05

~Elara's Pov~

The car finally slows in front of the mansion, and I stare through the window, unable to stop myself from taking in the enormous building standing before me, because this is nothing like the luxury hotel where I have always met Mrs. Veyne whenever she needed me for anything concerning the pregnancy, and seeing the place where the Veynes actually live makes me realize just how different their world is from mine.

The driver steps out and opens the door, and I carefully climb out with the baby still in my arms, adjusting him against my chest as I look up at the mansion again.

“I have some business to take care of,” Mr. Veyne says, stepping out after me.

I nod, and before I can say anything else, he gets into the car waiting for him, while the driver closes the door and pulls away, leaving me standing at the entrance with the baby in my arms.

I take a slow breath before walking inside.

Two maids and a butler are waiting in the entrance hall, and the moment they see me, their faces brighten.

“Congratulations on the birth of the Veyne heir, ma’am.”

I manage a small smile, even though the words hit differently now, because they have no idea what the doctor told me at the hospital, and they certainly do not know that the baby they are welcoming as the Veyne heir is also my biological son.

They know me as the woman who carried their employers’ child for nine months, the surrogate who has finally delivered the baby they have all been waiting for, and as I look down at the tiny boy sleeping peacefully against me, I keep the truth to myself.

One of the maids steps forward and offers to take my things while the butler welcomes me inside, and I follow them through the enormous hallway, trying not to stare at everything around me because every part of the mansion looks more luxurious than anything I have ever lived in.

The maid leads me upstairs and opens a door.

“This will be your room, ma’am.”

I step inside with the baby still in my arms, my eyes moving across the spacious room before settling on the large bed and the cot already prepared nearby.

“Thank you.”

She gives me a polite smile before leaving, and the moment the door closes behind her, I pull out my phone and immediately call Sam.

She answers almost immediately.

“Elara?”

“Sam, I’m here.”

“Where?”

“At Mr. Veyne’s house.”

I sit carefully on the edge of the bed, looking down at the baby in my arms.

There is a pause before she practically explodes through the phone.

“You are what?”

“He asked me to move into his house and take care of the baby.”

“Wait, he actually asked you to live there?”

“Yes, and he offered to pay me triple what he already paid me.”

“Elara, this is crazy.”

“I know.”

“And you agreed?”

I glance around the room again before letting out a breath.

“I need the money, Sam.”

“I know you do, but everything about this is getting crazier by the minute. His wife is missing, you just found out the baby is yours, and now you’re living in their mansion.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

After we end the call, I place my phone on the bedside table and look down at the baby before carrying him toward the cot prepared nearby, settling him carefully before finally making my way into the bathroom.

The moment I step inside, the huge bathtub catches my attention, and after everything my body has been through, I decide I need the water more than anything.

A few minutes later, I sink into the warm bath, closing my eyes as the water settles around me, and just when I begin to relax, there is a soft knock on the bathroom door.

“Ma’am?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Karen. Would you like me to help you?”

“No, thank you. I can manage.”

“All right, ma’am.”

Her footsteps fade away, and I sink deeper into the tub, finally allowing myself a moment of quiet, but the silence does not last long before memories I have spent years trying not to touch begin pushing their way through my mind.

I see the road.

I hear the tires.

I see my mother turning toward me, and before I can understand what is happening, she moves across my body, wrapping herself around me and using her own body to shield me from the impact.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but the memory keeps coming, the sound of the crash filling my head as the car jolts violently and everything around me falls into chaos.

I remember trying to look through the shattered window, searching for the other vehicle, but there is no clear face, no name, nothing I can hold on to, only the chaos of the accident and the person who caused it disappearing before I can ever see who was behind the wheel.

My parents are gone, and I am left behind.

After that, I move in and out of foster homes until I turn eighteen, never staying anywhere long enough for the place to truly feel like home.

I open my eyes again, staring at the water as the memory slowly fades, leaving me alone in the silence of the bathroom with nothing but the sound of my own breathing.

Then my phone begins ringing.

The sound pulls me back to reality, and I quickly reach for it, picking up without even looking at the screen because my mind is still caught somewhere between the memories of my parents and the life I have somehow stepped into today.

“Hello?”

For a moment, there is nothing but silence on the other end, and then a familiar voice slips through the phone, so calm and casual that my entire body goes still.

“Elara, how’s my baby doing? I hope you’re taking good care of him?”

My breath catches.

I know that voice.

“Mrs. Veyne?”

The line goes dead.

I stare at my phone, my fingers tightening around it as the silence in the bathroom suddenly feels heavier than before, because the woman everyone has been desperately trying to find has just called me herself.

Aurelia Veyne.