Eli's not his

The silence crackled between them.

All Duke could hear was the sound of his own breath and hers. Shallow, trembling, breaking.

 

Then Rose’s voice came through.

 

“Eli’s dead.”

 

Duke froze.

 

It was soft. Too soft. Like she’d said it to herself a thousand times already and had run out of tears to give the words any more weight.

 

“Rose… what-what are you saying?” he choked out. “No, don’t-don’t say that. Eli’s fine. Just tell me what happened, sweetheart. Please.”

 

Her laugh came out broken, shattering through the static.

“You want me to tell you what happened?”

 

He could hear her breathing harder now, the tremor in every inhale. “You were fucking her while our son was dying in my arms, Duke. That’s what happened.”

 

“Rose-”

 

“He was burning,” she continued, voice rising. “His whole body shaking, and I-I kept calling you. I called until my fingers bled. Until my voice cracked. And you… You didn’t answer. She did.”

 

He went still.

 

Her voice lowered, cracking on every syllable. “Do you know what it feels like to hold your baby and watch the light leave his eyes? Do you know what it feels like to call for the one man who swore to protect him… and hear another woman’s voice on the other end?”

 

“Rose, please, don’t do this to yourself. I’m coming home-”

 

“No.”

 

The word was sharp. Final.

 

“You don’t come here,” she whispered. “If you show up now, Duke… I’ll lose two people, not one. Do you understand me?”

 

“Rose, please, listen to me-”

 

“I don’t want to see your face,” she said quietly. “Not now. Not ever. You betrayed us when we needed you most.”

 

The line went dead.

 

And something in Duke Sallow broke.

 

The phone slipped from his hand, hitting the marble floor with a dull clatter. He stood there, staring at nothing, his face pale, his body trembling. Then slowly, his gaze turned to Lisa.

 

Her smile faltered. “Duke…?”

 

He took a step toward her. Then another.

 

When he finally spoke, his voice was cold...eerily calm. “This… this is your fault."

 

Lisa’s breath hitched. “W-What are you-”

 

He grabbed her by the throat before she could finish.

 

She gasped, fingers clawing at his wrist. “Duke-stop-you’re hurting me-”

 

“MY SON IS DEAD!” he roared, his voice tearing through the room. “You fucking answered that call! You played your little game while my boy-my boy-was dying! You killed him!”

 

Tears spilled down Lisa’s face as she thrashed beneath his grip. “I didn’t- I didn’t mean-”

 

“Shut up!” he bellowed. “You knew what you were doing! You knew what she’d hear! You wanted to humiliate her, didn’t you? You wanted to break her!”

 

“Duke-” she gasped, eyes wide with terror. “Please-listen to me-”

 

He didn’t. His fingers dug deeper into her neck, rage pulsing through every vein. “I know you killed my son, you evil bitch.”

 

Then, she snapped.

 

“So, what?!” she cried out, choking for air. “He wasn’t even your son!”

 

Duke froze.

 

His grip loosened just slightly. “What… did you just say?”

 

Lisa coughed, dragging air into her lungs, her face flushed and wet with tears. “Eli… Eli wasn’t yours.”

 

He stared at her, face ghostly pale. “Don’t you dare-”

 

“It’s true!” she screamed, hysterical now, words tumbling out in a rush. “The night of your wedding, you were drunk, Duke. Both of you were. I drugged the drinks... yours and hers. You don’t remember your wedding night, do you?”

 

He stepped back, shaking his head. “You’re lying.”

 

“Am I?” she hissed, wild-eyed. “You think Rose spent her wedding night with you, but she didn’t! You blacked out, and she did the same when I took her to my room for us to chat! Then I sent her to a separate room where a guy I paid had sex with her, and after he left, I took her back to your room! She didn’t even know because she woke up in your arms!”

 

“Stop.”

 

“You think that child was yours? I did a DNA test when he was born, Duke, to make sure my plan works!” Lisa screamed, her voice cracking. “He wasn’t yours! Eli wasn’t your blood! I have the proof on my phone and the document at home.”

 

Lisa fumbled for her phone, coughing as she scrambled off. Her hair hung over her face, her fingers shaking as she swiped through her gallery. “You want proof?” she rasped, voice hoarse and ragged. “You want to see what I’ve known for years?”

Duke didn’t move. His body was a statue, his jaw locked so tightly the veins in his neck pulsed.

Lisa turned the screen toward him. “There.”

The photo glowed in the dark, a lab report, stamped and dated. His name. Rose’s. Eli’s.

And the word that shattered the last of his denial.

“Exclusion.”

He stared at it.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Until the letters bled together.

“Eli…” he whispered, his throat tightening. “No. No, this, this can’t be real.”

Lisa’s tears turned to something colder. “It’s real. He wasn’t your son. He never was.”

His knees almost gave out. He stumbled back a step, staring at the glowing screen like it was a blade pressed to his chest.

Lisa’s voice trembled, but the tremor wasn’t from guilt anymore. It was from something dark and triumphant twisting beneath the grief. “You’ve been living a lie, Duke. All that loyalty. All that devotion. For her child.”

He looked up at her then, slowly, dangerously. “You… did this.”

She gave a weak, bitter laugh, wiping her mouth. “Don’t make me your villain now, Duke. You were already mine long before this.”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “You used her. You used us.”

“And you used me!” she snapped, her voice breaking. “Don’t act like you didn’t! You only ever came here when she ignored you. You only touched me when you wanted to forget her name. You think I don’t know what I was to you? A shadow? A replacement?”

He said nothing.

Lisa’s chest rose and fell rapidly. Her mascara had bled down her cheeks, her lips trembling as she whispered, “Well, not anymore.”

She stepped closer, clutching his arm. “I’m pregnant, Duke. And it's your... this time.”