Chapter 10

Aria POV

I don’t know how long I stayed on that floor.

Time stopped meaning anything. The study was dark—had it always been dark? Or had the sun set while I laid here? I couldn’t remember.

My body felt heavy, pressed into the cold hardwood. My limbs were sprawled out where I’d collapsed. One arm stretched toward the scattered papers. The other rested on my stomach.

The tears had dried on my cheeks, leaving my skin tight and sticky. My throat burned from crying, from screaming his name, from begging. My eyes felt swollen, gritty. When I blinked, it hurt.

I kept my hand on my stomach, moving in slow circles. Over and over. It was the only thing that felt real anymore. The only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.

The scan had said six weeks. I remembered the doctor smiling, pointing at the tiny flicker on the screen. “Six weeks along. Everything looks good.” I’d hidden that report in my drawer so carefully. So why did Julian’s report say nine? How could the same test show two different results?

It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

But Julian believed the nine-week report. He believed I’d cheated. He looked at me with disgust, with hatred. After everything. After all the nights I waited for him. After loving him when he gave me nothing.

He didn’t even hesitate. Just immediately decided I was guilty. Like I meant nothing. Like these years meant nothing.

The pain in my chest wouldn’t stop. It felt like someone had crushed everything vital inside me. Every breath hurt. Every heartbeat hurt.

I wanted to disappear. To stop existing. Because what was the point anymore?

My hand kept moving in those slow circles. Protecting. Even though I didn’t know how to protect anything anymore.

Then I heard it.

Click. Click. Click.

Heels on marble floor. Sharp. Precise.

I lifted my head slightly. Who would be here? At this hour?

The study door opened. The lock clicked behind whoever entered.

The footsteps came closer. Slow. Deliberate. Each click echoing.

Then I smelled it. That perfume. Sweet and heavy and unmistakable.

Imperial Majesty,It’s Selene’s 

I forced myself to sit up, every muscle screaming in protest.

“Look who we have here.” Her voice dripped with false sweetness.

“What are you doing in my house?” I barely got the words out. My throat was too raw.

She laughed. The sound was cruel, sharp.

“Your house? And you’re locked in here like a slave.”

“At least it’s still my house. You have no business in my life.”

She moved closer. I could see her silhouette in the dim light. Perfect posture. Perfect hair. Perfect everything, as always.

“And here you are, treated like trash. By the way, pregnancy doesn’t fit you. You look awful.”

Each word was designed to cut. And they did.

“Get out of my house.”

“Well, this was never your house. Just like Julian was never yours.”

She crouched down to my level, her face close.

“You were just warming his bed till he came back to me. The right owner.”

The words hit like a slap. Right owner. Like Julian was property. Like I was just a placeholder.

My chest tightened. My hands curled into fists. Anger flickered through the numbness.

“Stop! Just stop!”

She laughed, throwing her head back.

“You think you can trap Julian with that pregnancy? That bastard child?”

Something in her tone made every nerve in my body stand up. There was something there. Something knowing.

“What did you do?”

“Me?” She pressed her hand to her chest, eyes wide with mock innocence.

“I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who got pregnant. A whole nine weeks, remember?”

The way she said it. The emphasis. Like she was savoring the words.

My stomach dropped. Pieces clicked together.

“Wait—” My voice shook. “Hope is not what I’m thinking?”

“What are you thinking?” She tilted her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

“You’re the one who swapped my pregnancy report?.

“Oh my God.” She clapped her hands together softly, delighted.

“I thought you’d never figure it out. You know, you used to be the slowest person in the family. Exactly like your mother.”

The confirmation hit me like a physical blow. My vision blurred.

She did it. Selene changed my medical report. She’s the reason Julian thinks I cheated. She’s the reason he wants me to abort our baby.

“Why?” My voice broke completely. “What did I do to deserve that?”

“Well, you didn’t do anything.” She shrugged, examining her nails.

“I just hate your guts. I hate you playing the good wife for Julian. And I can’t stand you having a child for him.”

The casual cruelty was worse than anger. She destroyed my life like it was nothing. Like a game.

“You’re wicked. Why?!”

“Your life being miserable makes me comfortable.” She smiled sweetly.

Something inside me snapped. A surge of energy I didn’t know I had left pushed me to my feet.

My legs shook violently but I forced them to hold me.

I had to get out. Had to get away from her. Had to tell Julian the truth.

I stumbled toward the door, my vision swimming. I pushed it open and walked out into the hallway.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I kept walking. One foot in front of the other. Toward the stairs.

I needed to find Julian. To make him listen.

I reached the top of the staircase, my hand gripping the railing so tight my knuckles went white.

Then I felt her hand clamping around my wrist like a vice.  Her manicured nails dug into my skin, sharp points of pain.

I tried to yank my hand free. I pulled as hard as I could. But she held on tighter.

“I hate you, Aria.” Her voice was low now, all pretense gone. Pure venom. “And you will always be beneath me.”

“Leave me alone—”

She leaned in close, her mouth right next to my ear. Her perfume was suffocating, making me want to throw up.

“You’re nothing to Julian. He never believed you. Just one ordinary medical report swap, and he believed it immediately. He doesn’t trust you.”

The words cut deeper than anything physical could.

“No. You’re lying. He believes me—”

“He believes you?” She laughed softly, her breath hot against my ear.

“Then why isn’t he here? Why did he lock you in like a slave? You’re so delusional. Just like your mother. And you know where your mother’s ignorance got her right?”

Something hot and violent flashed through me.

“Don’t ever talk about my mom like that!” Rage flooded my body.

I yanked my hand backward with everything I had left. Every ounce of strength.

She let go.

Suddenly.

My weight was already shifting backward from pulling so hard. My foot reached behind me, searching for solid ground.

There was nothing.

I’d forgotten where I was standing. Right at the edge of the stairs.

My arms shot out, grasping desperately for the railing.

My fingers brushed it but couldn’t hold on.

I fell.

My back slammed into the stairs. The air left my lungs.

Then gravity took over.

I was tumbling, my body hitting step after step. Each impact sent pain shooting through me.

My shoulder crashed into a step. My hip. My elbow.

I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t grab anything.

The world spun—ceiling, wall, floor, all blurring together.

My hands pressed against my stomach instinctively.

Please. Please no.

My head cracked against a step and everything went white for a second.

Then more rolling. More pain.

My ribs hit hard—something snapped inside me.

The landing.

I crashed into it but didn’t stop.

More stairs below.

My body kept tumbling down, faster now, completely out of control.

Finally—finally—I hit the bottom.

The impact was brutal. My head struck the marble floor.

Everything stopped moving.

For a moment I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

Just pain. Everywhere.

Then I felt it. A different pain. Sharper. In my abdomen.

Cramping. Like something being torn apart inside me.

“My baby—” I gasped, my hand pressing against my stomach.

“No—”

That’s when I felt the warmth. Something wet. Seeping beneath me.

No.

No no no.

My hand shook as I moved it down, between my legs.

When I pulled it back, I couldn’t see clearly through my blurred vision, but I felt it. Slick. Warm.

I forced my eyes to focus on my hand. “No—it can’t be—blood!”

The cramping got worse. Sharper. More intense.

I could feel something happening inside me. Something terrible. Something is wrong.

My baby! 

Click. Click. Click.

Selene’s heels on the stairs. Each step slow. Deliberate.

Through my blurred vision I could see her coming down,that smile still on her face.

She crouched beside me, her dress pooling perfectly around her. Her manicured hand reached out.

Her nails dug into my jaw as she gripped my face, forcing me to look up at her.

“Stop—” My voice was barely there.

“Help me. Somebody help me!”

“Shush.” Her nails pressed harder into my jaw, the sharp points digging into my skin.

“You having a miscarriage is for the best. Anyway, Julian never wanted the child. I’m sure he’ll be happy you lost it.”

The pain in my abdomen was unbearable,like knives twisting.

Like my body was trying to expel what it could no longer protect. I could feel so much blood,warm and wet beneath me. Spreading.

I’m losing my baby.

I’m losing my baby and she’s just smiling.

I tried to move. To push her away. To do anything.

But my body wouldn’t respond. Too broken. Too much pain.The edges of my vision went dark.

“What’s happening here?”

Julian’s voice cut in.

Was he really here?Or was my mind making me hear what I desperately wanted?

I couldn’t tell anymore.

Couldn’t focus on anything beyond the pain and the blood and the terrible knowledge that I was losing our baby.

The darkness pulled me under,then everything went black.