CHAPTER TWELVE_ Claire’s POV

The morning breeze hit my face immediately I woke up_ cool, calming air.

I got ready for the new day and whatever might come with it. I knew I could handle it all.

I felt determined. Optimistic.

“No matter what happens, Lucian will always come back to me”

That was the lie I told myself as I got dressed.

Lucian was in the kitchen when I walked downstairs. He stood by the counter, scrolling through his phone.

I noticed his clenched jaw and rigid shoulders, but before I could even wonder what was wrong, he looked up. Too quickly. Like I had just caught him doing something wrong.

“Good morning.” I said as his eyes met mine.

“Morning,” he replied.

I couldn’t help but notice that his voice sounded… controlled.

I brushed the thought off as he walked over to me. I smiled brightly, hope fluttering in my chest.

He kissed my cheeks instead of my lips.

That small omission hurt harder than any words.

My smile disappeared.

I moved around the kitchen, making coffee for the both of us.

Suddenly, it felt like the silence between us was deliberate.

Something was off about Lucian. But he wasn’t cold—he was careful.

Like a man who already knew the ending of a story.

His phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, then at me. “I need to take this.” He said, then walked away.

He stepped into his study, but left the door slightly open, as he usually does.

When I finished making the coffee, I carried it down the hall.

I didn’t mean to intrude, neither did I mean to eavesdrop. But the sound of a voice made me stop at the doorway.

Her voice.

“I can’t keep living like this!”

Eva.

The cup trembled in my hands.

Lucian’s voice came next, low and tired. “Lower your voice.”

“I’m serious, Lucian. You said you’d think about it.”

Her shrill voice was barely audible from the other end of the line.

“I did.” he replied. “I told you, I’m handling it.”

My heart began to pound so loud, I could hear it in my ears.

Then Eva said three damning words.

“I’m pregnant, Lucian.” She spoke so casually_ like she was stating the weather.

“I can’t pretend this isn’t happening.”

The world tilted.

The coffee mug slipped from my fingers and shattered on the floor, but I was too shocked to notice.

Pregnant!

No, no, no.

My mind refused to register the word, even though it echoed repeatedly in my head.

It felt like something was splitting open inside my chest. My entire body would not stop shaking.

Then I heard fragments of Lucian’s next words;

“I need time.”

“Tomorrow.”

“I’m trying to do the right thing.”

Eva let out a soft, cunning laugh.

“There is no right thing,” she said. “There’s only what and who you’re willing to lose.”

I took a step back before my body could betray me.

The hall felt so silent as I retreated to my room, like I was a ghost haunting my own home.

My knees felt so weak, so useless. It was a miracle I could walk to my room.

So this is why he’s been looking at me like he was saying goodbye.

The nausea hit me suddenly.

I barely made it to the bathroom before I was on my knees, retching violently.

It was almost like my body was rejecting the truth.

I threw up until there was nothing left in me. Just emptiness.

When it passed, I sat there on the cold tile, hugging myself, wondering why the world was so cruel to me.

That’s when I heard footsteps.

Lucian appeared in the doorway. His face was blank—until he saw mine.

“Claire?”

I stood slowly, gripping the sink for balance.

Surprisingly, my voice didn’t shake.

“How far along is she?”

Lucian went completely still.

The look on his face told me everything he didn’t have the courage to say.

In that moment, I understood that I had already lost my husband_ I just hadn’t been informed.