You Can't Afford My Happiness Now

My wedding day.

The music swelled at the Boston Yacht Club.

I stood at the altar, eyes fixed on the aisle, waiting for Sarah, my fiancée.

The woman I' d built my tech career around.

The doors opened.

There she was, beautiful, but her face was a hard mask I didn' t recognize.

She took the microphone from the officiant.

"Ethan," she announced, her voice amplified for everyone to hear.

"I can' t marry you today."

The silence was physical.

"I' m pregnant," she continued, a small, triumphant smile on her lips.

"And the baby isn' t yours, Ethan. It' s Mark' s."