When Henry saw the words scrawled across his car, his entire world collapsed in an instant. Hope She Was Worth It. The message, bold and unmistakable, taunted him, tearing through the happiness he had felt just moments ago. He turned to Emily, his pregnant wife, but instead of trust, he saw something else flicker in her eyes—doubt. No matter how much he swore he had never cheated, the damage was already done. But the truth was far worse than betrayal. This wasn’t the work of a scorned lover. This was an attack from someone much closer to him.

Emily trembled in his arms, sobbing into his chest, gripping onto him like he might disappear if she let go. Her voice was muffled, but her words cut deep. “I’m sorry, Henry. I didn’t want to believe it, but I just… I didn’t know what to think.”

He held her tighter, pressing his lips against the top of her head, wishing he could erase the past twenty-four hours. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “None of this is your fault, Emily.”

But someone was to blame. And she was standing right in front of them.

Claire shifted uncomfortably under Emily’s teary, piercing gaze. Arms crossed, expression unreadable, but Henry saw it in her eyes. Regret. Maybe not entirely. Maybe not in the way she should. But she knew she had crossed a line.

“Tell her,” Henry said, voice firm.

Claire sighed as though this were all an inconvenience to her, as though she was doing him a favor. Then, finally, she confessed. She admitted to writing the message on his car, to wanting to drive Emily away, to thinking she was helping him. All because of something he had said months ago.

“I just thought…” Claire hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “You always said you were scared about being a father. That you didn’t have the best example growing up. I thought maybe… if Emily left, it would be easier.”

Henry clenched his fists, rage burning in his chest. “So you decided for me? You thought you had the right to destroy my marriage over a conversation?”

Emily’s face shifted from confusion to hurt, and finally to something that made Henry’s stomach twist.

“You really didn’t cheat, Henry?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Never,” he said immediately. “Not once, not ever. I love you, Emily. I love our baby. I love our life together. Claire blindsided me with this just like she did you.”

The weight of it all crashed over Emily, and she hugged her belly tightly. She had almost walked away from him. Almost believed the worst. And all because Claire, his own sister, had tried to break them apart.

The last thing Henry had expected after leaving the doctor’s office was to watch his life fall apart in real time. He and Emily had just heard their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. The moment had been pure magic. Walking hand in hand to the parking lot, he was still lost in the rush of emotions—baby names, nursery colors, what life would be like once their child arrived.

And then, there it was.

His car. Four chilling words scrawled across the driver’s side door.