6

Elena’s POV

Hours passed and the noise faded and the house went quiet. My parents took one guestroom. Celeste took the other. And Adrian… I knew exactly where he’d be.

My throat was dry. I needed water, but I waited another half hour, just to be sure.

I slipped out of bed, crept down the stairs, and entered the kitchen, and filled a glass from the tap.

I heard Adrian’s low voice coming from his office. “I don’t care what it takes. Keep her sedated.”

I froze, the glass halfway to my mouth.

“No, I’m not interested in her waking up,” he said. “I’m paying you enough to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

“The monitoring showed brain activity? So what? Increase the dosage. I don’t want her to be conscious. Ever.”

I set the glass down and crept closer. The office door was slightly ajar.

“You don’t understand,” Adrian hissed. “Clara is dangerous. If she wakes up, everything falls apart.”

A pause. Then: “Yes, I know it’s illegal. That’s why I’m tripling your f*e.”

Another pause.

“Because she saw me,” he snapped. “She saw me with Celeste months ago. She threatened to tell Elena. So I handled it.”

My hand flew to my mouth.

“The car accident wasn’t an accident,” Adrian said coldly. “I ran her off the road myself. She should’ve died, but the old woman was tougher than I thought. Now she’s in a coma, and I need her to stay that way.”

No. No, no, no.

“If she wakes up and tells Elena what she saw, my entire plan falls apart. Keep her sedated until after the party. After that... I don’t care what happens. Let her die naturally, just make sure it can’t be traced back to me.”

The call ended. His chair scraped back.

I ran.

I flew up the stairs, heart pounding, and shut the bedroom door just as his footsteps echoed down the hall. I pressed my back against it, trembling.

Adrian had tried to kill Clara.

He was keeping her sedated.

He was going to let her die.

I grabbed my phone with shaking hands and dialed Ivan.

He answered on the second ring. “Mrs. Moretti. It’s late.”

“I need your help.” My voice cracked. “Please. It’s Clara—my foster mother. Adrian ran her off the road months ago because she caught him with Celeste. Now he’s paying her doctor to keep her in a coma. She’s showing signs of waking up, and he’s—he’s going to let her die.”

Silence.

“Please,” I whispered. “I need to move her somewhere safe. But I can’t do it alone. He has people everywhere.”

“Where is she?”

“Mercy General Hospital. Room 304.”

“I’ll have her moved by morning,” Ivan said. “She’ll be safe.”

Relief flooded through me. “Thank you. Thank you so much—”

“But you know what this means, Elena.”

I closed my eyes. “Yes.”

“Say it.”

“I accept your offer,” I whispered. “I’ll marry you.”

“Good. You have four days.”

The call ended.

I sat there in the dark, phone clutched in my hand.

I had just agreed to marry a man I’d never met. My husband’s worst enemy.

Adrian didn’t know it yet, but I just became his reckoning.

***

I couldn't sleep. My mind kept replaying everything I had just heard in Adrian’s office.

Then I heard footsteps approaching, and a knock on the door.

"Elena?" Celeste's voice was sweet, concerned. "Can I come in?"

I didn't answer.

"Elena, please. I just want to talk."

I stayed silent.

"Elena, open the door."

She turned the doorknob and opened the door, stepping inside.

There was a pause. Then her voice changed, she dropped the sweet voice.

"Oh, you look so pathetic right now, sis.” She drawled.

I didn’t move.

She continued. “But I want you to know something. That child in my womb is Adrian’s. He chose me.”

I sat up slowly, turning to face her.

She had a cruel grin on her face. "He told me how boring you were in bed. How you could never satisfy him. How he had to close his eyes and pretend you were someone else."

My hands clenched into fists.

"And those babies?" She laughed. "Four chances, Elena. And you couldn't even manage to keep one alive. What kind of woman can't even do the one thing her body was made for?"

My vision turned red.

"Your body must be defective," she continued, her voice dripping with venom. "Maybe it's nature’s way of telling you that you would be a terrible mother.”

Anger burned through me at her words, and I stood up, walking towards her with clenched fists.

"Adrian loves me," Celeste said, with a nasty grin on her face. "He's having a baby with me. A real baby. One that will actually live, because I can give him what you never could—a family."

I shoved her hard.

She stumbled backward, her eyes widening in shock.

"Get out," I gritted coldly.

"You bitch!" she hissed. "How dare you—"

"I said get out!"

I slammed the door in her face and locked it this time.

There was silence for a moment, then the sound of footsteps walking down the hallway.

I walked back to the bed and sat down.

Then I heard a loud thud, and a scream.

"Adrian! Help! Adrian!"

My blood ran cold.

What did she—

The bedroom door flew open with such force it slammed against the wall. The lock of the door had been broken.

Adrian stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. His face was twisted with rage.

Behind him, my mother and father appeared, holding a sobbing Celeste.

"You pushed her down the stairs?" Adrian's voice was deadly quiet.

"What? No, I didn't—"

"She came up here to comfort you," my mother said, her voice shaking. "To try and make peace. And you attacked her!"

"That's not what happened!" I stood up. "She was inside my room, insulting me—"

"That’s not true!" Celeste sobbed. "I just wanted to talk to my sister. To make sure she was okay. And she... she pushed me!"

"I shoved her away from my door! I didn't push her down the stairs—"

Before I could say anything more, Adrian’s fist slammed into my face.

The impact sent me flying backward. My head cracked against the wall, and pain exploded through my skull.

Then everything went black.