Here’s a shortened version of your story that keeps the essence and emotional beats intact:
Chris sighed outside his parents’ house. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Amanda gently held his arm. “They’re your parents. Don’t we want them at our wedding?”
Chris grunted. “If they can’t accept the woman I love, I don’t care.”
Amanda stayed hopeful. “They’re family. What about our future kids?”
Chris barely managed a nod before she added cheerfully, “We’re in this together.”
Inside, his mother greeted Amanda with her usual fake smile. Chris rolled his eyes. His parents never approved of Amanda, still bitter he didn’t choose Ciara, the daughter of a wealthy family friend.
Chris came from wealth, but college had changed his perspective. He met Amanda by chance and fell hard. She wasn’t impressed at first but gave him a shot, and they’d been inseparable since.
Their first meeting with his parents was a disaster. His mom called Amanda “just an assistant” and pushed him toward Ciara. Chris defended Amanda fiercely, but years passed, and the Castillos merely tolerated her.
What they didn’t know was Amanda was already pregnant. She hoped that news would change everything.
At dinner, things spiraled. Mr. Castillo asked when Amanda would quit her job. She smiled and announced, “I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
Then, Mrs. Castillo screamed, “He’s infertile!”
Chris froze. He’d recently learned he couldn’t have children—but they had been trying. That meant… Amanda had cheated?
His mom exploded, accusing Amanda of trapping him. Amanda, shocked, begged Chris to say something—but he just stared at his plate. His mom threw Amanda out.
Days later, Chris left their apartment, a sticky note beside his test results:
“I’m infertile. I hope you have a happy life—but not with me.”
Amanda was crushed. She hadn’t cheated and didn’t understand. Chris blocked her, and her attempts to reach him failed.
But Amanda moved on. She had her baby, named him Paul, and did it all alone. It was hard—but she was strong. Paul looked just like Chris.
Meanwhile, Chris sank into a lifeless routine. His parents pushed him back toward Ciara. He gave in and even got engaged. But a chance street encounter with Amanda—and a glimpse of her baby—shook him.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Later, at a wedding planning meeting, Ciara’s mother slipped up. “Babies? But I’m infertile,” Chris said.
Her reply: “That was just our plan.”
Everything clicked.
His test results had been faked by both families to drive him back to Ciara. Furious, he left and demanded the truth. His mother confessed.
Chris raced to Amanda’s. She wasn’t home, so he let himself in, found their baby’s room, and broke down in tears. When Amanda came back and found him, she was furious.
But he told her everything.
She didn’t know if things could ever go back to what they were. It had been lonely. Hard. But Chris swore he would do anything to be part of Paul’s life.
Tears in her eyes, she said softly,
“Life’s too short for grudges.”
Let me know if you’d like a version that’s even shorter—like for social media or a synopsis!
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