Chapter Two

Sera

“I can’t breathe, Isabella… please tell me this isn’t happening.”

My fingers trembled violently, the plastic stick rattling in my grip as I held it out for my sister to see. Two solid, crimson lines burned through the display.

We were standing inside my bedroom, the morning sun casting cold shadows across the floor. My stomach churned with a sickening mixture of terror and nausea.

Isabella gasped, pressing both hands over her mouth. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked from the test to my pale, tear-stained face. “Sera… oh my God. Are you… is that what I think it is?”

“I took three of them,” I sobbed, my knees threatening to give out beneath me. I collapsed onto the edge of my bed, burying my face in my hands. “All three of them are positive. I’m pregnant, Isabella. I’m really pregnant.”

Isabella rushed to my side, dropping to her knees and gathering my shaking hands into hers. “Shh, lower your voice! If the maids hear you, Father will know before we can even process this!”

“What am I going to do?” I pleaded, looking into her eyes, searching desperately for a lifeline. “I don’t even know who he is! That night at the gala… I woke up in that room and ran because I was terrified. I don't know his name, I don't know his face… I don't know anything!”

“Listen to me, Sera,” Isabella said, her voice dripping with urgent, protective warmth. She squeezed my hands tightly. “You need to calm down. Crying won’t fix this.”

“How can I calm down?” I choked out, a fresh wave of tears spilling down my cheeks. “Papa will kill me! You know how strict he’s been since Mama died. He cares about nothing except the family’s reputation and the business! If he finds out I’m pregnant with a stranger’s baby out of wedlock—”

“He won’t find out,” Isabella interrupted softly, cupping my cheek with her hand. “Not yet. You have to trust me, sister. I will protect you.”

I looked at her, my heart brimming with overwhelming gratitude. “You… you won’t tell him?”

“Of course not! Are you crazy?” Isabella smiled reassuringly, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. “We are sisters, Sera. We only have each other now that Mama is gone. I will help you look for the man from that night quietly. And when the time is right, we will break the news to Father together so he won’t be as angry.”

“Thank you, Isabella,” I sobbed, leaning forward to wrap my arms around her neck. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You don’t ever have to worry,” Isabella whispered near my ear. “Just rest for now. Leave everything to me.”

I nodded against her shoulder, completely blind to the cold, venomous sneer that curled her lips as she held me in her arms.

Two days passed in a suffocating haze of anxiety. I stayed locked in my room, barely touching the food the housekeepers brought up, waiting for Isabella to give me an update.

On the third afternoon, heavy footsteps echoed down the grand hallway outside my bedroom door.

The door slammed open with such violence that the frame shuddered. I gasped, jumping up from my desk.

My father stood in the doorway. His face was thunderous, his veins bulging against his neck, his dark eyes burning with an unbridled, furious rage I had never seen before in my life. Behind him stood Isabella, her head bowed, her hands folded neatly over her dress like a somber mourner.

“Papa…?” I whispered, my voice faltering as a cold dread settled over my chest.

“Do not call me that!” he roared, his voice booming through the high ceilings. He marched into the room, snatching a stack of papers from his inner suit pocket and hurling them directly at my face.

The papers fluttered through the air, hitting my chest before scattering across the carpet. I looked down. They were medical lab results—blood tests also confirming my pregnancy from the private clinic I had visited two days ago.

My blood ran cold. “P-Papa, I can explain—”

“Explain what?!” my father screamed, stepping closer until he was towering over me, his hand shaking with rage. “Explain how the daughter I raised, the daughter I poured millions into, turned herself into a common whore at an exclusive business event?!”

The word slammed into my chest like a physical blow. “No! Papa, please, it wasn't like that—!”

“Then how was it, Sera?!” he demanded, his voice slicing through the air. “Your sister came to me crying, begging me to help you because you were too ashamed to admit the truth!”

I froze. I slowly turned my eyes toward Isabella.

Isabella raised her head slightly, her face the picture of heartbroken distress. “I’m so sorry, Sera… I had to tell him. You were so sick, and I couldn’t keep such a dangerous secret from Father anymore. It’s for your own good…”

“You… you told him?” I gasped, total disbelief shattering my mind. “You promised me, Isabella! You said you would help me—!”

“She did the right thing!” my father barked, cutting me off instantly. “Isabella cares about this family! She cares about our name! While you… you were out getting yourself knocked up by some nameless bastard!”

“It wasn't a choice!” I screamed back, tears erupting from my eyes as I clutched my stomach instinctively. “Something happened to me that night, Papa! I was sick! I passed out—!”

“Enough with your pathetic lies!” my father yelled, slamming his hand onto my desk, making the lamp rattle. “I asked you for the name of the man! Isabella said you refused to tell her because he’s someone who could ruin our company’s reputation! Who is he, Sera?! Give me a name!”

“I don’t know!” I sobbed, shaking my head violently. “I swear on Mama’s grave, I don’t know who he was! I didn’t see his face! I woke up and he was sleeping, and I panicked and ran—”

“You don’t know?!” My father let out a harsh, bitter laugh that echoed terrifyingly in the room. “You expect me to believe you slept with a man in a high-end hotel suite and you don’t even know his name?! Do you take me for a fool?!”

“It’s the truth, Papa! Please, believe me!” I dropped to my knees right in front of him, reaching out to grab the hem of his trousers. “Please, Papa… I was framed or drugged, I don’t know, but I swear I never wanted to hurt you or Mama’s memory—!”

“Don’t you dare bring your mother into this!” he snarled, kicking his leg back to break my grip. I fell sideways onto the hard floor, scraping my wrist. “Your mother would be disgusted by you! You are a stain on the Alcantara legacy!”

Every word felt like a blade twisting inside my chest. I looked up at Isabella, silently begging her to tell him the truth, to tell him how scared I was, but she merely turned her face away, dabbing at her dry eyes with a handkerchief.

“Papa…” I whimpered, clutching my bruised wrist. “Please… I’m your daughter.”

“Not anymore,” my father said, his voice dropping into a deadly, icy calm that terrified me far more than his screaming.

“You threw yourself away the moment you stepped into that room!” he growled. He turned his back on me and walked toward the door. “Pack your things. You have one hour to leave this house. If you are still here by sunset, the guards will throw you out into the street.”

“Papa! Papa, please!” I screamed, crawling after him, but he stepped out of the room without looking back once.

The heavy door began to swing shut. Before it closed completely, Isabella stepped inside for a brief second.

She stood over me as I lay weeping on the floor. The pitiful, heartbroken facade vanished from her face entirely, replaced by a cold, victorious smirk.

“Why…?” I choked out through my sobs, looking up at her in horror. “Why did you do this to me, Isabella? I trusted you… you’re my sister!”

Isabella leaned down, her voice dropping to a low, venomous whisper that sent chills straight through my soul.

“You were never my sister, Sera,” she hissed softly, her eyes gleaming with years of buried hatred. “You were just the favored little princess who stole Father’s attention and Mama’s love. Do you really think I’d let you keep half of the Alcantara empire?”

My breath caught in my throat. “You… you planned this?”

“You were always so naïve,” Isabella sneered, straightening up and looking down at me like I was dirt beneath her shoes. “Enjoy your dirty little secret out on the street, Sera. Let’s see how far Mama’s precious memory gets you now.”

She turned on her heel and walked out, letting the heavy oak door slam shut behind her.

The room fell into a horrifying, dead silence.

I lay on the floor, clutching my stomach as violent, wracking sobs tore through my chest. The world had completely collapsed around me in a single hour. My mother was dead, my father had disowned me, and the sister I loved had turned out to be my executioner.

I am now penniless, homeless, and pregnant with a stranger’s child.

I looked down at my hands, still shaking against my stomach. Through the blinding haze of tears and unbearable heartbreak, a tiny, quiet spark of survival flickered deep inside my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the tiny life growing inside me, my voice cracking in the dark, empty room. “I’m so sorry… but I promise you, I will protect you. No matter what it takes… I will protect you.”

I wiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, pushed myself up off the floor, and began to pack my life into a single suitcase.