Chapter 002

Nina’s POV

The house was quiet, the kind that reminded me how empty it could feel without laughter or little footsteps echoing through the hall.

I sat on the edge of the bed, one hand lightly brushing the side of my face where the slap still left a sting. The other rested on my stomach just flat, quiet and still.

A gentle knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts.

“Ma’am,” it was our maid, Lila, she stepped in carefully with a tray. “Your tonic.” I already knew what it was before she spoke. The scent alone curled my stomach.

“It’s from Madam Grayson,” she added, placing the tray on the nightstand. “She said it’s to help... for conception.” I forced a smile. “Thank you, Lila.”

The moment she left, I stared at the bowl. The thick liquid inside was dark and bitter and even smelling. I had drunk it many times before. And each time, it left my stomach churning for hours.

But I drank it anyway, every last drop. I didn’t want to cause tension between Elijah and his mother. I just want to avoid his mom in every way possible. I'll have to drink the tonic and do as she says to please her.

As the warmth of the tonic settled in my belly like a stone, I ran my hand across my abdomen again. My uterus was fine. My doctors had confirmed that months ago. Everything inside me was healthy, Ready and Waiting.

So why couldn’t I conceive? Maybe... maybe it wasn’t me.

The door opened softly. Elijah stepped in, unbuttoning his Shirt. He looked tired but still striking in the low light of the room. He came closer, his gaze flicking to the empty bowl on the tray. “You drank it again?”

I nodded. “Your mother means well.”

“She doesn’t live in your body,” he said quietly, brushing his thumb along my jaw where the swelling was fading. “And neither does that tonic.”

I lowered my eyes, gathering courage. “I’ve been thinking...” I started slowly. “Maybe it’s time we try, For real... I mean for a baby.”

His fingers stilled. “Nina, your body’s been through enough. That eye transplan wasn’t minor. You know what the doctors said.”

I did. I had heard it all. That stress could trigger complications. That pregnancy might put me at risk.

He reached into the drawer, pulling out a glass of water and something small in his palm. A contraceptive pill .

My heart sank.

“Elijah...”

“Just until your health stabilizes,” he said softly. “I can’t risk losing you.”

He held the pill to my lips, and I took it, because fighting felt heavier than silence this time. He watched me swallow, then set the glass down and kissed my forehead.

Later, we lay tangled in the sheets. His body pressed against mine, warmth meeting warmth in soft, slow waves. He moved with care, with love , but I could feel the weight of everything unspoken between us.

He leans in, his warm breath ghost over my body . I shivered, a soft gasp escaping my lips as his tongue parts my lower lips, tasting my most private place. My hips twitch, I could feel a jolt of pleasure shooting through me.

"Ah... h-hah... w-wait..., gently" I stammered, my cheeks flushed crimson even in that pain. But i didn't push him away. Hesitantly, I brought a hand to rest tentatively on the back of his head, my fingers where threading through his hair.

while he continues his sensual assault, My breathing started growing heavier, then there was this small whimpers and mewls filling the room. My thighs where clench around him as the pleasure mounts.

That moment He looked at me , I knew he feels me already fluttering, knowing I was close. We pushed our pleasure towards our peak. There was a silent scream from my lips and a sound from him as our climax crashes over us.

At the height of our closeness, he kissed my eyes, first the right, then the left.

"Nina... your eyes... they're... breathtaking, “They’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered." leaning in to press a soft, tender kiss this time on my head.

I closed my eyes, my chest tightening. He meant it. I knew he did.

The clock ticked past midnight. I stirred beneath the sheets, the room dim except for the soft glow of the moon pouring in through the curtains.

But as he held me afterward, his hand was resting over my stomach, I felt an ache.

Not the kind you feel in your body but the kind that settles deep inside your heart. I turned my face to the pillow, blinking up at the ceiling. And for the first time in a long while… I didn’t feel whole. A sudden wave of nausea rushed through me. My stomach tightened painfully. I threw the blanket off and rushed to the bathroom, barely making it in time before the bile rose.

The bitter taste of the tonic burned on the way up. But something else came with it too, it was something small. Something white. I stared into the toilet bowl. The pill. The one Elijah had given me.

I must have thrown it up without realizing. I sat on the cold bathroom floor, dazed, a mix of guilt and confusion sitting heavily in my chest. Did that mean I hadn’t taken it after all?

My body shook slightly. Not from sickness, but from something I couldn’t name. A strange sense of unease.

When I returned to bed, Elijah was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling with steady calm. I pulled the blanket over myself, my mind still unsettled.

That’s when his phone lit up on the nightstand. Just a quick blink. I wasn’t the type to snoop. But the light caught my attention. And something about the silence made it feel... too loud.

I glanced at the screen. There was one message. St. Aldric Memorial Hospital: Miss Vanessa has finally woken up; the surgery can proceed at any time.

I blinked. Miss Vanessa? Surgery? I hadn’t heard that name before. Who was she? And why did her surgery matter to Elijah?

I stared at the message, the screen dimming again before I could read more. But the words echoed in my head like a whisper I wasn’t meant to hear.