chapter 2

Eloise Pov

I couldn't move. My whole body felt frozen except for my hands that wouldn't stop shaking. The video on the floor kept playing and replaying automatically and each loop felt like someone was peeling my skin off slowly.

My phone buzzed again.

I didn't want to look but my hand reached for it anyway like it had a mind of its own.

A new message.

This time it was a link to a social media post. I clicked it before my brain could stop me.

Rite's profile filled my screen. Her latest post was from thirty minutes ago. A photo of her and Julian tangled in white sheets. His face was clearly visible. So was hers. The caption read: "When he finally chooses the right woman. #TrueLove #SheNeverDeservedHim"

The post had two hundred likes already.

I scrolled through the comments and my stomach turned.

"I knew his wife was trash."

"Finally upgraded."

"The pregnant one? She looks miserable anyway."

"He deserves someone beautiful."

My throat closed up. I tried to swallow but couldn't. Tried to breathe but the air wouldn't come.

More notifications flooded in. Tags. Shares. Screenshots.

Someone had posted the video.

Not just someone. Rite had posted the video on a public group page called "North Peak Social." The group had over five thousand members. Everyone in our community was in that group.

Everyone would see this.

I clicked on the post and watched the view count rise.

The comments section exploded.

"Isn't that Julian Vale?"

"With Rite Morrison? I thought he was married."

"His wife is pregnant right now."

"Poor thing. Imagine being humiliated like this while carrying his child."

"She probably deserved it."

My hands shook so hard I almost dropped the phone again.

Someone tagged me in the comments.

"@EloiseVale thoughts?"

More tags followed. Dozens of them. People I knew. People I'd had dinner with. People who smiled at me in the grocery store.

All of them tagging me in my own humiliation.

My phone started ringing. Not the unknown number this time. My best friend Cara.

I answered because I didn't know what else to do.

"Eloise." Her voice was too quiet. "Have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry."

"Everyone knows." The words came out flat. Empty.

"It's all over social media. Someone sent it to the pack email chain too." She paused. "Even the elders in church have seen it."

My heart dropped into my stomach.

The elders that governed our pack. The same elders that had witnessed my wedding vows to Julian.

"What are people saying?"

Cara hesitated too long.

"Tell me."

"They're saying you weren't enough for him. That you were too weak to keep your husband satisfied. That your bloodline was never strong enough to mix with the Vale family." Her voice cracked. "Eloise none of that is true."

But it felt true.

I looked down at my swollen belly and felt something cold settle in my chest.

"I have to go."

"Wait don't hang up. Come stay with me. You shouldn't be alone right now."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're eight months pregnant and your husband just publicly humiliated you."

"I said I'm fine." My voice came out sharper than I meant it to.

Cara went quiet.

"I'm sorry." I pressed my palm against my forehead. "I just need time to think."

"Okay. But call me if you need anything. I mean it."

She hung up and I was alone again.

My phone kept buzzing. More notifications, tags and comments.

I turned it off and threw it across the room.

The silence that followed felt worse than the noise.

I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to make sense of what was happening but my brain felt foggy. Like someone had stuffed cotton in my skull.

My chest hurt. Not just emotionally. Physically. Like something inside me was trying to break free but couldn't.

The baby kicked again. Softer this time. Almost like a question.

I rubbed my stomach and whispered "I'm sorry."

Sorry that her father was a monster. Sorry that her mother was too weak to protect her. Sorry that she was going to be born into this mess.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside my room.

I tensed.

The door opened and Bree walked in. Julian's mother. My mother in law.

She looked at me with cold eyes that held no sympathy.

"So you've seen it."

"Yes."

"Good." She crossed her arms. "Then you know where you stand."

"Excuse me?"

"My son has made his choice clear. You're an embarrassment to this family."

The words hit me like a slap but I kept my face neutral.

"I'm his wife."

"You're a failed wife." Bree stepped closer. "You can't even carry a child properly. The doctor said the baby is underdeveloped. Do you know how that reflects on our family?"

"That's not my fault."

"Of course it is." She looked at me like I was something dirty on the bottom of her shoe. "You have a weak bloodline, weak body and everything."

My jaw clenched.

"Julian loves me."

Bree laughed. She actually threw her head back and laughed like I'd told the funniest joke she'd ever heard.

"Julian tolerates you because of your father's company. But your father is dead and the company is worthless now." She tilted her head. "So what exactly do you offer my son?"

I couldn't answer because I didn't know anymore.

"That's what I thought." Bree pulled something from her pocket. A small white pill bottle. "Take your medication and rest. All this stress isn't good for the baby."

She set the bottle on the nightstand and turned to leave.

"Why are you doing this?" My voice came out barely above a whisper.

Bree paused at the door.

"Because you were never supposed to be part of this family. You were a business transaction that's now expired." She glanced back at me. "The sooner you accept that the easier this will be for everyone."

She left and closed the door behind her.

I stared at the pill bottle. The same pills I'd been taking every day for the past two years. The ones Bree said would help with my anxiety and keep me healthy during pregnancy.

My phone was still off but I could imagine the notifications piling up. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

Everyone knew.

Everyone had seen.

Everyone was talking about how pathetic I was.

I reached for the pill bottle with shaking hands and opened it. One small white pill rolled into my palm.

I should take it. I always took it.

I looked at the pill and then at my reflection in the dark window across the room.

I looked hollow and empty. Like someone had scooped out everything inside me and left just a shell.

Then I put it in my mouth and swallowed it dry.

The bitterness spread across my tongue and down my throat and I felt that same tightness in my chest return.

I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes.

The video kept playing in my head on an endless loop and I realized that this was my life now.

This humiliation.

This pain.

This emptiness.

And there was nothing I could do to stop it.