13. Elise
— ? —
Elise
The Baby Shower
The Reid estate looks like something out of a fairy tale.
Pink and gold balloons arch over the entrance. A banner reading “WELCOME BABY GIRL” stretches across the front porch. Through the windows, I can see women in expensive dresses, champagne flutes in hand, laughing and chatting like this is just another society event.
My stomach churns.
“Ready?” Dominic asks beside me.
“No.”
“Good. Nerves mean you care.”
“Nerves mean I’m about to walk into a room full of people who hate me and drop a bomb on their perfect party.”
“Same thing.” He takes my hand. “I’m right here. The whole time.”
I take a deep breath. Smooth down my dress - white, deliberately chosen - and square my shoulders.
“Let’s do this.”
We walk up the steps together.
***
The moment we enter, the room goes silent.
Every eye in the room finds us. Champagne glasses freeze halfway to perfectly painted mouths.
And at the center of it all - Megan.
She’s seated in a throne-like chair decorated with pink ribbons, her enormous belly straining against a floral dress. Her face, when she sees me, goes through a rapid succession of emotions: shock, confusion, fear.
“What are you doing here?”
“Bringing a gift.” I keep my voice pleasant, carrying. “The truth.”
Margaret appears at my elbow, her face thunderous.
“This is a private event. You need to leave. Now.”
“I’ll leave after I’ve said what I came to say.”
“Security-”
“By all means, call security.” I meet her eyes calmly. “But I think you’ll want to hear this first. It concerns your son.”
Something in my tone makes her pause. Around us, the room is utterly still - every woman straining to hear, phones already sliding out of purses.
Good. I want witnesses.
“Did you know your son was playing everyone, Margaret?” I pull the folder from my bag. “Not just me. Not just Megan. Everyone.”
I pull out the first sheet - printed text messages between Connor and Megan.
“These are messages from the affair. Connor promising Megan he’d leave me after the funding round. Then after the holidays. Then after the vow renewal.” I look at Megan. “Sound familiar?”
She’s gone pale. “Those are private-”
“And these-” I pull out another sheet. “Messages between Connor and Margaret. Same time period. Him assuring his mother that the marriage was solid. That he was committed to working things out with me.”
I turn to Margaret.
“He was telling you one thing and her another. Playing both sides. Keeping his options open until the pregnancy forced his hand.”
“This is ridiculous,” Margaret says, but her voice wavers. “Connor would never-”
“Connor did. For over a year.” I pull out the final document, the hotel records. “But here’s the part that might interest you, Megan.”
I cross to her chair, holding out the paper.
“Three hotel stays in the month before the vow renewal. None of them were trips you knew about, were they?”
Megan stares at the paper. Her hands are shaking.
“I don’t - he said he was working-”
“He was working, all right. Just not on what you thought.” I keep my voice gentle, not cruel, just honest. “You weren’t his only secret, Megan. You were just the one who got pregnant.”
The room erupts.
Women whispering, gasping, some already tapping on their phones. Margaret trying to restore order. And Megan-
Megan is staring at the hotel records like her entire world just collapsed.
“That’s not true,” she whispers. “He loves me. He said-”
“I know what he said.” I crouch down to her level. “He’s good at saying the right things. He said them to me for six years. He made me feel special, chosen, loved - right up until the moment he didn’t.”
Tears are streaming down Megan’s face.
“I gave up everything for him. My job, my friends, my-” She breaks off, hand going to her belly. “I thought we were going to be a family.”
“I thought the same thing.”
The words hang between us - two women, utterly different, connected by the same lie.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I say quietly. “I’m here because you deserve to know who he really is. So you can make your own choices with all the information.”
“Megan.” Connor’s voice comes from the doorway. I hadn’t even seen him arrive. “Don’t listen to her. She’s trying to manipulate you-”
“Is it true?”
Megan’s voice is small but steady.
Connor freezes. “Is what true?”
“The hotels. The other women.” She holds up the paper with trembling hands. “Were you cheating on me too?”
The silence stretches.
Connor’s face cycles through expressions - shock, calculation, desperate charm.
“Baby, it’s not what you think-”
“Were. You. Cheating?”
“I - there were some work dinners - networking - you know how it is-”
“You told me you were working late!” Megan’s voice rises to a shriek. “You told me you were building our future! I’m eight months pregnant, Connor!”
“Megan, please, just calm down-”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”
She’s on her feet now, swaying slightly with the weight of her belly, face red with fury.
“I gave up everything for you. I crashed a vow renewal for you! I became the most hated woman on the internet for you! And you were - you were-”
She grabs the nearest object, a crystal vase full of flowers, and hurls it at his head.
Connor ducks. The vase shatters against the wall behind him, showering Margaret in water and rose petals.
“Megan!” Margaret screams. “Control yourself!”
“Control myself? Your son is a lying, cheating piece of-”
“That’s enough.” I step between them, hands raised. “Everyone just... take a breath.”
“Stay out of this!” Connor snarls at me. “This is your fault-”
“No, Connor. This is your fault.” I turn to face him fully. “You did this. All of it. You cheated on me. You lied to Megan. You played everyone who ever trusted you. And now it’s all coming out.”
“You’re going to pay for this-”
“How? By suing me again? Go ahead. I have enough evidence to bury you ten times over.” I take a step closer. “It’s over, Connor. You don’t get to control the narrative anymore.”
The room is chaos - women fleeing, Margaret barking orders at the catering staff, Megan sobbing in her throne, Connor standing in the wreckage of his carefully constructed life.
I take Dominic’s hand.
“We’re done here.”
We walk out.
***
In the car, I start to shake.
Adrenaline crash. The weight of what just happened finally hitting me.
“Hey.” Dominic pulls me close. “You did it. It’s over.”
“I know. I just-” I laugh, a little hysterical. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“You were incredible.”
“I made a pregnant woman throw a vase at her baby daddy.”
“To be fair, he deserved it.”
“He really did.” I lean against him, letting out a long breath. “Do you think she’ll be okay? Megan?”
“I think she’s about to make some difficult decisions. But at least now she’s making them with all the information.”
“I didn’t do it to hurt her.”
“I know.” He kisses my temple. “You did it for the truth. That’s not the same thing.”
We drive in silence for a while, the city flowing past the windows.
“What happens now?” I ask finally.
“Now we go home. We order food. We put on terrible movies. And we stop thinking about my family for at least twenty-four hours.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“And then, tomorrow-”
“Tomorrow we move on.” I meet his eyes. “No more revenge. No more drama. Just us.”
“Just us,” he agrees.
He takes my hand.
And for the first time in months, I feel genuinely, completely free.