INICIAR SESIÓNSerena blinked awake sometime after dawn.The hospital room was quiet, lit by the soft gold bleeding through the blinds. Machines hummed gently in the background, steady and reassuring. Her body felt heavy, drained, but her heart her heart felt full in a way she hadn’t expected. Not after everything she’d been through.Her eyes drifted to Elijah.He sat slumped in the chair beside her bed, one elbow propped on the armrest, his hand still wrapped protectively around hers. His head rested on his forearm, dark circles carved beneath his eyes from a night without sleep. His chest rose and fell in slow, deep breaths exhaustion finally catching up with him.Serena stared at him for a long moment.She remembered the desperation in his voice when he’d carried her through the hospital doors. The panic in his eyes. The way he’d refused to let go of her hand even when the doctors tried to move him aside. No one not Ben, not Jake, not even her own parentshad ever looked at her with that kind of
The weeks passed slowly, but Elijah didn’t mind.Every morning, he was there at Serena’s door before the sun had fully risen, ready to drive her to her prenatal appointments or walk her through the quiet gardens near his estate so she could get some fresh air. The pregnancy had been both a blessing and a challenge—Serena’s body was adjusting, and though she tried to hide it, Elijah could see the toll it took on her.He made it his mission to ease every burden.On clinic days, Elijah was the one holding her hand as the nurse guided her through ultrasounds. He would sit quietly beside her, watching her face light up when the faint, rhythmic sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room.Sometimes, she cried.Elijah never said a word, never tried to make it about himself. He would simply hand her a tissue, his hand lingering softly on hers, a silent anchor.At home, he made sure the house was stocked with everything she craved or needed—fresh fruits, her favorite herbal teas, even the od
Serena stood by the window, the mid-morning sun casting a soft golden hue across her face. Her hands trembled slightly as she buttoned the cuff of her blouse. Her heart was steady, but it hurt. Not the sharp pain of betrayal anymore this was different. This was the ache of letting go of someone she had once built her entire world around.“Elijah,” she called softly, her voice barely carrying.He appeared by the door almost instantly, his shirt tucked, his jacket already on, looking every bit the solid rock he’d been for her these past few weeks.“Get dressed already,” he said with a half-smile. “The meeting with Ben’s lawyer is getting close.”Serena turned from the window, eyes searching his. “Do you… do you think I’m making the right decision?”Elijah took a breath and walked to her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. “Yes, you are. Or… do you want to still be married to him after everything?”She paused, her lips parting slightly, but her answer came quickly. “No.”“Then be
The room was still cloaked in a heavy silence, the scent of old whiskey and worn leather lingering like ghosts of a past life. Ben sat alone in the library, hunched over, the glass in his hand warming from the heat of his skin. Outside the window, dusk had begun its slow descent, casting long shadows that crept across the bookshelves, pooling at his feet like sorrow made manifest.His phone buzzed on the desk—once, then twice—vibrating against the mahogany with a soft urgency.He ignored it at first.The third buzz forced his hand.He picked it up, squinted at the screen.It was Charles—his attorney, friend, and reluctant keeper during this spiral of self-destruction. With a sigh that felt like it scraped from his soul, Ben answered.“Yeah.”“Ben.” Charles’ voice was low, careful, the way someone spoke before delivering bad news—as if the words themselves might shatter whatever fragile thing was left standing. “I just got off the phone with Serena’s legal team.”Ben didn’t speak. He d
The grand house that once echoed with laughter, warm aromas from the kitchen, and the quiet intimacy of shared lives had become a museum of sorrow. Dust didn’t dare settle on the expensive furniture, thanks to the relentless hands of the overworked staff, but joy had long since fled the halls.Ben had become a ghost within its walls.Where once he would come home to Serena’s laughter filling the foyer, her arms wrapping around him with quiet affection, now he came home to silence or worse, to Audrey.It was the third time this week he came back later than he should have. The excuse was always the same: work. Meetings. Client dinners. The truth was simpler he couldn’t bear to come home. Not anymore.The house loomed in front of him now like a haunted monument. Lights blazed in almost every window Audrey liked it that way, claiming the darkness was "bad for the baby." Ben scoffed under his breath. The baby.The child she insisted was his.The one he never asked for.The one he wasn’t ev
The small guest bedroom Serena had taken up in Elijah sister's house was quiet, bathed in soft golden hues of the late morning sun filtering through linen curtains. Outside, birds chirped softly, but inside, Serena sat frozen on the edge of the bed, her hands resting gently over her growing belly, eyes distant haunted.It had been a week since she walked out of Ben’s house.A week since her world came crumbling down with the weight of that video.A week since Stacy’s voice, smug and venom-laced, echoed in her head”Your darling husband has been screwing me behind your back.”Despite the gentle support of her sister, and the quiet but unwavering presence of Elijah, Serena had barely spoken more than a few words at a time. Her world had split in half and she was left trying to hold onto something solid while carrying the one thing that still tethered her to hope: her unborn child.She sat by the window now, staring at the backyard where Elijah had just been watering the small patch of fl







