Chapter 3My Sister Is Pregnant with My Fiancé’s Baby

Mom had no answer for my questions, only sitting there and weeping. But I felt no sympathy. In my year in the war zone, I’d seen too many displaced refugees. Some had lost their entire families, their only possessions bags of ashes. Others were toddlers, barely three or four, who would go to the cemetery alone every night, sleeping at their mothers’ graves because their longing far outweighed their fear.

So Clara’s “pity” held no sway over me. I only wanted to know the reason for the betrayal.

“Mom, go get Bradley. I need to talk to him.”

“Evie!”

Mom looked desperate, trying to dissuade me, but I couldn't keep my temper in check. “He’s a grown man, he pulled such a shameless stunt, and he doesn’t even have the courage to explain it to his ex-fiancée face-to-face?”

I’d already categorized myself as his ex.

When Bradley entered, his face was a mask of guilt. “Evie, I’m so sorry. I messed up. Clara’s far along, and she hasn’t been well lately, always throwing up. I know your temper, and I misunderstood… I thought you… That’s why I acted so impulsively and laid hands on you.”

I hadn’t even had a chance to say a single word.

“Bradley, is that all you have to tell me?”

No explanation for betraying me, for getting my own sister pregnant, just an entire conversation framed around protecting Clara, dumping all the blame squarely on my head. It took me a long time to find my voice again, my throat raw. “Do you remember why I became a war correspondent?”

Bradley’s face stiffened.