It felt like we were on the same team, dreaming big and building a life that was all about supporting each other and soaking up all the good vibes. The family business my husband received from his father, a little grocery store, was also booming. Life felt like it was just rolling out the red carpet for us, you know? After we found out about the pregnancy, things started to shift. I noticed Liam coming home late more often, his energy just… drained, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Could our successful store demand that much labor? The little romantic gestures that used to light up our days — surprise dinners, sweet notes left around the house, those spontaneous hugs from behind — suddenly became memories of the past. It was as if the news, which I thought would bring us even closer, was slowly building a wall between us. I tried to understand, really I did, thinking maybe it was the stress or the fear of becoming a dad, but it felt like I was watching the man I love slip through my fingers, and I didn’t know how to stop it. Lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling while Liam slept soundly beside me, my mind began to spiral down a path I never thought I’d venture.

The late nights, the exhaustion, the absence of affection — it all started to paint a picture in my head that I couldn’t shake off. Was there someone else? The question gnawed at me, feeding my insecurities until the fear felt like a constant lump in my throat. In a moment of desperation, fueled by stories I’d heard and seen online, I made a decision that felt like betraying our trust but seemed the only way to quell my fears. So, one evening, as Liam collapsed into bed, worn out from yet another long day, I quietly took his phone and installed a tracking app, telling myself it was to find the truth, but deep down, fearing the truth I might find. The shock hit me like a freight train when, the next evening, the tracking app pinged with Liam’s location at our favorite restaurant — the very place where we celebrated our anniversaries and whispered sweet nothings over candlelit dinners. My heart raced with a tumult of emotions, fear mingling with a betrayal I hadn’t yet confirmed. Rushing to the restaurant, my mind was a mess, swinging between anger and fear about what I was about to walk into. I expected the worst, maybe finding Liam in a cozy corner with someone else, which felt like a punch in the gut just thinking about it. However, he was nowhere to be found. After poking around the seating area, I mastered the courage to ask the staff. A cute hostess girl looked confused for a moment, but then smiled and showed me to the back exit. “He’s busy with his friend, though,” she said. Oh, indeed he is, I thought. I certainly didn’t expect to see who his friend was. There he was with his brother, of all people, just lifting boxes in the storage area. It was bizarre seeing them together, working side by side after all the family drama and their huge fallout over the business. I just stood there, kind of frozen, trying to make sense of it. The whole thing felt off, seeing them like this after expecting something completely different, but it also made me pause. There was this weird mix of relief that Liam wasn’t cheating, but also a ton of questions about what was really going on between him and his brother. It didn’t feel like the time for any big confrontation, not yet, with so much to process and figure out. I blurted out, “What are you doing here? With Max? I thought you two were done for good!” Liam looked like a deer in the headlights. After what seemed like an eternity, he began to explain, “Dad’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Clara. The treatments are going to be costly and ongoing.” He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, “And the grocery store, our family business, it’s barely hanging on. The retail world’s changing fast, and with all the competition, we’re struggling to keep up.” He looked down, his voice heavy with emotion, “The financial strain’s just too much for us to handle alone. That’s why I’ve been so tied up lately, trying to figure it all out.”