Chapter 2

**Mara**

For a long moment, I forgot how to breathe. The air caught in my throat, refusing to move no matter how hard I tried to inhale. The words echoed inside my head again and again, each repetition sounding more impossible than the last.

Vanessa is carrying my child.

My eyes searched Damon's face desperately, clinging to the smallest hope that he would smile and admit this was some cruel joke. I waited for him to laugh, to tell me he had gone too far.

He didn't. His expression remained calm, almost indifferent, as though he had merely commented on the weather instead of tearing my world apart.

My lips parted. I tried to speak, but my voice refused to come. Only a shaky breath escaped as I stared at him, unable to make sense of what I had just heard.

I had imagined countless ways my marriage could fall apart. Never like this. Never with another woman standing in my home, carrying my husband's child.

Vanessa gently rested her hand over her stomach, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked radiant, glowing with the kind of happiness I had prayed for every single month during the past three years.

A sharp ache spread through my chest. For three years, I had begged God to let me become a mother. I had cried until my pillow was soaked, wondering what I had done wrong.

She walked back into his life, and returned carrying the one thing I had spent years praying for.

"Damon..." My voice trembled so badly I barely recognized it as my own. "Tell me she's lying."

His eyes finally met mine. There wasn't a trace of hesitation in them. "She's not."

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet. I instinctively reached for the back of a chair, my fingers gripping it tightly as the blood drained from my face.

"When did this happen?" The question came out as little more than a whisper. My heart pounded so loudly that I could barely hear my own voice.

He didn't answer immediately. His silence stretched between us, growing heavier with every passing second. It hurt more than any confession ever could.

Vanessa lowered her eyes, pretending to look uncomfortable. Her fingers rubbed lightly over her stomach as she spoke. "It wasn't planned," she said softly.

My head snapped toward her. "I didn't ask you." The words left my mouth colder than I intended, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

She looked at me with practiced sympathy. "I'm sorry." The apology sounded gentle. Her eyes held no remorse.

I slowly turned back to Damon. "You cheated on me." It wasn't a question. It was the truth standing right in front of me, impossible to deny no matter how much I wanted to.

He drew in a slow breath. "It happened once."

A bitter laugh escaped before I could stop it. The sound echoed through the room, empty and broken. "People don't get pregnant by accident and suddenly appear in their ex-boyfriend's house."

Neither of them responded. The silence that followed told me everything I needed to know.

---

Mrs. Eleanor Blackwood stepped between us, her sharp gaze settling on me.

"Enough."

I looked at her in disbelief. "Enough?"

"My son doesn't owe you an explanation." The words struck me harder than I expected. I stared at the woman I'd spent three years trying to please, wondering if she had ever truly seen me as part of this family.

"He is my husband," I said quietly, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. "He owes me the truth."

Mrs. Blackwood folded her arms across her chest. "My son gave you three years." Her voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "Three years to give this family an heir."

Heat rushed to my face. A bitter smile tugged at my lips as I struggled to keep my emotions in check. "So that's what this is about?"

"What else should it be about?" she replied without hesitation. "The Blackwood family needs someone to carry on our name."

I turned to Damon. Moisture burned behind my eyes, but I blinked it back before the tears could fall. "I asked you countless times to go to the hospital with me."

His jaw tightened. "We've had this conversation before."

"No, Damon." I took a slow step toward him, refusing to let him hide behind the same excuse again. "You refused every single time."

My voice trembled, but I didn't stop. "I asked you to get tested because infertility isn't always the woman's problem."

Before I could finish, his voice cut through mine. "Enough." His tone was cold. "There is nothing wrong with me."

The room fell silent. The confidence in his voice made my heart sink. It wasn't certainty. It was pride.

Vanessa slowly reached for Damon's hand. For one foolish second, I waited for him to pull away. He didn't. Instead, his fingers closed around hers as though they belonged there.

Something inside me cracked. I remembered the nights he used to hold my hand and promise we'd face every disappointment together. Now, he was offering that same comfort to another woman.

Mrs. Blackwood's expression softened the moment she looked at Vanessa. "You've been standing for too long." She gently guided her toward the sofa. "Sit down, dear."

Vanessa smiled gratefully. "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

Mrs. Blackwood dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "You're carrying my grandchild." "Nothing is more important than your health."

I stood there without saying a word. For three years, that woman had never looked at me with such tenderness. Not once had she asked if I had eaten, slept well, or needed anything.

Yet this stranger had walked into the house less than ten minutes ago and was already being treated like family.

My eyes drifted back to Damon. He was watching Vanessa with quiet concern. "Are you feeling dizzy again?"

She smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine." "The doctor said I just need plenty of rest."

Doctor. The word cut deeper than it should have. I'd begged Damon to visit one with me.

He refused. Yet he had no problem taking another woman.

A painful lump rose in my throat. For the first time since I married into the Blackwood family, I felt like a complete stranger in my own home.

Vanessa looked up at Damon, her smile soft. "Thank you."

He frowned slightly. "For what?"

"For taking responsibility."

Mrs. Blackwood smiled proudly. "That's exactly how a real man should behave."

I lowered my eyes. Every word felt like another piece of my heart breaking. When I looked up again, no one was paying attention to me anymore. It was as though I had disappeared.

Quietly, I turned toward the staircase. "Mara." Damon's voice stopped me. I looked back, waiting.

"I think we need to talk."

A tired smile touched my lips, but it never reached my eyes. "I think you've already said everything that needed to be said."

Without waiting for his response, I walked upstairs. Behind me, Mrs. Blackwood laughed softly at something Vanessa had said. The sound followed me down the hallway like a cruel reminder that I no longer belonged.

I closed the bedroom door behind me and rested my back against it. The silence inside the room was suffocating. My eyes found the framed wedding photograph sitting on the dresser.

In it, Damon was looking at me as though I were the only woman in the world. My fingers trembled as I picked it up. "What happened to us?" I whispered.

A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. Downstairs, laughter echoed through the mansion. Upstairs, my marriage quietly fell apart.