Isabella Romano stood frozen in the cramped bathroom of her tiny apartment, the silence so loud it rang in her ears. The test trembled in her hand. Two pink lines stared back at her.
Positive.
"No…" she whispered, as if denying it would make it vanish.
The fluorescent light above flickered. Her knees gave way, and she sank onto the closed toilet seat, one hand pressed against her flat stomach, the other gripping the test like a lifeline. Her heart pounded so loud, it drowned out everything else.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
It was only a once one night, an impulsive, reckless decision she regretted the moment the hotel door clicked shut behind her. She hadn't even known his name. All she could remember were his cold eyes, his commanding voice, and the taste of something forbidden. A stranger in the dark. No strings. No future.
Yet here she was. Pregnant.
Isabella leaned forward, pressing her forehead to her knees, trying to breathe through the rising panic. Her mind raced through her options. Adoption? Abortion? Telling her father?
No. Her father would never forgive her. Not after everything she had done to claw her way out of the Romano name's shadow. She had spent the last three years building her life from scratch, away from the toxic power games of her family.
This would ruin everything.
Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them away. Crying wouldn't help. She had to think.
She had no idea who the man was. No name. No number. Nothing but the memory of his expensive watch glinting in the dim hotel lighting, and the way he'd left without a word before dawn.
She would do this alone. She had no other choice.
A knock came from her door, startling her. She wiped her eyes, shoved the test behind a stack of towels, and forced herself to stand. Her legs were unsteady, her stomach churning.
Through the peephole, she saw her best friend, Lila.
"Bella, open up! I brought bagels!"
Isabella opened the door with a shaky smile. "Hey."
Lila paused, frowning. "You look like death. Are you sick?"
"I… I, no, I'm just tired," she said, her voice uneven.
Lila narrowed her eyes but said nothing, dropping the bag of food on the kitchen counter and hopping onto a stool. "Well, hurry up and eat. You have a job interview downtown today, remember?"
The reminder sent another wave of nausea through her not from the baby, but from dread. She couldn't afford to lose this opportunity.
Isabella nodded. "Yeah. I remember."
She would go. She would smile, and she would pretend everything was fine. Because that's what strong women did. They didn't fall apart. Not even when the world tilted beneath their feet.
And definitely not when they were carrying the child of a man they would never see again.