She Made Him Her Pregnancy Announcement Helper While I Thought the Baby Was Mine. I Made He...

The moment Elena stepped up to the microphone at the Riverside Community Center, I knew something was terribly wrong. She was glowing in that white sundress I'd bought her for our anniversary, her hand resting protectively over her belly as she smiled at the crowd of family, friends, and coworkers who'd gathered for what I thought was our pregnancy announcement.

But her eyes weren't looking at me. They were locked on Dylan, who stood in the front row with that confident smirk I'd grown to hate over the past eight months. Before we jump back in, tell us where you're tuning in from, and if this story touches you, make sure you're subscribed—because tomorrow, I've saved something extra special for you! "Thank you all for being here today," Elena's voice carried across the room with practiced ease. "Marcus has been such an incredible help putting this whole event together. "

She gestured toward me, and I felt a chill run down my spine. Help? I wasn't help. I was supposed to be the father. I was supposed to be standing beside her, not arranging chairs and coordinating with caterers like some hired assistant. The applause that followed felt hollow, echoing off the community center walls as I watched Elena's hand intertwine with Dylan's when he stepped up beside her. That's when I knew. That's when six years of my life, six years of believing I was building something real with the woman I loved, came crashing down in the span of a heartbeat.

My relationship with Elena started during our junior year at UT Austin. I was working three jobs just to stay afloat, barely scraping together enough for textbooks and ramen noodles, when she walked into my life like something out of a dream. Elena Rodriguez was everything I wasn't: confident, well-connected, from a family that owned half the real estate developments around Cedar Park. When she chose me over the fraternity guys and pre-med students her parents had lined up, I thought I'd won the lottery. For six years, I poured everything I had into that relationship.

Every promotion at TechFlow Solutions meant a nicer gift for Elena. Every bonus went toward the engagement ring I'd been slowly paying off, month by month. When she mentioned wanting to travel, I worked overtime for three months straight to surprise her with a trip to Cabo. When her car broke down, I sold my motorcycle to help her get a newer one. When she talked about wanting to start a charity foundation, I spent weekends helping her file paperwork and set up fundraising events.