Chapter 2: The Invitation Was Never About the Baby

Daniel’s house looked exactly like the kind of home he had always wanted.

A large white house with dark shutters, a broad front porch, and a freshly painted front door stood at the end of a quiet street lined with maple trees.

There were balloons tied to the mailbox.

Pink and white.

A wooden sign beside the entrance read, WELCOME, BABY BENNETT.

I sat in my car for nearly a minute, staring at the sign.

Bennett.

Daniel had kept his surname on the invitation, too.

It was a small thing, but I wondered whether he had thought about it when he ordered the decorations.

Or whether he had simply enjoyed the idea that the family name would continue through a child who wasn’t mine.

I switched off the engine.

Then I checked my phone.

There was a message from Rachel.

I’m here. Please come inside when you’re ready. Don’t let him get to you.

I read it twice before putting the phone away.

When I walked up the front steps, I heard laughter inside.

Someone opened the door before I could knock.

Margaret stood in the doorway wearing a pale-blue dress and a string of pearls.

For a second, she looked genuinely surprised to see me.

Then her expression became complicated.

“Claire.””

“Hello, Margaret.””

She looked me up and down.

“You came.””

It was the same phrase Daniel would use less than an hour later.

I wondered if he had rehearsed it with her.

“I was invited.””

Margaret pressed her lips together.

“Yes. Well. Daniel has always been unpredictable.””

She stepped aside.

I entered a hallway crowded with shoes, gift bags, and coats.

From the living room came the sound of a woman laughing.

Vanessa.

I recognized her voice from the few times I had heard it during mutual friends’ gatherings. We had met only twice before, briefly, and neither occasion had given us a reason to speak beyond polite introductions.

She appeared in the hallway a moment later, one hand resting on her stomach.

“Claire?””

I turned.

“Hello, Vanessa.””

She smiled uncertainly.

“Thank you for coming.””

Her voice was warm enough, but her eyes moved briefly toward Margaret.

I noticed.

So did Margaret.

“Vanessa, sweetheart, you should be sitting down,” Margaret said quickly.

“You don’t need to be standing around greeting everyone.””

“I’m pregnant, Margaret, not made of glass.””

Vanessa laughed, but it sounded forced.

Then she turned back to me.

“I’m glad you came.””

I wasn’t sure whether she meant it.

“Congratulations,” I said.

“I hope everything goes smoothly.””

“Thank you.””

For a moment, we stood in uncomfortable silence.

Then Vanessa lowered her voice.

“Daniel said you might not come.””

“Did he?””

“Yes. He said you probably wouldn’t want to see him happy.””

I looked at her.

“Is that what he told you?””

Her smile faltered.

“Well, he said things were difficult between you.””

“Things were difficult,” I replied.

“But not for the reasons he seems to have told you.””

Before she could answer, Daniel appeared behind her.

He wore a dark-blue suit, a white shirt, and the expensive watch I had given him for our fifth wedding anniversary.

I hadn’t thought about that watch in years.

Seeing it on his wrist brought back the memory of the night I had given it to him. He had kissed me, called me the best wife in the world, and promised that whatever happened, we would face it together.

I looked at the watch.

Then at him.

He followed my gaze and smiled.

“Still have a good eye for quality, don’t you?””

It was a ridiculous thing to say.

But Daniel had always been good at making cruelty sound like a private joke.

“Hello, Daniel.””

He opened his arms as if he intended to hug me.

I didn’t move.

He lowered them.

“Well. This is a surprise.””

“You invited me.””

“Of course I did.””

He glanced toward the living room, where several guests were gathering around the gift table.

“I thought it might be good for you to see that life moves on.””

I met his eyes.

“My life moved on four years ago.””

For a moment, his smile tightened.

Then Vanessa touched his arm.

“Daniel, your mother wants you to check the cake.””

He turned to her immediately.

“Of course, sweetheart.””

He kissed her forehead, placed a hand on her stomach, and looked back at me.

“You’ll excuse us.””

He walked away with Vanessa.

I stood in the hallway, listening to the guests laughing around the corner.

My first instinct was to leave.

Not because I was ashamed.

Because I had already spent enough of my life standing in rooms where Daniel needed to be the most important person in them.