Chapter 3

The Cruel Ultimatum

Elena

The silence stretched between us like a taut wire ready to snap. Adrian stared at the pregnancy test on the bathroom floor, his face cycling through emotions I couldn't read. For a moment, just one brief, foolish moment – I dared to hope that maybe this would change everything. Maybe the news of our baby would bring back the man I'd fallen in love with.

Then he started laughing.

It wasn't the warm, rich laugh I remembered from our early days together. This was something cold and sharp, like broken glass scraping against stone. The sound made my skin crawl.

"Pregnant," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Of course. Of fucking course."

"Adrian, I.."

"You calculated little bitch." His voice was filled with disgust as he stepped further into the bathroom. "Did you plan this? Is this your pathetic attempt to trap me?"

The accusation hit me like a physical blow. "What? No! I had no idea. I'm as shocked as you are."

"Are you?" He crouched down and picked up the test, examining it like it was evidence in a crime scene. "How convenient that you discover this little surprise right when I'm divorcing you. What are the odds?"

My legs felt weak beneath me. I gripped the edge of the marble countertop for support. "Adrian, this is our baby. Our child."

"Is it?" His eyes met mine in the mirror, cold and calculating. "How do I know this baby is even mine? You could have been sleeping around for months."

The words struck me like lightning. "How dare you.."

"How dare I what? Question the loyalty of a woman who's been nothing but a disappointment?" He stood up, towering over me. "You've been desperate for attention, Elena. Maybe you found it in someone else's bed."

Tears streamed down my face, but rage was building in my chest like a fire. "I have never cheated on you. Never. You're the one who's been screwing my best friend behind my back for eight months!"

"That's different," he said dismissively. "That's just sex. This.." he waved the test in the air "..this is manipulation."

"This is our baby!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the bathroom tiles.

"What's all the shouting about?" Maya's voice drifted from the doorway. She leaned against the frame, still wearing my robe, my jewelry glinting in the soft light. Her eyes immediately fell to the pregnancy test in Adrian's hand, and her face lit up with malicious glee.

"Well, well," she purred, stepping into the bathroom like a predator scenting blood. "What do we have here?"

"Elena thinks she's pregnant," Adrian said flatly.

"Thinks?" Maya raised an eyebrow, moving to stand beside Adrian. "That looks pretty definitive to me." She studied the test with mock concern. "How... inconvenient."

"It's not inconvenient," I said through gritted teeth. "It's a miracle."

Maya laughed, the sound even crueler than Adrian's had been. "A miracle? Honey, it's a disaster. Do you really think Adrian wants to be tied to you for the next eighteen years?"

"This has nothing to do with you," I snapped, but Maya just smiled.

"Oh, but it does." She moved closer to Adrian, her hand sliding up his chest possessively. "Adrian, darling, you can't let her use this baby to trap you. Think about what this means for us, for our future."

I watched in horror as Maya whispered in Adrian's ear, her words too quiet for me to hear but loud enough to make his jaw tighten with each syllable. His eyes grew colder with every word she spoke.

"You're right," he said finally, his gaze fixed on me with new determination. "This ends now."

"What ends now?" I asked, though I was terrified to hear the answer. Adrian stepped toward me, his presence suddenly menacing in the small space. "Listen to me very carefully, Elena. If you keep this baby, I will make your life a living hell."

My hand instinctively moved to my stomach, protecting the tiny life growing inside me. "You can't mean that."

"Can't I?" His smile was predatory. "I'll make sure you never get a job in this city again. I'll ruin your family's business so thoroughly that your father will lose everything he's worked for. I'll ensure your mother loses her health insurance, her cancer treatments, everything."

"Adrian, please.."

"I'll make you homeless, penniless, and friendless," he continued relentlessly. "I'll destroy everyone you've ever cared about, and then I'll take the baby anyway. I have the money, the lawyers, the connections. You have nothing."

Each threat was a dagger to my heart. "This is your child too. How can you.."

"My child?" He laughed again. "I told you, I don't even know if it's mine. And frankly, I don't care. I want it gone, Elena. Get rid of it, sign the divorce papers, and disappear from my life forever."

"No." The word came out stronger than I felt. "No, I won't kill our baby because you're too much of a coward to face your responsibilities."

Maya clapped her hands together, delighted by the confrontation. "Oh, this is better than a soap opera. Adrian, darling, I think she needs more convincing."

"You're right," Adrian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Maybe I wasn't clear enough."

Before I could react, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. "Let me make this simple for you, Elena. Get an abortion, or I'll make sure you lose the baby anyway. Stress, financial ruin, homelessness, pregnant women lose babies all the time under those conditions."

"You're sick," I whispered, trying to pull away from his grip.

"I'm practical." He tightened his hold. "You have twenty-four hours to decide. Keep the baby and watch me destroy everything you love, or get rid of it and walk away with what little dignity you have left."

"Adrian, please," I begged, all my pride finally crumbling. "Please don't do this. This baby could be the best thing that ever happened to us. We could be a family…"

"I don't want a family with you!" he roared, his composure finally cracking. "I don't want anything with you! You're pathetic, Elena. Weak, clingy, and pathetic. The thought of being tied to you forever makes me sick."

The words hit me like physical blows, each one breaking something inside me that I wasn't sure could ever be repaired. But even through the pain, even through the devastation, I felt something else growing stronger, a fierce, protective instinct I'd never experienced before.

"Fine," I said quietly, my voice steady despite the tears. "I'll leave. But I'm keeping my baby."

"Then you've made your choice," Adrian said coldly, finally releasing my wrist. "Maya, call security. Have them escort Mrs. Blackwood off the property immediately."

"With pleasure," Maya purred, already reaching for her phone.

"Wait," I said, panic flooding through me. "It's the middle of the night. Where am I supposed to go?"

"That's not my problem anymore," Adrian said, turning away from me. "You should have thought about that before you decided to be stubborn."

Twenty minutes later, I found myself standing on the sidewalk outside the mansion gates, clutching a single suitcase and my purse. The security guards had been almost gentle as they'd escorted me out, their eyes filled with something that might have been sympathy. But their orders were clear, I was no longer welcome on the property.

The night air was cold against my tear-stained cheeks. I pulled my coat tighter around me, one hand still protectively covering my stomach. Everything I'd ever known, ever loved, ever believed in was gone. But I wasn't alone anymore. I was carrying a piece of hope inside me, a tiny life that was already more precious to me than anything Adrian had ever given me.

"I'll never forgive you," I whispered toward the mansion's glowing windows, though I knew he couldn't hear me. "And I swear on this baby's life, you'll regret this. Someday, somehow, you'll regret everything you've done to us."

I started walking, not sure where I was going but knowing I had to keep moving. The streetlights cast long shadows on the empty road, and with each step, I felt myself leaving my old life further behind.

I was so lost in my thoughts, so consumed by grief and rage, that I didn't notice the car pulling up beside me until it was almost too late. The sleek black sedan moved slowly, matching my pace, its tinted windows hiding whoever was inside.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Had Adrian changed his mind? Was he coming to drag me back for more humiliation?

The passenger window rolled down with a soft hum, revealing a man I didn't recognize. He was older than Adrian, maybe in his forties, with salt-and-pepper hair and kind eyes that seemed to glow in the dashboard light.

"Excuse me," he said, his voice warm and concerned. "Are you alright? It's very late to be walking alone."

I stopped walking, clutching my suitcase tighter. Every instinct told me not to trust strangers, especially not now, especially not when I was so vulnerable.

But something in his eyes, some genuine warmth that I hadn't seen in so long, made me pause.

"I'm..." I started, then stopped. What could I possibly say? That my husband had just thrown me out for being pregnant with his child? That my entire world had crumbled in the space of a single day?

"You look like you co

uld use some help," the man said gently. "My name is Marcus Stone. And you, unless I'm mistaken, are Elena Blackwood."