My pupils dilated as I glared at my husband's ex wife sitting gracefully on the couch in my living room. My blood boiled in rage but I couldn't do anything about it and just watched her in silence.
Perhaps it never occurred to me that my husband's ex wife would come back 3 years later with a toddler and tell him he's a father. I don't even have the chance to be mad at him, she's giving him a child I couldn't give him for three years. He was surprised and angry but in a minute, he was holding the toddler in his arms like he had been expecting it all along without even considering my feelings. At that moment, I felt hurt but the fact that my husband wasn't even looking at me or explaining things properly. made me irritated. "What's going on? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to tell me what's going to happen? You can't just expect me to take her in do you!" I yelled but Kai's expression was not satisfying. "I'm so so sorry Freya, I can leave if you want me to but I have no where to go and it's raining. Please help me!" Bianca pleaded and went on her knees. But for all I care, I'm not in for sympathy with My husband's ex who is Cunning and this might just be one of her tricks to take my husband from me. "No one is going anywhere," Kai said and I bit my lips and glared at the toddler that clutched onto his shirt tightly. My heart ached that Kai was being too unserious about the whole thing. "We need to talk Kai," I said and walked into our bedroom. I sat on our bed and i forced back the tears that threatened to fall, what would happen after this?. In the end, my husband's family would be happy to have her replace me since they never liked me to start with. I would be an object of mockery for the whole city. Kai came into the room some minutes later and locked the door from the inside. I had held in for too long and wanted to pour out my heart but I'm not even sure if I can do that now that the one who really had his heart had returned with the thing he wanted the most. "What are you going to do now?" I asked him and he rested his back on the wall and stared at me with a gaze I couldn't interprete. "I don't know Freya, but we can't chase her out at this time of the night when it's raining and with my child." Kai said and the word "MY CHILD" played repeatedly in my mind and I thought I could loose my mind. "How could you make such a mistake? Have you forgotten who Bianca is? This might be just a way to get you back, what if the child is not yours? What if what if the child is another man's child?" I bombarded him with questions and he just walked closer to me and held my hand. The tears I forced in had started to roll down my cheeks uncontrollably. "What about me? Do you know how hurt I was when you held that child and took her in without consulting me? did you even consider how I felt?" I said. His face made me start thinking if he even loved me. It was as if he didn't care. "It's going to go fine Freya, about Bianca. We will have a DNA test tommorow and if the child is mine, she will stay." Kai's words couldn't be anymore nicer and I pulled back immediately. "What if the results comes out negative?" I asked and Kai sighed. "Then I'll send her out immediately, but for now. We still have to keep her in, we can't let anything happen to her or the baby." That night was the worst for me, I found myself tossing and turning on the bed without a solution to my problems. I felt sad and somewhat terrified that I would lose Kai. Even though we had been married for 3 years, I still couldn't get 20 percent of what Kai felt for Bianca. They were lovebirds and people never thought they would get to a point of separation. She used to be a model and he was a successful businessman and he still is. Bianca had a huge success bomb with Kai's fame and gradually started to pull away from him, subjecting to popular celebrities. She started going out with Kai's best friend and when Kai found out, he was infuriated. He gave a chance to explain but it felt like she had been anticipating a divorce for a while. She abandoned him and threw the papers in his face like they weren't lovebirds in the past. At that time, I was there to support him. Both mentally, emotionally and physically. But in the process, we found ourselves entangled in this web where it felt like I walked into the relationship on my own. And even in the time I needed him to support me the most, he always let me down. Even though he acted tough and all, I could still read his eyes. The way he looked at Bianca and her child, but to me. It felt like I was an obstacle he had to sort out. I felt a heavy arm on my waist and I adjusted my hips to sync with his. I turned to face him and cuddled up in his arms. His breath was hot against my face and I tried not to think of Bianca and clear my mind. Even though Kai never showed me his side of affection and love, I was sure he liked my curves and that was probably why he was attracted to me when I worked as his secretary. The only thing he wanted was my body, if I were to loose my shape. I would lose Kai, so I tried my best to stay fit and went to the gym on weekends. But all the efforts I made to build a stable relationship seemed to crash the moment that evil woman called Bianca stepped into this house. I silently prayed the DNA test results will come out negative, even more terrified it might come out positive.CHAPTER 059A STEAMY NIGHT, REGRETS OR LUST OR WHATEVER SHE FELT.POV(FREYA)I pulled the covers up to Eliza’s chin, brushing a strand of her hair away. She looked peaceful now, like she hadn’t spent the entire night unraveling in my arms.I turned to leave, tiptoeing out as quietly as I could.But just as my fingers touched the doorknob, I felt it, her hand curling tightly around my wrist.I froze.“Freya,” she murmured. “Don’t go.”I turned slowly, heart skipping. Her eyes were open now. Wide and glossy.“Eliza, it’s late. I was just...”She sat up, never releasing my wrist. “You flinched.”“What?” I tried to smile.“You were scared,” she whispered, blinking at me. “Am I… scary to you?”I didn’t answer right away. Something about her voice, the smallness of it, made my throat close. Her fingers loosened slightly, waiting.So I lied. “I’m just tired,” I said softly. “That’s all.”She didn’t believe me. I could tell.But she didn’t push.“Would you… sleep here?” she asked next. Her vo
CHAPTER 058HER EYES, THEY'RE DIFFERENT POV(FREYA)The place was not what I expected.A Russian bar. I’d pictured icy stares, vodka shots, and maybe a bear head mounted on a wall. What I got instead was... people laughing? Music bouncing off brick walls? A warmth I didn’t think Russia had?“This is oddly cheerful,” I said, leaning toward Alan as we stepped in. He was scanning the room, one hand in his coat pocket, the other motioning for me to stay close. “Where’s the brooding? The mystery? The scary mafia vibes?”“Maybe they’re on vacation,” he said dryly, then added under his breath, “Give it five minutes.”We found a seat near the bar, the glow of neon lights painting the air around us in soft pink and purple. I glanced at the women, sharp cheekbones, painted lips, laughter that rang like bells. All so tall. So elegant.“Russian women are beautiful,” I murmured, half to myself.Alan paused, then turned to look at me. “Are you jealous?”I smiled tightly, though I could already feel
CHAPTER 057E MONSTERPOV(FREYA)The study felt like something out of a horror novel. Dim, antique, and suffocating with shadows. A hundred cracked spines stared down at me from the towering bookshelves. The fireplace glowed faintly, not warm, just alive. And in the chair across from me, the old man sat with his steepled fingers, eyes heavy like they carried centuries."Tea?" he asked.I shook my head, barely able to find my voice. “No.”He poured it anyway, a delicate, almost ceremonial gesture, then began like he’d been rehearsing the story his whole life."There was once a girl," he said, "born with blood in her mouth. Not literally, of course. But close. Let’s call her… E.”My stomach knotted.“She was just two when the pets began to disappear. Rabbits, cats, songbirds. All vanished. Who would suspect a child? Then at seven, her father gifted her a dog..."He paused, his lips curling slightly.“...and the dog died that night. The maids said they heard it crying. Whimpering. But by
CHAPTER 056FORBIDDEN MEMORIES POV (FREYA)The fire had nearly died down, only a low crackle left in the backyard pit. Smoke curled lazily into the air, rising into the thickening clouds above us. I should’ve noticed the shift in the wind, the way the air suddenly smelled like wet earth. But my heart was still caught somewhere between the ashes and Eliza’s eyes.Then came the first drop.It landed softly on my cheek. Then another. And then—“Oh no,” I laughed, looking up as the heavens broke loose without warning.Rain.Cool, heavy, unapologetic rain.I squealed as it soaked through my shirt and hair almost instantly. “Oh, come on!” I shouted toward the sky, arms stretched out.Beside me, Eliza just blinked, watching me like I’d gone mad.Which, fair. But it was a freeing kind of madness.I kicked off my shoes and ran barefoot into the yard, spinning in the puddles already forming in the grass. “Come on, Liza!”She hesitated, arms crossed, then slowly peeled her sweater off and dropp
CHAPTER 055THE MONSTERS WE LEARN TO LOVEPOV (FREYA)I followed Eliza through a long hallway, deeper into the manor. Her hand was warm in mine, but her steps were stiff, mechanical, like her soul had been drained minutes ago and she was walking out of habit, not will.She said nothing. Not until we reached a narrow wooden door tucked beneath a stone arch that looked far too small to be part of a house this grand.She pushed it open.I blinked.It wasn’t a room. It was a cell.Four tight walls, cracked and yellow. The window, if I could even call it that was the size of a shoebox. The air tasted like mildew and old paint. There was no bed, just a thin mattress on the ground and shelves stacked with notebooks and books worn to their spines. Paintings on the walls, no bigger than postcards, were scrawled like desperate messages. Some were wild and chaotic, others hauntingly detailed.“This...” My voice barely found itself. “This is where you grew up?”She nodded.I stared, unsure whethe
CHAPTER 054HER LIVING CANVASPOV(FREYA)I found her by the window, sunlight pooling across the floor like it had chosen her. She was barefoot, surrounded by paintbrushes, a cup of murky water, and a half-unwrapped canvas propped on a wooden easel. She was humming something... I couldn’t place the tune, but it sounded soft. Almost happy.“Eliza?”She didn’t flinch or turn around, just swept her hand across the palette like she already knew I was there. “Have a seat, princess.”I blinked. “What?”She turned with a smug little grin and pointed to the armchair in front of the easel. “Sit. Your face looks dramatic today. I need a subject.”I glanced down at myself. Just an oversized sweater and yesterday’s leggings. “Are you painting me or sentencing me?”“Don’t be rude. Sit.”I sat.Eliza flicked her wrist like she was swishing away all my hesitations. “Now stay in one position. Don’t ruin my vision.”I tried not to smile. “You have a vision?”“I always do.” She dipped her brush and star