The Return of My First Love novel Chapter 1

I had been trying for a baby with my husband for three years—with zero luck. 

Then, one day, I took a prenatal vitamin in front of my bestie, who's a doctor. 

She grabbed the pill bottle, frowned, and crushed one into powder between her fingers. 

"This isn't a prenatal. It's birth control."

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

I immediately sent the pills for lab testing. 

Turns out, I had been taking birth control for the past three years. 

Pills that Lucas Harrison gave me.

Every single time before we were together, he'd coax me into swallowing one. 

I was about to confront him with the test results when a message popped up in our mutual friends' group chat—sent by Scarlett Bennett. 

The photo?

A pregnancy test, bold and bright, with two dark pink lines. 

[Babe, wanna make a bet?] 

[Do you think we're having a little Lucas or a little Scarlett?] 

[I'm betting on a little Lucas.] 

Two minutes later, she pretended to be flustered. 

[Oops, sorry, guys. Sent that to the wrong chat.] 

[Can't unsend it now, so just… pretend you didn't see anything.] 

I let out a bitter laugh, my last shred of guilt vanishing in an instant. 

I finally replied to the one that got away—the man I should have never left. 

[One month. I'll come with you.] 

The group chat went dead silent. 

Then, someone finally broke the ice. 

[Well, well… congrats, I guess?] 

[When did you guys get married?] 

[You didn't even tell us! We should've been there to celebrate.] 

Someone sent a money transfer labeled as a wedding gift.

Others followed suit. 

Scarlett played coy, adding two blushing emojis. 

[Aww, thanks, guys. But don't make a big deal out of it, okay? Just pretend you never saw it.] 

[Come on, we can't ignore it. Even if we didn't get invited to the wedding, we're still friends.] 

[Exactly. You two finally got together—we have to give you our blessings.] 

This group was full of Lucas' college buddies. 

After we got married, he had added me, saying, "These are my close friends."

"You should get to know them."

When they asked who I was, all he said was: 

[A friend.] 

[A friend? Then introduce her! Maybe one of the single guys here would be interested.] 

Lucas stayed silent.

So did I. 

I had been a silent observer in this group ever since.