On the night of our wedding, my husband Scott wanted to be near me, but I refused, saying I was tired. He accepted this with understanding and kissed me goodnight.
But suddenly, at midnight, I felt the bed begin to move. I turned around and froze when I saw what Scott was doing in our bed.
On the night of our wedding, amidst the excitement and anticipation, I hesitated.
“Scott, maybe we could… maybe we could talk?” I asked, suggesting we not get to “that” right away.
Scott frowned and asked, “Talk? Now?”
Despite his disappointment, I explained that after a busy day, I needed some peace, quiet, and conversation.
Scott reluctantly agreed and hid his disappointment with a gentle kiss on the cheek before going to bed.
However, the peace in our lavender-scented hotel room was shattered when I woke up a few hours later.
Our bed was shaking strangely and I had to wait a moment for my eyes to focus enough to see Scott kneeling beside the bed with the baby in his arms.
“Scott?” I whispered in confusion. “What’s going on?”
He looked at me, his eyes wandering as if searching for an excuse, and finally he whispered, “Everly, it’s Ela.”
He swallowed hard and my world began to spin as he added, “This is my orphaned niece. My stepmother Maya is already dead.
I only found out a few weeks ago.”
I lowered the pillow and sat on the bed. “A few weeks ago?” I repeated, still not understanding how that baby had ended up in our room that night.
“Everly, I was afraid you’d leave me if I found out about her,” Scott admitted, avoiding my gaze.
“How could you do this, Scott? How can we start our lives with secrets and lies?” I asked, shocked.
I took a deep breath. “Scott, what’s the plan? Do you… Wait, do you want to adopt Ela?”
“I haven’t thought about it yet, Everly. I just have to take care of her,” he said, suggesting we postpone the discussion.
I agreed because I was too tired to continue the conversation, but I fell asleep with an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
The next day we returned with Ela to Scott’s magnificent estate and lived with her as if the decision of the night before had been made.
I felt helpless, but I didn’t know how to change this situation.
One night, as I held Ela in my arms, I searched for answers about Scott’s past and his stepmother Maya.
“Scott, if you and your family have cut ties with your stepmother, why do you want to raise her son now?” I asked.
Scott’s hesitation in answering irritated me.
“But she’s Ela’s mother, right? What else do you know about her?” I insisted, my voice firmer.
“Everly, it’s not about Maya. It’s about Ela. She’s not to blame for anything. And she’s not to blame for anyone but us,” Scott finally answered.
I asked Eli about his father, but he cut me off, refusing to talk any further.
After a few weeks, my curiosity led me to Scott’s office while he was at work. There, I found a photo on his desk that contradicted everything he had told me.
It was a photo of Scott looking happy and intimate with a pregnant woman, presumably Maya.
When Scott came home that night, his smile faded when he saw the serious look on my face. “Everly, what happened?” he asked, concerned.
I showed him the photo in a calm but cold voice. “Explain it to me, Scott. And this time I want the truth.
You told me that you and your sister had cut off contact. But this photo says something else.”
Scott’s attempt to move the photo only made me more angry.
“Stop lying, Scott! That photo is of you with a pregnant woman. Smiling, happy. How can you say you haven’t stayed in touch?” I yelled.
He sighed and sat down on the couch. “Okay, you’re right. That’s Maya, Eli’s mother. Even though my family has cut off contact with her, I met her in secret… and I helped her,” he admitted.
“Why did you hide it? Why did you lie to me?”
“I was afraid. I was afraid you’d leave me if I found out the truth.
“I wanted you to love Ela, to see her as our future… without all that complicated past,” Scott explained.
“Scott, how can we build a life together when it’s full of secrets and half-truths?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“I have to trust you, for Ela, for us.”
He nodded, but his mouth dropped open in shock as I made my next suggestion.
“Maybe we should consider putting Ela up for adoption,” I said carefully.
“Adoption? Everly, that’s impossible. Ela is my responsibility,” Scott replied.
“Maybe we can find a foster family who will love her. Someone who can be a better mom than me—”
He interrupted me. “You’re putting me
endowed with the test? Do you think I married you just to give Ela a mother?”
“YES!”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
Those words hit me like a punch, like all those stories of men manipulating their wives. But I knew something was wrong, even if he denied it.
Seeking comfort and answers to unanswered questions, I left the estate with Ela and headed towards the sea to think about the future.
There a mysterious woman approached me. She smiled and asked, “Scott’s daughter?”
“No, it’s his sister’s daughter. Who are you?” – I asked, hugging Ela.
The woman laughed… cruelly. “My sister’s daughter? She looks just like him,” she said with a mocking smile, then her sense of humor disappeared and she looked me seriously in the eyes.
“Run while you can,” she said, and walked away.
“Wait!” – I called, but she didn’t turn around.
I breathed heavily, looked out to sea, then at Ela. What mysteries had she been involved in? And what dangerous threat was lurking in Scott’s past?
“We need to talk,” I began, walking back in.
Scott looked up and pursed his lips. “Everly, I told you everything. There are no more secrets,” he said firmly, but his voice sounded unconvincing.
I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “No, Scott. You’re hiding something from me. Ela isn’t your sister’s daughter, is she? She’s your daughter,” I accused.
Scott choked and remained silent for a long moment after coughing, until he finally lowered his head. “Yes, Everly. Ela is my daughter,” he finally admitted.
“How could you lie about your son? How could you betray our trust?” I screamed.
“I thought if I loved her like my sister’s daughter, we could be a family,” he explained.
The anger and hurt forced me to demand the full truth about Maya and her past, and then Scott opened up more about his relationship with Eli’s mother, who wasn’t his stepmother, and his despair at not being able to provide a stable life for Eli.
“Not only did you betray me,” I said, crying, “but you also betrayed your daughter when you built our relationship on lies.”
I cried for several days and wondered what I should do. I was already deeply attached to Ela, but I didn’t know if I could be with a liar.
After a few days, I decided to meet my husband.
“I’m leaving. I can’t take it anymore,” I said. I had already packed my things.
Scott took my hand. “Please, Everly, think about Eli. She needs you,” he pleaded, but my resolve was firm.
“Ela is your daughter, Scott. Not mine,” I said clearly. I knew how painful those words were, and they worked, because Scott let go of my hand and let me go.
My small apartment was completely silent, completely different from the life I had left behind.
I sank into my work as a designer, seeking comfort in fabrics and patterns, but the emptiness without Ela was enormous.
Despite the pain, I missed her laughter. Meanwhile, Scott continued to try to win me back.
But the thought of having to face him and try to create something new from the ruins of our marriage seemed impossible.
I ignored him, didn’t reply to his texts, didn’t return his calls. But he didn’t stop.
One morning, Scott knocked on my door. He was standing there with Ella, and his joyful laughter was a sweet melody that began to break down the walls of my heart.
Without hesitation, I let them into my apartment. Scott’s apology and his promises of a future based on honesty touched my soul to the core. doubts.
“Scott, would you forgive me if I did what you did?” I asked.
He didn’t know what to say, but his vows of transparency and his plea for a real family struck a chord in me, the one that still yearned for our shared dream.
“A family built on truth, not lies,” Scott promised. “Please come home, Everly.”
I couldn’t deny that I secretly wanted it, too. I gathered Ella into my arms and hugged her tightly, nodding to Scott. He pulled them both into his embrace.
After a few months, when I returned to Scott and little Eli, he suddenly stopped seeing us, apparently because he needed urgent help for a friend.
His sudden departure on his day off worried me. What could be so urgent that it couldn’t wait?
My concern increased further when the next day we received a mysterious envelope on our doorstep. Inside was a photograph of a mysterious woman on the beach, holding a baby. And next to it was a terrible message:
“Maya isn’t the only secret Scott has buried.”
The message was clear: Scott had other secrets in his past.
Terrified, I called the number on the piece of paper and contacted the woman on the beach, who turned out to be Amanda.
“See you