All Chapters of I HEARD HIM SAY " DADDY": Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWELVE: PRESSURE POINTANNALISE“The doctor is coming here? Mum, don’t be ridiculous!” Aiden’s voice cut through the room—sharp, urgent, yet tightly controlled.I stood beside him, fingers gripping the hem of my shirt until it dug painfully into my skin. My stomach churned violently—not just the usual queasiness, but a deep, twisting discomfort that left my muscles tense and my chest tight. I felt exposed, as though anyone could see straight through me, could see exactly how fragile I was.“She just reacted to something she ate,” Aiden added quickly, his tone tight with restrained frustration. “Now we’re having a doctor at the house?”“Well,” Mrs. Evelyn said, her calm voice slicing cleanly through the tension, “I think she’s pregnant. And since you two are hiding it from me, I’ll find out myself.”My body froze.Every breath caught painfully in my throat. My heart pounded violently in my temples. My hands trembled as they moved instinctively to my stomach, as if they could pr

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE MISTRESS AND THE MASTERMINDSAM“You better find her, Sam.”Elena’s voice cut through the room like a blade, sharp, urgent, and trembling with the kind of desperation that gnawed at her insides. The shadow of last night clung to her like a second skin. I could see it in the flare of her nostrils, the tension of her shoulders, the rapid, uneven movement of her hands.“She can’t just disappear,” she continued, pacing like a predator confined, her heels clicking against the floor in a rhythm that was almost frantic. “And more importantly, I can’t stand the thought of another woman carrying your child.”The words hit me, but not in the way she expected. I wasn’t angry. Not yet. I was calculating. Elena had been unraveling ever since I lost sight of Annalise in the dark. Her movements were sharp, brittle, and desperate, yet there was a fire there—a raw, dangerous energy I had learned to feed off.“We had a plan, Sam,” she snapped, her voice brittle, teetering between

ANNALISEI lay on the bed long after Aiden and the doctor had left, my eyes fixed on the ceiling as though it might crack open and reveal answers I was too afraid to ask aloud. The room smelled faintly of lavender and freshly laundered sheets—a comfort I didn’t deserve. A comfort that felt intrusive, like kindness knocking where pain had already taken root. My body rested, but my mind refused. Every nerve, every thought was on high alert, tangled and raw.Aiden had gone for his appointment.The words circled in my head like vultures: he had said them so easily, so calmly. As if everything were normal. As if my life, as it had been, hadn’t collapsed overnight. But nothing felt normal. Not the house. Not the lie. Not the terrifying kindness. Not the way I had been yanked from a life of control and safety into this borrowed, precarious existence.From being married to a narcissist, betrayed by the man I had once loved, betrayed by the maid I had trusted—suddenly, I was hiding. Pregnant.

SAM I smiled faintly when I saw the post. ANNALISE CARTER, FAMOUS COUNTY DESIGNER, IS DEAD. The words felt surreal, almost too perfect to be real. For a moment, I let myself breathe, slow and deliberate. Finally, Elena’s plan had pulled through. Every sleepless night, every calculated step, every tiny manipulation had led to this moment. The company—our company—would soon have full ownership. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, a mixture of triumph and relief that was almost intoxicating. Even if Annalise somehow came back, no one would believe her story. No one would remember her well enough to doubt us. We could claim she had lost her memory, that she had fabricated some delusion. Everything would be fine. Or at least, that’s what I told myself. Triumph flickered inside me, sharp and fleeting. It was dangerous, this victory. It made my chest tighten with anticipation and fear all at once. I glanced at Elena, who sat beside me, her expression unreadable yet

ANNALISE I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself, my fingers moving slowly over the cool, unfamiliar skin of my scalp. The short stubble scratched against my fingertips, rough and sharp. Every tiny hair felt wrong under my touch. My stomach tightened the longer I stood there. I had never felt anything like this before. My own body felt strange to me, like it no longer belonged to me. My hands shook as I touched my head again, moving from one side to the other, then to the back. I kept hoping that if I touched it enough times, it would start to feel normal. It didn’t. Each second made the feeling worse. I felt exposed, like something important had been taken away and left me unprotected. A shiver ran through my body, and I realized it wasn’t because I was cold. It was because everything felt different. Too different. I lifted my eyes to the mirror again. My reflection stared back at me, quiet and still. My eyes were the same—hazel, tired, always watching—but the rest of