CHAPTER 4– DAGGERS TO MY CHEST 

SIENNA'S POV

The sound of laughter leaked through the walls before I even touched the handle. At first, I told myself it was nothing... maybe the neighbors again, drunk off cheap vodka and blasting nonsense like they always did. But no. This was louder, clearer. It was coming from his study room.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my hand hanging in the air like the doorknob had suddenly grown barbed wire.

Then I heard it... laughter. His laughter.

My chest pulled tight, and for a second, I thought maybe my ears were lying. That maybe I was crazy, overthinking, perhaps being paranoid.

But I wasn’t.

I knew his laugh better than I knew my own heartbeat.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, shoved down the sick twist in my stomach, and turned the knob. The door creaked open, slow and dramatic, almost like the universe wanted me to suffer every damn second of it.

And then I saw them.

Nigel. My Nigel. The man I thought I was building a life with.

And my best friend... Piper.

Both tangled up in the bed sheets.

For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened like the air had been sucked out of the room. It was like my eyes were playing tricks on me. Spoiler: they weren't.

“Nigel…” My voice cracked. Then it got sharper, angrier, and louder. “Nigel, what the actual fuck are you doing?! You’re sleeping with my best friend!”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I fucking couldn't. My hand tightened around the champagne glass I’d been carrying... because of course I’d brought champagne to celebrate him, to celebrate us. How fucking ironic.

 I downed what was left in one savage gulp. The bubbles burned, but the anger burned hotter.

And before either of them could say a word, I hurled the empty glass against the wall. Boom... It shattered like my heart, pieces spraying everywhere.

Nigel scrambled, dragging the sheets higher, his face pale with panic.

Piper, on the other hand, didn’t look panicked at all. She smirked, like she’d been waiting for me to catch them. Like this was a game and I’d just walked into the final level.

“What the fuck, you crazy bitch?” she snapped, sliding off the bed with the smug confidence of a woman who thought she’d won.

“Crazy bitch?” I repeated, as I laughed... if you could even call that shattered sound a laugh. My hand shot out for the second champagne glass, and before she could blink, I emptied it all over her perfect blonde hair. The liquid dripped down her face, soaking the silk shirt she’d borrowed from me last week without asking.

“You’re calling me the crazy one? You’re the one fucking my man in bed, Piper!”

She didn’t flinch. She didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. Instead, she snapped her hand across my face and gave me a deafening slap. It was so hard I practically took some steps back, my hand flying to my face.

“Oh, I’m crazy?” I laughed . “No, slut. Crazy is thinking you can stab me in the back and get away with it. Crazy is crawling into my mate’s bed and calling me the bitch.”

Her smirk sharpened before her hands rested on her hip.

“Don’t get so worked up,” she drawled, and I couldn’t help the sharp scoff that ripped out of me.

“I'm not just fucking him,” she said slowly. “I’m having his baby.”

I immediately froze. What the actual hell did she just say? No… no, that couldn’t be right. Maybe my ears were playing games with me, because there was no way I’d heard her right. The room spun immediately and my buckled knees followed.

“Having his…” My voice broke.

My eyes shot to Nigel. My Nigel. Except in that moment, he looked nothing like the man I knew. He looked cold. A stranger in his own skin.

“Baby? What is she talking about?” 

Nigel finally met my eyes... and God it was worse than him looking away. His eyes were hollow, stripped of everything I once knew. Nothing lived there anymore... just a void where love used to be. 

And then...

“It’s over, Sienna.”

The words gutted me to be honest. I swear, for a hot second I thought this was some twisted prank... like a camera crew would jump out screaming “Gotcha!” with confetti and gifts. Except, newsflash: it wasn’t my birthday, it wasn’t an anniversary, and it sure as hell wasn’t April Fool’s. Nope. It was just… today. Just the day I chose to drown myself in reckless love with my fiancé.

Piper’s smile widened as she strolled over to him, placing a smug kiss on his cheek like she was sealing the deal... or rather the bloody reality.

“It’s over,” he repeated, voice steady, like it didn’t cost him a damn thing to break me in half.

“But…” My words came out shaky. “We were trying to start a family. We just signed a lease on a house! Nigel, you said...”

He cut me off with a laugh. He actually had the audacity to laugh at me.

“You actually thought that was a lease? You’re so gullible, Sienna.”

I knew what I was supposed to do... fight Piper, curse Nigel, storm out in a blaze of fury, maybe even scream loud enough to rattle the walls. But instead? I just stood there, choking on silence, tears burned hot in my eyes, and my breaths were now shallow and uneven.

“You think Nigel wants a family with you?” Piper chimed in. “He doesn’t love you, Sienna. He never did. Tell her, Nigel. Tell her the truth.”

My head snapped toward him. “What is she talking about?”

His jaw locked, and his eyes did this little dance... floor, wall, window, basically anywhere but me. Like the very act of looking at me would burn. Hello? Did I suddenly turn into Medusa?

Piper grinned wider, like she was enjoying every moment. “Come on, baby. Don’t hold back now. She deserves the truth.”

Nigel’s silence screamed louder than any words.

“Tell me what?” I demanded, stepping closer, my voice trembling but still fierce. “Nigel. Tell me.”

Finally, he looked at me coldly before he began.

“I’ve been putting birth control in your vitamins.”

The words hit me harder than Piper's slap, and for a moment, I didn’t even understand. 

“What? What did you just say?”

He swallowed. “I didn’t want… your baby. I didn’t want that life with you.”

The tears I’d been fighting fell, hot and relentless.

“You…” My voice cracked. “You knew how much motherhood means to me. You knew I blamed myself every single month it didn’t happen. And all this time… all this fucking time, you were poisoning me?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t deny it. Didn’t even flinch.

I shook my head, backing away, as my hands trembled. No.... no this can't be happen.

“How could you do this to me, Nigel? After everything I gave up for you? After everything I did for you?”

The two fools before me just stood there, quiet like they suddenly discovered how to behave.

I wanted him to shake his head, to tell me I was wrong, to laugh and pull me close. But he just stood there beside her, saying nothing... his silence cutting deeper than anything he could’ve said.

And then Piper, with her venom-coated smirk, leaned into him like she was his trophy. “Face it, Sienna. He chose me. He chose us. And now, I’m giving him the one thing you never could.”

Her manicured hand slid to her stomach... and oh moon goddess... the sight stabbed straight through my chest like a thousand daggers.

I gasped for breath, my chest tightening more and more like the walls were closing in. My mind screamed, and my heart shattered, but my mouth only managed a whisper:

“I hate you both.”

No one stopped me as I stumbled out. Tears blinded me, but I didn’t care. I made it down the hall, down the stairs, and out of the house.

I didn’t look back.

I couldn’t.

The moment I reached the car, I pulled out my phone and dialed without a second thought.

The phone barely rang once before someone answered.

"Dr Phillip..." I called in a shaky tone. 

“Miss Monroe, are you okay?”

“No,” I whispered, my voice breaking but strong enough to say what I needed.

“I want a donor.”