Chapter 2: The Secret Inside the Dress
The pin was so small that most people probably didn’t even notice it.
A tiny silver object between my son’s fingers.
Something that should have meant nothing.
But Victoria looked at it like it was a weapon.
“Where did you get that?”” I asked.
My voice sounded different.
Even to me.
Ethan looked at me, then at Victoria.
“She told me nobody would believe me.””
A cold feeling moved through my chest.
“Who told you that?””
Victoria immediately stepped forward.
“Daniel, please.””
Her voice cracked.
Not from sadness.
From panic.
“Your son is confused.””
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“No, I’m not.””
The garden became completely silent.
A hundred people watching.
A hundred people waiting.
Victoria laughed nervously.
“Ethan, sweetheart, this is not funny.””
“I’m not joking.””
“Daniel,” she said, turning to me, “you need to stop this.””
That sentence bothered me.
Not because she was upset.
Because she wasn’t asking what was wrong.
She wasn’t asking Ethan why he felt this way.
She was telling me to control him.
For years, I had been Ethan’s protector.
But standing there, I suddenly wondered if I had failed at the one thing that mattered.
Protecting him from the person standing beside me.
“Ethan,” I said carefully.
“Tell me what happened.””
He swallowed.
Then he looked directly at Victoria.
“She said I was just a kid.””
Victoria’s face became pale.
“I never said that.””
“You did.””
“When?””
Ethan lifted his chin.
“Three days ago.””
I looked at Victoria.
“Three days ago?””
She didn’t answer.
That silence was enough.
“Victoria?””
She forced a smile.
“Daniel, he misunderstood something.””
Ethan shook his head.
“No, I heard everything.””
The guests started murmuring.
Someone near the back whispered:
“What is happening?””
I stepped closer to my son.
“What did you hear?””
Ethan looked at the ground for a moment.
Then he said:
“She was talking to someone.””
Victoria’s eyes widened.
“Ethan.””
“No.””
His voice became stronger.
“You told me I shouldn’t listen.””
A strange pressure filled my chest.
“Who were you talking to?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached for Ethan.
“Come here. We need to talk privately.””
Ethan stepped away.
That movement hurt more than I expected.
My son was afraid of her.
And I had never noticed.
“Don’t touch him,” I said.
Victoria froze.
Everyone heard me.
Everyone saw the change.
The woman who was supposed to become my wife suddenly looked like a stranger.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
I looked at Ethan.
“Show me.””
He nodded.
Slowly, he brought the pin toward Victoria’s dress.
A few guests gasped.
“Daniel, stop him!”” someone shouted.
But Ethan wasn’t trying to hurt her.
He wasn’t angry.
He was proving something.
He touched the side of her stomach.
A small sound followed.
A quiet hiss.
Then the impossible happened.
The round shape beneath the dress slowly collapsed.
Not all at once.
Slowly.
Like a balloon losing air.
The crowd reacted before I did.
A woman screamed.
Someone dropped a champagne glass.
A camera kept recording.
Victoria stood frozen.
The fake pregnancy belly disappeared beneath the beautiful white dress.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
My brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
“Daniel…”
Victoria reached for me.
I stepped back.
“What is this?””
Her lips trembled.
“I can explain.””
“No.””
My voice was low.
“Explain why.””
She looked around.
At the guests.
At the cameras.
At Ethan.
Then back at me.
“Please.””
But there was no explanation.
Only fear.
I had spent six months preparing for the birth of a child who didn’t exist.
I had told my friends.
My family.
My coworkers.
I had imagined holding that baby.
I had imagined Ethan becoming a big brother.
All of it was built on a lie.
Then Ethan spoke.
Quietly.
“Dad.””
I looked at him.
“There’s more.””
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?””
He pulled out his phone.
And Victoria changed.
The tears disappeared.
The sadness disappeared.
Only fear remained.
“Daniel, don’t.””
Those two words froze me.
Because for the first time, she wasn’t pretending.
She wasn’t playing the loving fiancée.
She was scared.
“Why?”” I asked.
Her voice lowered.
“Because you don’t understand.””
I stared at her.
“Then help me understand.””
Ethan pressed play.
At first, there was only background noise.
Then Victoria’s voice filled the garden.
“Tomorrow, he has to marry me.””
My blood ran cold.
A man’s voice answered.
“And after that?””
Victoria replied:
“After the wedding, we’ll figure out what to do about the rest.””
Everyone heard it.
Every single person.
The man spoke again.
“The problem is the boy.””
Ethan looked at me.
I couldn’t look away from Victoria.
The recording continued.
“He already suspects the belly.””
The man sighed.
“Then talk to him.””
A pause.
Then Victoria said:
“I already did.””
My hands started shaking.
The next sentence destroyed something inside me.
“I told him he must never tell Daniel.””
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Victoria looked at Ethan.
Not with guilt.
With anger.
Real anger.
And that scared me more.
Because suddenly I understood something.
The fake pregnancy wasn’t the biggest lie.
The biggest lie was what happened when I wasn’t watching.
“What did you do to my son?”” I asked.
Victoria opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then Ethan stepped closer to me.
“Dad…”
His voice broke.
“There’s something else you need to see.””
He unlocked his phone again.
Victoria whispered:
“No.””
Ethan looked at the screen.
And before he pressed the video…
I saw a name appear.
May you like
A name I knew.
A name that made Victoria’s secret even darker.
