Chapter 4

Elara could feel her heartbeat, loud, fast, echoing inside her ears as if her body was trying to pull her back from somewhere far away. Her eyelids felt heavy, her head light, her throat dry. When she tried to move, a dull ache spread through her limbs.

Her fingers curled slowly against the sheets as memory returned in fragments.

The fever. The dizziness. The way Nathaniel had blamed her. The world tilted before everything went dark.

“Mrs. Blackwood.”

She turned her head weakly. A doctor stood near the, his expression calm and professional.

“You fainted due to exhaustion and high fever,” he said. “Your body has been under a lot of stress.”

She nodded faintly, her mind still foggy with heaviness.

“There’s something else,” he added after a pause.

Elara raised a brow and her fingers tightened instinctively.

“You’re pregnant.”

The words hung in the air heavily.

Pregnant.

For a moment, Elara thought she hadn’t heard him correctly. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Her gaze dropped slowly to her stomach, flat beneath the sheet, as if trying to reconcile the word with her reality.

A baby. Her and Nathaniel’s baby.

Something warm and sharp rose in her chest at the same time, hope and fear tangled so tightly she couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.

“How far along am I?” she asked quietly.

“Very early,” the doctor replied. “A few weeks.”

A few weeks.

That meant it was before Melissa came back. Before everything broke.

The doctor continued speaking, but Elara barely heard him. Her thoughts spiraled inward with many emotions.

“I don’t want my husband to know yet,” Elara said suddenly.

The doctor looked up, surprised. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Her voice was steady. “I want to tell him myself.”

The doctor nodded, respecting her decision. “You’ll need rest. Emotional stress isn’t good at this stage.”

Emotional stress. Elara almost smiled at the irony.

After the doctor left, the silence pressed in again. Elara rested one hand over her abdomen unconsciously. There was something fragile growing inside her now. Something innocent. Something that belonged to her. For the first time in days, a fragile hope stirred within her.

Maybe if Nathaniel knew about the baby, things would change.

He wasn’t heartless. Not completely.

Where is Nathaniel?” she asked softly when a servant came in later with water.

The servant hesitated and that pause told Elara everything.

“He’s… upstairs, ma’am,” the woman replied carefully. “In Miss Melissa’s room.”

The warmth in Elara’s chest cracked.

“Taking care of her,” the servant added, almost apologetically.

Elara nodded once. “Thank you.”

The servant left, and Elara sat there in silence, the words echoing over and over.

She pushed herself out of bed despite the lingering weakness, her movements slow but deliberate. She didn’t know why her feet carried her down the corridor. She didn’t plan it. She only knew she needed to see him. To tell him.

She stopped just outside the slightly open door.

She stopped when she heard his voice.

“I never wanted this marriage,” Nathaniel said calmly.

Elara froze.

Her breath caught painfully in her chest.

“It was my grandfather’s decision,” he continued. “An obligation. I did what I was supposed to do.”

There was a pause. Then Melissa spoke softly, her voice gentle, reassuring.

“I know. You tried.”

“I waited for you,” Nathaniel said quietly.

The words landed like a blade in her chest. Elara’s hand slid down to her stomach instinctively.

“I waited even when you left,” he went on. “Even when you chose your career and went abroad. I never stopped.”

Her vision blurred.

“You were always the one I wanted,” he said.

Silence followed, heavy and tense.

Elara couldn’t hear anything else, not her own breathing, not the blood rushing in her ears. The world shattered to that single truth spoken so calmly and casually.

He never wanted this marriage. He never wanted her.

Elara stepped back silently, her legs trembling but holding. She didn’t cry then. She returned to her room without being seen, closed the door, and finally let herself slide down onto the bed.

Her hands pressed against her mouth as soundless sobs shook her body. Tears soaked into the pillow, her shoulders trembling as everything she had been holding back finally broke free.

It wasn’t because the man she loved wanted someone else. But because she finally understood that even if she told him about the baby, nothing would change.

A child born from obligation would never be loved. And she would never beg for love again.

That night, Elara made a phone call.

“I want to file for divorce,” she said calmly when the lawyer answered.

There was a pause. “Are you sure, Mrs. Blackwood?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Prepare the papers.”

The next morning, Elara walked into Nathaniel’s study.

He was seated behind the desk, reviewing documents, irritation flickering across his face at the interruption.

“What is it now?” he asked without looking up.

Elara stepped forward and placed a thin folder on the desk.

Nathaniel’s eyes dropped to the words printed on the cover

DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

His fingers froze.

“What is this?” He asked, his tone filled with shock.

Elara met his gaze, her voice steady.

“I want a divorce.”

***

Hey dearies.

Looks like Elara finally found her strength. Be ready, because soon secretly will reveal, ache will be deep and regret would simmer hard. Elara will rise above like a Phoenix.

she is woman who survives and rises,even when the world is stacked against her.

Do comment, share your review and follow for more.

Love and hugs

Cherry / Ishq