PREGNANT???

CHAPTER 5

The east wing guest room became my prison. It was smaller than my old room at home, with plain cream walls, a narrow bed, a single armchair, and a window that overlooked the back gardens. The Lannister staff had been given clear instructions: deliver meals to the door, speak only when necessary, and pretend I didn’t exist. I was a ghost in my husband’s house.

The first few days blurred together in suffocating silence. I ate alone. I slept alone. I spent hours staring at the ceiling, replaying the wedding night in my mind until shame made my skin crawl. Kade’s voice calling out “Bella” echoed constantly. I was nothing more than a body he had used by mistake.

On the fourth day, Bella arrived for her first “visit.”

She swept into the mansion like she belonged there, dressed in a soft cream sweater and skirt that made her look innocent and radiant. Victoria greeted her with a forced but practiced smile. From the hallway, I heard Bella’s sweet voice: “I just wanted to check on my sister. This whole situation has been so hard on everyone.”

Kade’s low reply carried down the corridor. “You’re handling it better than most would. You’re even better than I expected, Bella.”

My stomach twisted. I slowly unlocked the door, peeping into the hallway. Seeing as Bella laughed softly. “Thank you, Kade. I'm sorry this happened this way. I really wanted to marry you, but my sister has always been selfish. I cried for days, but I decided to let it go. You know, I just want what’s best for both our families.”

It'd be a lie to say I was shocked. Bella had always been a good actress. She could make you believe every word she said. Father and Mother were her perfect experiments.

Now, She played the role of perfect daughter-in-law flawlessly—polite, concerned, charming. Victoria welcomed her. Even Kade seemed more relaxed in her presence, his voice losing some of its sharp edge. I watched from the shadows as they walked down the hallway out of sight, Bella touching his arm lightly while speaking about “poor Rory’s difficult choices.”

I almost gagged in disgust at her fake attitude. For someone who claimed to not wanting to be tied down now by marriage to Kade, she seems to enjoy his attention.

She probably just wanted to rub her liberty and freewill in my face.

Later that evening, she came to my room.

The moment the door closed, her mask dropped. She leaned against it, smiling with pure venom.

“Look at you,” she said softly, eyes raking over my simple clothes and messy hair. “The perfect spare, tucked away where you belong. Did you really think you could take my place? Kade already told me I’m the better option. He said it himself—he’s relieved it wasn’t me who had to suffer through that wedding night with him. You’re just the placeholder, Rory. Enjoy being useful for once in your life.”

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can.” She stepped closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “And because it’s fun watching you fade away while I get everything. Stay invisible, spare. It suits you.”

She left with a bright smile for the staff, calling out cheerful goodbyes to Victoria and Kade.

I slumped against the door, angry tears spilling out. I was more annoyed by my current bondage than by Bella's words.

I didn't choose this, why did I need to be the one bearing the fall for everyone else's wrong decisions.

The pattern repeated over the following weeks. Bella visited rather too often, it became weird. She was always the picture of grace in public. Kade’s words to her grew warmer each time: “You’re handling this situation with such maturity,” or “You would have made a fine wife, Bella. Once this six months are over, would you consider giving us a chance.” Every compliment carved deeper into my chest. I was the mistake. She was the one he would have preferred.

I became a master of silence. I took my meals in my room. I avoided the main areas of the house. Sometimes, late at night, I would slip into the kitchen when the staff had gone to bed and cook small things for myself—simple soups, fresh bread, or the lemon cookies I used to make at home. It was the only time I felt like myself.

One morning, I left a small plate of those lemon cookies on the kitchen counter before retreating to my room. Later, I overheard one of the maids whispering to another: “Master Kade ate three of them. He asked who made them. I told him it must have been the kitchen staff.”

He never knew it was me. But he kept eating them whenever I baked.

There were other small moments that confused me. Once, when I had a particularly bad night of insomnia and left my door slightly ajar, I heard his footsteps pause in the hallway. He stood there for a long time before walking away without a word. Another time, during a rare dinner where I was forced to attend for appearances, he noticed my plate was untouched and frowned—but said nothing.

He still hated me. The anger in his eyes whenever we crossed paths made that clear. But sometimes… sometimes it felt like he saw me. Not as the liar who tricked him, but as something else. I pushed those thoughts away. Hope was dangerous. Especially for someone as unlucky as me.

The physical toll came next. At first I thought it was stress—constant nausea in the mornings, crushing fatigue by afternoon, breasts that ached when I moved. I hid it as best I could, blaming it on the isolation and poor sleep.

One rainy afternoon, after eating, I ran straight into the toilet, puking everything that I had just eaten. I sat slumped on the bathroom floor, telling myself to not think of the signs my body had kept hinting at.

"No," I whispered into the bathroom. "Please, no."

It couldn't be. I couldn't be. Pregnant?

Even the thought scared me. I couldn't afford to have a baby in this toxic household, under these conditions.

But... What if? What if this was the universe's gift to me? To fix my relationship with Kade? To help me leave this prison. Was it really worth hoping for?

Maybe I was just sick. This environment would make anyone sick, mentally and physically. I couldn't just jump to conclusions yet.

I stood up with determined conviction. I made my way out of the room quietly and slipped through the servant's entrance. I begged a maid to escort me out the gate of the mansion to reduce suspicion of me leaving alone.

When she left me, I boarded a cap immediately to a pharmacy and got a pregnancy test. 

Back in my room, hands shaking, I took the test. I stood with bated breath as I waited.

Two pink lines appeared sending my heart into a spiral.

I stared at it for a long time, the reality crashing over me. I was pregnant. I was pregnant for Kade Lannister.

I sank onto the bed, pressing a hand to my still-flat stomach. For the first time in weeks, something other than despair flickered inside me.

A secret. A reason to survive these six months.

I wasn’t just invisible anymore.

I was carrying a future that no one—not Kade, not Bella, not my parents—could take from me. And maybe, just maybe. This life would save mine.