Each balloon was stamped in shiny silver with the same word:
CHEATER.
Confetti shot up and rained down—tiny black broken hearts drifting onto hair, shoulders, frosting, everything.
The yard went silent in that terrifying way where you can hear someone swallow.
Then the whispers hit like a swarm.
“What does that mean?”
“Is this a joke?”
“Oh my God.”
“Wait, what?”
Blake’s face drained so fast it was almost impressive.
Harper looked like she’d been hit with a stun gun.
Blake turned to me, voice low and sharp. “Rowan, what the hell is this?”
I stepped forward, calm as a librarian.
“This isn’t a gender reveal,” I said.
Heads snapped toward me.
“This is a truth reveal.”
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