Lahat ng Kabanata ng Condemned Wife's Compliance: Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

Irene was pacing. The rhythmic click of her heels against the polished marble floor filled the room, breaking the silence of the house long after dinner had ended. The servants had already cleared the table, the lights dimmed to a soft glow, but her mind refused to settle.She’d been quiet during dinner, much too quiet for her usual self, and now her thoughts were whirling. Belinda was pregnant. The words hadn’t stopped echoing in her head since she’d overheard that phone call earlier.Pregnant.Why hadn’t Rafael said anything?She pressed her palm to her forehead and exhaled sharply. He told her every big event in his life—or at least, he used to. Lately, he had grown secretive, distant, as though he’d built walls that she could not breach. But this? This was something he couldn’t possibly keep from her. At least not for long since Belinda was living in Irene’s house. He was going to be a father. Her first grandchild. Their first grandchild.Her heart gave a flutter of pride. Belinda

She wore a simple dress with a blazer over it. Her shoes clicked against the floor as she kept pace with her lawyer, who was, in fact, leading her to their assigned courtroom. People were briskly moving around the space, and you could tell who was not a regular visitor and who was well acquainted with the halls. There were people like her, looking around with curious eyes and being led about, and then there were those walking on muscle memory, not even looking where they were going as they tried to sort large stacks of documents and walk at the same time. At one point, Adrea’s lawyer had to steer her to the side as two people — a tall, lanky man in an oversized, ill-fitting suit and a woman in a power suit — carried a large box through the hall. So this was what the other side of a court looked like.She had been here before, in a very different department. This was where her marriage had been formally signed off, yet it felt so unfamiliar. Maybe it was because, at that time, she had

Aris had decided to give Adrea time. At best, until her birthday. He wanted to be carefree for a little while longer. He wanted a name in her life — a label. He loved her. He was sure that, somewhere deep down, she loved him too. But he wanted to hear her acknowledge it. Yet he was afraid of her rejecting him. He would have to live with the scraps she gave him. Yes, he was that shameless. He would take whatever she gave him.But he wanted more. More than being the guy she was living with because she was afraid to stay at home. He wanted to have a defined place in her life. Right now, he did not have that. Right now, they were floating around, knowing something was going unsaid — but surely this could not be their forever. How long could they go on like this?The elevator’s speakers let out a “bing” to indicate it had come to a stop, and the doors began to slide open. He walked into his apartment, and immediately he could hear Adrea moving around in the kitchen. There was something sizz

Sofia sat cross-legged on her mother’s bed, surrounded by the faint scent of lavender and turpentine. Her mother had taken off her apron, now folded neatly on the armchair, and sat beside her—legs crossed, back straight, but the hard edge of her temper had softened.For the first time in weeks, Sofia could look at her without feeling like she was breaking a sacred law. The silence between them wasn’t angry anymore, just tired—weighted with things unsaid.“I didn’t know how to face you,” Sofia said quietly. “I thought if I came home, you’d look at me and see… failure. Disappointment.”Her mother’s expression flickered. “You really think that’s what I see when I look at you?”Sofia gave a humourless laugh and shrugged. “You were so excited for the wedding. The invitations, the dress, the venue—you’d picked it all before I could even blink. And I let you, because I thought… maybe if you were happy, then I’d be happy too. But when it all fell apart, I couldn’t bear to see that look on your

Adrea adjusted the camera again, the tripod legs scraping slightly against the marble floor. The sound echoed faintly in the quiet of Aris’s apartment. She had drawn the blinds halfway shut, allowing only the soft glow of afternoon light to pour in from between the slats. It wasn’t her best angle — the shadows fell unevenly across her face — but it worked. This wasn’t rehearsed or glamorous.She wasn’t here as “Adrea Galanis, the woman at the poker tables.” She was not here as Andreas Galanis’ daughter. She wasn’t even here as Rafael’s ex-wife. She was here as Sofia’s friend.Her thumb hovered over the record button, then withdrew. She took a deep breath, staring at her own reflection in the black lens of the camera.“Alright,” she whispered to herself, rubbing her palms together. “Just get this over with.”She pressed record. The red light blinked to life.For a few seconds, she just looked at the camera — quiet, tense, and visibly gathering her thoughts. Then, finally, she spoke.“I