I told you I wasn't lying, that I fell in love with you not long after we met. And after we leave this restaurant and get home, I'll show you just how much I love you. Which only means, you're sweet pussy, is in deep, deep trouble."

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!! 🤞🤞