The living room smelled of expensive potpourri and greed.

I sat stiffly on Eleanor’s velvet sofa, one hand resting over the small curve of my four-month pregnancy. I was exhausted, nauseous, and counting the minutes until I could leave.

My name is Maya. I was twenty-nine, the founder of a successful digital marketing firm, and I had spent years building a life no one could take from me.

Then I made one terrible mistake.

I fell in love with Julian.

He sat beside me, scrolling on his phone like none of this involved him. He was handsome, charming, and completely useless. His so-called tech startup had been losing money for years, kept alive by his mother’s excuses and my quiet financial help.