Chapter Three.

ELOISE POV:

I slowly lifted my gaze to meet his as he towered over me, his expression cold and distant, so unlike the warmth I had once known.

Softly, yet deliberately, I asked, never breaking eye contact. “Squandering the Ashford wealth? Bringing bad luck to your family? Damien, are you really going to stand there and act like you don’t know where that money has gone? Every cent has been for the treatments, the endless medications so I could carry your child. Did you forget? Or have you conveniently erased the fact that you supported it? That you approved it?”

A bitter scoff escaped my lips, the next words stinging as I spoke them. “Or maybe you’ve also forgotten that I never needed your money. I was doing just fine, successful in my career until I gave it all up. I sacrificed everything to become the perfect housewife, just to appease your mother.”

I shook my head, my voice trembling with the weight of unspoken pain. “I did it all for the sake of peace. Because she convinced herself that my career was the reason I couldn't give you a child. But No! No matter what Eloise does, it’s never enough, is it?”

Damien’s hardened gaze flickered, faltering just slightly. But I wasn’t done.

“What about the humiliation? The endless insults I endured from your family because I was an orphan? Because I couldn’t give them an heir soon enough?” I demanded, my voice rising.

“Did any of you ever stop to think about me? About how I was feeling? How I was struggling to hold myself together while suffocating under the weight of all your expectations?”

“I’ve endured so much emotional torment for the past five years, but I never once complained because I was doing it for us!” My voice trembled with raw pain as I stared at him, my chest rising and falling with every breath.

"I put up with it all because I loved you, Damien! Because I thought you had my back—I believed my husband had my back! But I was so damn wrong.”

The moment he loosened his grip, I yanked my hand away from him, my body shaking with the weight of my emotions.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, unstoppable, as I slowly lifted a trembling finger to his face.

“You went behind my back. You cheated on me,” I whispered, my voice cracking before it rose with fury.

“You betrayed me in every possible way, and you kept it from me for months! And now…now you have the audacity to stand here and tell me you want a divorce?” My voice broke into a near scream, the agony in my heart spilling into every word. “Dream on, Damien! Fucking dream on!”

But instead of remorse, instead of even a flicker of regret, all I got was a cold, cruel laugh.

“Oh, Eloise,” he drawled, amusement lacing his tone. "You're so naïve, aren’t you? You actually thought I loved you?” It was like a dagger straight to my heart.

“Love, support, care…it was all a lie.” Damien tilted his head, amusement flickering in his cold gaze, as if the very idea of him ever caring for me was ridiculous.

“Eloise, I never loved you. I married you because you were convenient. Because you didn't have any parents and craved to be loved by someone. But now, I’ve found someone better. Someone who truly deserves to stand by my side. Someone who can give me the family you never could.”

His words struck like a lightening, slicing through the last shreds of my resolve as I heard the distant rumble of the incoming downpour getting louder every minute. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground, the weight of his betrayal suffocating me.

“Mother, hand me the divorce papers,” Damien's voice rang out, devoid of hesitation.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. The truth was undeniable now.

I meant nothing to him. I had never meant anything. I was merely a placeholder, a temporary solution in his life. If he had truly loved me, he would have waited. He wouldn’t have been so quick to seek solace in another woman’s arms out of sheer desperation for a child.

And now… now that I carried his child, he could never know. He didn’t deserve to. Because even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.

Love had never been part of the equation for Damien in this marriage. And I refused to let my child grow up as nothing more than an obligation to a man who had never wanted us in the first place.

“Here are the divorce papers, my son,” Regina's voice dripped with sickly sweetness before it turned sharp and cold. “Make her sign them and throw her out without mercy. She’s been causing too much noise, and it’s not good for my soon-to-be daughter-in-law or the baby.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Damien take the documents from her, barely sparing me a glance before shoving them into my hands.

“Here,” he said curtly, his voice devoid of any emotion. “The divorce agreement. Sign it. Now.”

I didn’t move. My hands trembled as silent tears streamed down my face.

My heart ached bitterly, the weight of five wasted years pressing down on me.

Everything I had done, every sacrifice I had made to make this marriage work, it was all for nothing. The man I had once believed loved me never had.

Damien scoffed at my silence. “Sitting there crying won’t change anything. I can’t stay married to a woman who can’t give me an heir, no man would.” His voice was laced with irritation. “You should be grateful I was patient enough to wait five damn years before finally choosing someone else.”

He tossed a pen onto the floor beside the documents, his expression hard. “Sign it and leave quietly. Unless you'd rather be humiliated in front of everyone.”

Then, without another word, he turned his back on me, walking over to Vivian, who had been smiling throughout the entire confrontation.

I had nothing left to fight for. No reason to stay.

With shaking hands, I picked up the pen. I signed away everything. My marriage, my dignity, every piece of myself I had given to this man.

Forcing my trembling legs to move, I turned away from Damien and his cruel family after picking up my purse that contained my pregnancy reports then began heading upstairs to gather the only things that truly belonged to me.

But Regina’s sharp voice sliced through the air, halting me in my tracks.

“And where do you think you’re going? The exit is the other way, woman!” she snapped, her tone dripping with disdain.

Without turning back, I answered weakly, “I need to pack my things before I leave.”

“Pack your things?” She let out a cruel laugh. “Have you forgotten that everything you own here was bought with Ashford money? Nothing is yours. Every dress, every shoe, every piece of jewelry you think you have a right to them? They belong to Damien now. And, of course, Vivian will wear them all. Be grateful I’m not stripping you of the little clothing you have on right now.” She sneered, motioning toward the exit. "Get out!"

I ignored her, my steps steady as I continued toward the staircase. I wasn’t leaving without my parents' keepsakes. Those were mine.

“Stop right there, Eloise!” Damien’s thunderous voice made the walls tremble.

Before I could react, he was already in front of me, his grip tightening around my arm.

“You heard my mother,” he growled, yanking me down the stairs with brutal force. Pain shot through me as I stumbled, barely able to keep up with his pace.

“You have no place here. You lost every right to take anything from this house!”

“No!” I cried, struggling against his grip. “You can’t do this! My things are in there, Damien!"

But he was unmoved. With one final, merciless shove, he threw me past the estate gates.

I hit the cold pavement, the impact sending a jolt of pain through my body. The gates slammed shut behind me, locking me out of the life I had fought so hard to keep.

And just like that, I was nothing more than a discarded memory as I slipped onto the granite floor.

The rain poured down harder, drenching my trembling body as I lay on the cold pavement. My tears mixed with the raindrops, indistinguishable from the storm raging around me.

My heart was shattered. My body weak. And I had nowhere to go.

Then, through the sound of thunder and my own ragged breathing, my phone rang.

With shaky hands, I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Dr. Ivy Reid. My friend. The fertility specialist who had handled my insemination.

A lump formed in my throat as I swiped to answer, pressing the phone to my ear in silence.

“Ivy?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

Her breath hitched on the other end. “E-Eloise… I’m so sorry, but there’s a problem with your insemination procedure.” Her words came in a rush, laced with urgency. “Please, come to the hospital as soon as possible. We need to see immediately.”

A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the rain.

My baby… Something was wrong.