“Ali, there's an article,” Kurt said at the same moment Ali answered, “Hello?”

  “Ali,” his mother shrieked. “What is this?”

  “Uh…” Ali struggled to answer.

  His mother had flown into New York that afternoon with him and Kurt with plans to visit on the Upper East Side with friends. When they had parted ways an hour before, she'd been in an exceptionally good mood, and they'd made plans to have lunch the next day. Clearly, something had changed.

  “Mother,” Ali said, raising his voice so he could be heard above the traffic. “What are you speaking of?”

  “The article, Ali. Have you not seen it?”

  “What article?” Ali asked, looking to Kurt, who was busy reading through something on his phone.

  Kurt put his hand over his mouth. “This is not good.”

  Ali's mother had just said something, but, busy paying attention to Kurt, he'd missed it.

  Plugging his other ear, Ali dropped his face. “What was that, Mother? What does the article say?”

  “That Alyssa is hiding a pregnancy from you,” Noura clipped.

  “What?” Ali sputtered out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “How do you know it is not true?”

  Hot flames burned through Ali. He loved his mother, and though he had not always gotten along with his parents, over the last six months, he'd done his best to respect them. And he'd done that thanks to Alyssa—his future wife. The woman his mother was speaking poorly of.

  A taxi stopped at the curb, and Kurt opened its door and gestured to Ali.

  “Alyssa would tell me if she were pregnant,” Ali said, climbing into the back of the taxi.

  “Are you sure? This is very much like that situation with Rebecca Cathay. Do you remember?”

  Ali sighed. How could he forget the woman who had sold details about his personal life to the tabloids two years earlier? Ali had gone out with Rebecca two or three times, and once he’d decided the time had come to move on, she had taken the opportunity to lash out publicly. The day after he last spoke to her, he'd woken up to find articles about his “party lifestyle” all over the internet.

  Those articles—saying he dated a new girl every two weeks and drank at clubs until the sun came up—were mostly true, yes, but that hadn't stopped Ali’s family from becoming furious.

  She'd admitted to being the one to leak information, too. Back then, Ali hadn’t cared what the world thought of him. It was Rebecca he'd been angry at. With reputation being what it was to his family, though, his mother had quickly stepped in with a publicist. She'd done her best to smooth things over by stating Rebecca's claims were a lie.

  “We will do what we did two years ago,” Ali said. “Release a statement about it being a fabrication.”

  “If it is that.”

  Ali pinched the bridge of his nose. They were nearing Columbus Circle, which wasn’t far from his apartment, and this conversation had grown tiring about four blocks ago.

  “I’m on my way home now,” Ali said. “Alyssa is there. We will sort this out, and I will speak to you soon. Goodbye.”

  Ali hung up before his mother could echo his goodbye.

  “Everyone thinks Alyssa is pregnant,” Ali spat. “Ridiculous.”

  “I know.” Kurt showed him the magazine cover on his phone.

  Ali's temperature climbed. “What will they publish next?”

  “That she is acting as surrogate for the U.S. president?” Kurt suggested.

  Ali did not laugh. “My mother thinks it could be true.”

  An uncomfortable silence filled the cab.

  “Could it be?” Kurt asked.

  “Why would it be?” Ali countered.

  “I don't know, but your mother thinks it's possible. She has a reason.”

  Ali laughed dryly. “That doesn’t mean much to me.”

  Kurt said nothing, and a pit opened up in Ali's stomach. Would Alyssa keep such a thing from him? Why would she do that?

  He remembered the last time he saw her. He had been so busy packing that it was not until later, when he was on the jet headed for Baqar, that he looked back and wondered if something had been wrong. Alyssa had seemed anxious, as if she’d wanted to tell him something.

  He'd meant to ask her about it during their phone call a couple days after that, but she had sounded upbeat then, and he’d had a meeting to prepare for. He had assumed that everything was back to normal.

  But perhaps it was not.

  And the question still remained: why not tell him?

  If there was a pregnancy, it was unexpected. Perhaps Alyssa had already decided what she would do about it, and so she’d assumed she need not consult Ali at all.

  Out of all the possible theories, that one hurt the most. They had spoken about children in Costa Rica, but just because Ali would prefer to wait several years did not mean he would not happily welcome any child that did appear in their lives.

  Ali's head spun. He was thinking too much. Luckily, though, the taxi was pulling to the front of his building. It was time to get some answers.

  CHAPTER 11

  ALYSSA

  On the living room floor, Ralph and Gambit rolled around, the older cat exposing his belly. The kitten pounced, but Ralph swiped at his nose. In a millisecond, the cats were up and running off.

  Alyssa smiled sadly. Must be nice to have no worries.

  She glanced at the clock. Six p.m. When she and Ali had texted earlier in the day, hours before she’d seen the article, he’d told her this was the approximate time he'd arrive home. She'd held off contacting him since then, worried that trying to explain herself over the phone wouldn't help. She needed to look into Ali's eyes, apologize to his face.

  His suitcase had been sent over earlier, but Ali had claimed he had some errands to tend to before he arrived home himself.

  The unmistakable sound of the front door unlocking pulled Alyssa out of her thoughts, and she rushed into the foyer. Ali entered, a flat box in one hand.

  He looked tired. That was the first thing she noticed. Had the trip exhausted him? Or had he read the article?

  “Ali,” she breathed.

  When she rushed forward, he opened his arms. She hit his chest, all the air leaving her lungs in one exhale.

  Ali pressed one palm against her back, but something wasn't right. He held back.

  Swallowing hard, Alyssa stepped away just enough to see his face.

  “There's an article,” she said, the words trembling.

  “I saw it.”

  The news hung in the air between them, but what it was a sign of, Alyssa didn't know.

  Ali sighed and ran his palm down his face. His eyes narrowed the slightest bit, and he looked Alyssa up and down.

  “You look different,” he said.

  Before Alyssa could decide what to say, he spoke again. “Let us sit down.”

  “Yeah.” Alyssa took hold of his hand, relief flooding her when he gave her palm a slight squeeze. “Do you need anything? Want me to get you something to drink?”

  “I’m fine, thank you. Let's go into the living room.”

  They sat on the couch, and Ali looked around. “How are the cats?”

  It seemed such a funny thing to ask given what was happening in their lives, and yet Alyssa felt too awful to laugh.

  “They're good,” she said. “They've been really frisky. They were just in here. I'm surprised they haven't come out to greet you. Are you sure you don't want a drink?”

  Alyssa looked at the bar in the corner. “I can pour you a scotch.”

  “Are you pregnant?”

  The question socked Alyssa in the gut. She'd been expecting it. Just not right then. Not in the middle of talking about cats and drinks.

  Her tongue was heavy, but she did her best to force one word out. “Yes.”

  Ali stared at her. Blinked. Stared some more.

  “I found out right before you left for Baqar,” Alyssa hurried to explain. “And I wanted to tell you, but the timing was all wrong.”

  “When…” Ali cleared his throat. “When did you plan on telling me?”

  He was paying more attention to the floor than her, and Alyssa wanted to scream.

  “Tonight,” she said. “The moment you got back. Just like I am now.”

  “There is an article…”

  Alyssa stared at him in confusion. They'd already addressed that.

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “I don't know why there's an article.”

  “Someone told the press about it.” Ali pushed his palms together and looked at them.

  “Yeah.” Alyssa shook her head. “But I don’t know who.”

  Ali finally looked at her, but his face was only turned toward her the slightest bit. “Who have you told about this?”

  “Lucy. That’s all.” Alyssa’s heart pounded, and tears pressed against the backs of her eyes.

  This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She had just told her fiancé she was pregnant. There should have been exclamations of joy. Hugs. Tears of happiness. Instead, she was blinking away tears of pain and he was barely looking at her.

  “Could she have shared the news?” Ali asked.

  “What?” Alyssa jerked back at that, her shoulders drawing down and her spine straightening. “No. Of course not.”

  Ali eyed her, saying nothing.

  “She’s my best friend,” Alyssa said through gritted teeth. “I’ve known her for years. She knew I didn’t want anyone to know until you found out. She would never do that to me.”

  “Even for money?” Ali asked, so unfazed. So cold. “She’s in school. Surely she needs it.”

  Alyssa’s face burned, and her hands curled into fists. “Yeah, and she also has a job that pays her bills. Oh, and she’s not a traitor.” Alyssa jumped to her feet. “She’s my friend, Ali. For life. And I’m sorry if you don’t understand what that means.”

  Any other time, that would have been a low blow. Right then, though, Alyssa didn’t care. Ali had just shown he didn’t trust the person, other than him, closest to Alyssa.

  His eyebrows rose in shock, and satisfaction curled through Alyssa. Her jaw was set, and her chest heaved up and down with heavy breaths.

  Good. Maybe he’s finally realized how ridiculous he’s being.

  “If Lucy didn’t sell the story to the press,” Ali said, making each vowel sharp and jagged. “Then who did?”

  The way he looked at her, that lift of his chin, the rise of an eyebrow…

  Alyssa gasped. “You think I did?”

  Ali stood, his hands clenched as well. Without looking at her, he walked for the doorway.

  Alyssa’s jaw fell. “Where are you going?”

  “I need some time to think,” Ali said over his shoulder. “Alone.”

  The front door closed behind him—not a slam, but not a gentle click, either. Alyssa stood rooted to the living room floor, her legs heavy as lead and her heart aching.

  She closed her eyes, but that didn’t stop the tears. They streamed down her cheeks and off her chin. She bit her bottom lip, but it shook anyway. Just like her hands. Just like her shoulders.

  Alyssa didn’t know how long she stood there crying for, but at some point, she opened her eyes and saw Ralph peeking through the doorway, his eyes orb-like and scared.

  “It’s okay, Ralph,” Alyssa sniffled.

  Except that it wasn’t. The conversation with Ali had unfolded in the worst possible way. First, he’d accused Alyssa’s best friend of betraying them, and then Alyssa herself of it!

  Did Ali actually believe such things? Or was he just in so much shock and pain that he wasn’t thinking straight?

  Alyssa buried her face in her palms as sobs shook her body. She cried until she could cry no more.

  After the best six months of her life—six months that should have been a promise of happiness for the rest of her days—was this how the fairy tale would end?

  With heavy limbs, Alyssa dragged herself to the hall bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, red eyes and puffy face, and quickly looked away.

  In the hallway, there were no signs of the cats. Ralph had probably taken that one look at Alyssa, grabbed Bandit, and hidden under a bed somewhere. Alyssa couldn’t blame them. She wished she could take cover in a dark corner until all the scary things went away.

  Trudging to the kitchen, Alyssa went for a glass of water. The sight of the gossip magazine on the table stopped her. She’d tossed it there upon arriving home, too sickened to look at it anymore.

  The way she’d thrown it there, it displayed its front cover, and for the first time, Alyssa noticed the title. Whispers.

  She nearly tripped over her feet. Wasn’t that the magazine Derek worked for?

  Her mouth dry, Alyssa grabbed the magazine and frantically flipped through the pages until she reached the offending article. No author cited.

  Alyssa pressed her lips together, her nostrils flaring with angry exhales. So, there was no credited author, but so what? That didn’t mean the trail ended there.

  Grabbing her laptop, which sat on the other end of the table, Alyssa opened it up and went to Whispers’ website. It wasn’t the easiest to navigate, but a little poking around and Alyssa found what she looked for: a list of current writers working at the publication. And she was right. She hadn’t heard wrong. Derek was one of those writers.

  Sitting back in her chair, Alyssa stared at the dark window. This still didn’t answer the biggest question: how did Derek know she was pregnant? And how did he know she hadn’t yet told Ali?

  Propping her elbows on the table, Alyssa dropped her head in her hands and thought back to the dinner at Derek’s, weeks before. It was the last time she’d seen him. Had she said anything that could have given her secret away?

  She’d refused the wine she brought. Certainly, that was weird. But not weird enough.

  But wait…there was that time Derek had gone to the front of the apartment to make a phone call. Alyssa’s purse and jacket had been out there.

  Alyssa’s stomach churned. Had he gone through her stuff? After inviting her to his house, pretending to be her friend?

  And what had he found?

  Jumping to standing, Alyssa tore down the hallway and to the bedroom. Her purse hung on the back of the door. Though she had several bags, she wasn’t typically one to switch them out all the time. That meant that—without her meaning to let it happen—things often became lost in the black hole that was the purse.

  Yanking the purse off the door handle, she turned it upside down, and messy sampling of her life fell out. Wallet. Receipts. Lip balm. Lipstick. Hair ties. A pass from some event she and Ali had gone to weeks ago.

  And…an eight-by-ten sheet of paper, folded in half.

  Alyssa picked the paper up. It was the results from the doctor’s the day Lucy had taken her there. The results confirming that she was pregnant.

  Alyssa’s head spun, and she closed her eyes, but it didn’t help. Had Derek gone through her purse? Found the document and realized she was pregnant?

  But what about the other part—about Alyssa not having told Ali yet? Had he looked at her phone? Alyssa usually put a passcode on her phone, but her most recent one was still new and she hadn’t gotten around to doing that yet.

  “Oh my God,” Alyssa gasped, covering her mouth.

  That had to be it. Derek had gone through her purse and not only found the medical document, but seen her phone as well. During that week, she and Lucy had been texting nonstop about what was going on. All Derek would need to do was read a few texts to figure out that Ali didn’t know about the pregnancy.

  Alyssa dropped the paper and sank to the floor, her head hanging. Derek had exposed her.

  Had everything with him been an act? Needing the yearbook? Inviting her to dinner? Had he only been looking for a scoop?

  A new wave of tears hit. Alyssa was so gullible. She’d believed Derek really wanted to be her friend. And she’d had such a nice time at his home, too! She’d believed she was making new friends to replace some of the ones who’d exited over the last few years.

  But he had only used her. Taken her life and turned it into something for profit. Driven a wedge between her and Ali.

  Or maybe Alyssa was to blame for that last part. Maybe she should have told Ali about the pregnancy the instant she’d found out.

  What did it matter, now? Judging from the way she and Ali had left things, he believed she might have sold him out to the press.

  Did that mean he also thought she didn’t love him? How could she show him that wasn’t that case?

  Ali was the center of her world. The light of her life. It used to be that she was the same for him. Had that changed now?

  CHAPTER 12

  ALYSSA

  Someone knocked on the front door.

  On the bedroom floor, her knees pulled up and her face buried in them, Alyssa gasped and jumped to standing. She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting on the floor, running through everything that had happened in the last month and imagining the most awful futures—each scenario involving Ali leaving her.

  Was that him at the front door? Perhaps he had forgotten his key, changed his mind about taking some time alone, and come back to talk.

  Alyssa hurried down the hallway. Not stopping to look through the peephole, she flung the door open.

  “The doorman let me in,” Noura said, walking straight into the apartment without waiting for an invitation.

  Alyssa’s jaw dropped as she stared at Ali’s mother. Amid everything going on, she’d nearly forgotten her soon-to-be mother in law was in town.

  Noura spun on her heel and took Alyssa in. She looked as elegant as ever, with her silky black hair held back by pins studded with jewels, a designer purse dangling from a freshly manicured hand. Judging from the look on her face, however, what was going on inside of her was a different story.

  Inside, Noura was anything but refined and put-together. She was pissed.