Chapter 1

Maya sat at the end of the bar, swirling her drink more than she was sipping it. Her phone screen still glowed with the text she couldn’t stop rereading:
“She’s pregnant. I’m going to be a dad.”
Her ex had typed it like it was good news. Like he hadn’t shattered her just weeks before by admitting he’d been cheating with that girl from work. Maya had blocked his number three times already, but the hurt was still fresh and raw.
“Rough night?”
The voice came from her left. A man, maybe a few years older, broad shouldered, with a smile that was almost too self assured. His whiskey sat untouched in front of him.
“You could say that,” Maya muttered. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
“Let me guess,” he said, leaning on the counter. “A guy. Always a guy.”
Her bitter laugh gave her away. “Ex boyfriend. He cheated. Now she’s pregnant. And apparently, that’s supposed to make me feel sorry for him.”
The stranger’s eyebrows lifted, and for a moment, his expression softened in sympathy. Then, something mischievous sparked in his eyes.
“Sounds like he got the last word,” he said slowly. “Unless… you wanted to flip the script.”
Maya turned toward him, narrowing her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He smirked. “I’m saying—if you really want to get revenge, you could beat them at their own game. Get pregnant before she even starts showing. Nothing says ‘I win’ like showing up with a baby bump before his girlfriend’s first ultrasound.”
She nearly choked on her drink. “You can’t just… offer something like that.”
“Why not?” His tone was casual, almost playful. But there was no doubt he was serious. “I’m not a creep. I’m not asking for strings. Just an offer. One night. You get your revenge. I get… well, the satisfaction of helping a beautiful woman get even.”
Maya’s pulse quickened. The idea was insane…dangerous, even. But the thought of her ex seeing her, not broken, not begging, but glowing, carrying something of her own? It ignited a fire deep in her chest she hadn’t felt in weeks.
She tilted her head, studying him. “You really mean that?”
His smile softened, less cocky now, more genuine. “I don’t make offers I don’t mean.”
For a long moment, Maya let the silence stretch between them, the weight of her heartbreak and the thrill of his reckless suggestion battling inside her. Then she raised her glass in a mock toast.
“To revenge,” she said.
His glass clinked against hers. “To revenge.”