Three Weeks Before the Wedding, I Canceled Our House, but When I Asked Lukas One Question, His Smile Disappeared

Three weeks before the wedding, I looked at Lukas’s former girlfriend on the screen of his video call and realized that I had planned my future alone. He was kneeling on the floor in the storage room of our apartment when the phone rang again. Lukas’s face appeared on the screen, and behind him was the warm, yellow corridor of a hotel.

“Are you all right?” he asked me.

“Yes.”

“How is the packing going?”

“I have almost finished.”

Someone laughed behind him. Then a woman’s voice was heard, so familiar and free, as if the door to this man’s life had always been open to her.

“Luki, the car is already downstairs.”

My body went cold in one second. I had been with Lukas for five years, and I had never heard that name.

Lukas looked over his shoulder.

“I’m coming.”

“Is Emma there?” I asked.

The smile slowly fell from his face.

“Yes.”

“When did she arrive?”

“Nora, don’t start.”

That answer hurt me more than any confession would have. I still did not know what I was starting. I had only asked a question.

That same evening, in our apartment in San Ramon, a cup of hot chocolate stood on the table. Its handle was broken, and Lukas had fastened it with a small piece of wood. It was my favorite cup. In five years he had not once remembered which cup I drank coffee from, but in the photograph sent from Tahoe there was exactly the same drink, and beside it was a deer-shaped cookie.

Lukas sent me the photograph.

“We barely finished the work. I am very tired.”

And at that moment I had hundreds of photographs open from the old camera.

The first picture was from five years earlier. Emma was standing by the lake in a red ski jacket. In the next photographs she was sitting by the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate, laughing in the snow. In all five Januaries the same thing happened: on Thursday Lukas went to the company gathering, and on Friday Emma appeared.

“It is simply friendship,” Lukas told me by video call.

“Then why didn’t you tell me that you spent weekends with her?”

“Because I knew you would attach importance to it.”

“Because it matters?”

Lukas sighed. Behind him, a dark stain of melted snow was visible on the hotel carpet.

“Emma comes every year. It is our tradition.”

“Our.” That word stuck into my heart like a knife.

“Why was I not part of this tradition?”

“You do not like Tahoe.”

“You never told me that I don’t like it.”

“Nora, there are three weeks until the wedding. Are you really going to fight about this now?”

I looked around the room. Wedding boxes were arranged by the wall, with a white ribbon on top. In those boxes was our future, or what I called the future.

“When are you coming back?”

“On Sunday.”

“Alone?”

A long silence fell.

Lukas moved the camera slightly to the side. His and Emma’s reflections appeared together on the glass surface of the door. The woman was putting on a red coat. Lukas was straightening her scarf.

“Nora, we will talk about this when I return home.”

“No, Lukas. Tell me now.”

For the first time, he could not look at me.

The next morning, at the city real-estate agency, Karen placed the cancellation documents for our house in front of me. Through the window I could see the drawing of the house whose kitchen island I had measured three times.

“Are you sure?” she asked me.

“Completely.”

“You will lose the penalty.”

“I know.”

“Does Lukas know?”

“Not yet.”

The pen trembled in my hand, but I signed anyway. Then I separated my savings from the joint bank account, called the wedding hall, and removed my name from all the contracts.

When I returned home, I put the photographs scattered on the floor into one folder. In the last picture, Lukas and Emma were standing by the lake. Snow was visible between them, but his hand was on the woman’s back.

That evening Lukas sent me a short message: “When I come down on Sunday, I will explain everything.”

I did not reply.

At eleven at night the doorbell rang. I opened the door and saw Karen, holding a brown folder. Her face was frightened.

“Nora, I discovered this today. I don’t know whether I should show it to you, but if you don’t see it now, tomorrow may be too late.”

She put the folder on the table and opened the clasp. My hand moved toward the first page…

My fingers touched the edge of the folder, but Karen grabbed me by the wrist.

“First you should know that this is not a violation of the law,” she said.

“Then why do you look as if we should call the police?”

Karen bit her lips. Behind her, in the corridor, the old wall clock showed twelve at night and chimed with a heavy sound at every second.

“When buying the house, Lukas demanded something from me. He told me that I should not ask you about specific financial matters.”

“About what matter?”

She turned the folder toward me.

“The share registered in your name.”

My surname was written on the paper. Below were numbers that made my breath catch when I saw them.

“What is this?”

“Part of the down payment. The money that supposedly Lukas paid actually came into your account and was then used as the joint contribution.”

“I don’t know this.”

“I know.”

Karen took out a small memory card and placed it on the table. It was black, with a white dot in the corner, as if someone had scratched it with a fingernail.

“The agency’s camera recordings are saved automatically. Lukas was here three days ago. He did not come alone.”

“Emma?”

Karen nodded.

“They thought the camera was turned off.”

We opened the recording on her laptop. The agency’s small conference room appeared. Lukas was standing at the table, and Emma was beside him. The sound quality was poor, but the words could still be heard clearly.

“If Nora signs now, the house will become safe for us too,” Emma was saying.

Lukas answered:

“I will make her sign. After the wedding she will no longer resist us.”

I stared at the screen. The wooden edge of the table was shaking under my hand, although I knew that in reality my fingers were trembling.

“What does ‘for us’ mean?” I asked.

Karen paused the recording.

“I haven’t listened to the end yet. I didn’t want to watch it alone.”

“Turn it on.”

Lukas’s voice sounded again.

“Emma needs time. She took out a loan on her old apartment. And I cannot lose this house.”

“Is Nora’s money enough?” Emma asked.

“We will use her savings. Then I will convince her that all this is better for both of us.”

Coldness spread through my stomach. For five years I had thought Lukas was simply careless. Now I understood that his carelessness existed only toward me.

“When is the recording from?” I asked.

“Three days ago.”

“And before the trip to Tahoe.”

Karen nodded.

That same night Lukas called me again. This time only his face was visible on the screen. There were dark circles under his eyes, but his voice was still calm.

“Were you with Karen?” he asked me.

My heartbeat intensified.

“Why are you asking me?”

“She may explain some things to you incorrectly.”

“You knew her cameras were working?”

His face suddenly hardened.

“Nora, where did you find this?”

“I am asking the questions.”

“You have no idea what is happening.”

“Then explain it to me.”

He put a finger to the screen, as if he could touch my face.

“The wedding has not been canceled.”

“I did not say that it was canceled.”

“You canceled the house contract.”

Silence fell. Karen stood at the kitchen door and gripped the strap of her bag so tightly that her fingers had turned white.

“How do you know?” I asked.

Lukas did not answer me.

“I received a notification from the bank,” he said at last.

“I closed the joint account.”

“That was my money.”

“Then why didn’t you pay for the house yourself?”

He was silent for a moment.

Then his voice dropped lower.

“Be careful, Nora. Interfering in my relationship with Emma is one thing, but interfering in financial matters is something else.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It is a warning.”

I ended the video call. A few seconds later someone knocked hard on the door. Karen jumped.

“Is it Lukas?” she asked quietly.

I looked through the peephole. Outside stood Lukas’s lawyer, David Harper. He was holding a black leather bag.

“Ms. Nora, we need to talk,” he said.

“Not now.”

“If you do not open this door, you will receive a letter tomorrow morning.”

“What letter?”

David lifted the bag slightly.

“A complaint about breach of contract on your part.”

Karen looked toward me.

I opened the door.

David entered, put the bag on the sofa, and took out several documents. Lukas’s signature looked familiar on every page.

“You are trying to ruin the wedding and damage my client’s property,” he said.

“Your client is already trying to use my money.”

“You cannot prove that.”

Karen looked at the memory card.

“She may be able to prove it.”

David’s gaze moved to the card. For the first time I saw fear on his face.

“What is that?” he asked.

I did not answer. The phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered the call.

“Nora?” a woman’s whisper was heard. “I am Emma’s sister. If Lukas has not told you anything yet, then listen to me now. Come to the hospital tomorrow morning. There you will learn why he was hurrying the wedding…”

The call ended before I could ask the question…

The call ended, but Emma’s sister’s whisper remained in the room for a long time. Outside the window, the wind was arranging rain on the glass, while Karen looked at me as if trying to read an answer from my face.

“Why should I go to the hospital?” I asked.

David quickly closed his bag.

“This is a family matter. It does not concern you.”

“Then why was Lukas hurrying my marriage?”

David lowered his eyes.

“I cannot comment on that.”

“You can,” Karen said. “If you do not, the recording will go straight to the police.”

David looked at her angrily, but he said nothing more.

At seven in the morning, I met Emma’s sister, Maya, on the third floor of the hospital. A sharp smell of disinfectant stood in the corridor, and plastic chairs were arranged beside one another. Maya was holding a folded blanket.

“Thank you for coming,” she told me.

“Where is Emma?”

“With the doctor. But before she comes out, you need to know this.”

She handed me a brown envelope. My name was written on it. The letters resembled Lukas’s handwriting, but below them was a date from six months earlier.

“Is this for me?”

“Emma found it in Lukas’s car. Last night she told me everything.”

I opened the envelope. Inside were bank statements, apartment-loan documents, and a one-page letter. Lukas admitted that he owed Emma money and planned to use my savings to cover it. But the heaviest final sentence was: “Nora will not be able to change anything after the wedding, because she will stay with me because of the child.”

The paper fell from my hand.

“What child?” I barely said.

Maya lowered her eyes.

“Emma is pregnant. Sixteen weeks.”

The corridor light flashed in my eyes. I sat on a chair and placed my hands on my knees so that no one would notice how my fingers were trembling.

“By Lukas?”

“That is what Emma says. The test must be done today.”

At that moment Lukas appeared at the end of the corridor. David was coming behind him. Lukas’s face was gray, but there was more anger in his eyes than fear.

“Nora, what are you doing here?”

“I am looking for the truth.”

“Maya, did you call her?”

“I called her,” she said.

Lukas came toward me. In his hand was the familiar hotel key card, with a small golden mark on its edge.

“This is a family matter,” he said.

“Your child is a family matter, but I am not?”

He fell silent.

“Is Emma pregnant?” I asked.

“We do not yet know whose child it is.”

“And you still wanted to buy a house for me with my money.”

“I was trying to solve the problem.”

“Your problem.”

The door to Emma’s room opened. The doctor stuck his head out.

“The paternity-test samples are ready. Both men must come in.”

Lukas stepped back.

“Both?”

Maya answered calmly:

“Emma says the second man is Niko, her former husband.”

It was as if the air left Lukas.

David cleared his throat.

“Lukas, it will be best if you take the test.”

“Nora should not be here.”

“She is here because you dragged her life into this story,” Maya said.

Lukas looked toward me.

“If the child is mine, I will take care of it.”

“Exactly as you took care of me?”

He could not find an answer.

An hour later I was sitting in a small laboratory room. Two tubes lay on the table, and between them was a white plastic tray. Emma was pale. Lukas stood by the window and touched the door handle with his fingers.

“The samples have been taken,” the doctor said. “The result will be ready in several hours.”

Lukas suddenly looked at me.

“Whatever it says, it does not change the fact that we love each other.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Are you really still saying that?”

“We were together for five years.”

“For five years you lived with me, but your real life was somewhere else.”

Emma was sitting on the bed with her hands covering her eyes.

“Nora, I did not want this to happen.”

“You knew he was engaged?”

“I knew.”

“You knew he was buying the house with my money?”

Emma began to cry.

“He told me that the wedding was only for appearances. He told me that you were expecting to have a child by him and that he was simply fulfilling an obligation.”

Lukas called sternly:

“Emma, be quiet.”

“No,” I said. “Do not be quiet for the first time.”

The doctor returned to the room, holding a sealed result. The laboratory stamp was visible on the envelope. Everyone fell silent.

Lukas pushed the chair back.

“Nora, please.”

The doctor placed the envelope on the table and opened it.

“Genetic compatibility is confirmed. Lukas Bennett is the biological father of the child.”

Emma could not stop crying. Lukas leaned against the wall. David lowered his eyes. And I felt a strange calm: at last, I was free from my doubt.

“Now you understand why I wanted everything to happen quickly,” Lukas said.

“No,” I answered. “Now I understand why I wanted everything to end.”

A message came to my phone. It was from Karen: “I found a new document sent by Lukas in the public registry. It changes the house matter. Come back urgently.”

At the end of the message was one sentence: “If this is correct, Lukas no longer needs your signature.”…