lia

anxiety. My heart leaped into my throat. I hadn't ordered anything, I wasn't expecting anyone

le

y devoid of makeup, giving her an angelic, fragile look. She clutched a thermal food container, a sickly sweet smile pl

e safety chain on. "What do you want, Kale

ied to push the food container through the gap. "Jacob told me you weren't eating properly. I made you some homemade

. "I don't want your soup, Kaleigh.

regained her composure, her eyes welling up with perfectly timed tears. "Aurelia, how can you be so cruel? I'm j

g time ago," I snapped, my patience wearing thin. "A

sadness. "Oh, Aurelia. I know you're upset. Jacob is so distraught. He just wants what's best for everyone. Especially the baby."

ts me to have this baby?" The words were a dangerous whisper. "Why? So

It deserves a family. A complete family. It's not the baby's fault you two can't work things out." She wrung her hands, a picture of distressed innocence. "A

ble, "And you know... I can't. I can't gi

ir, heavy and poisonous

gh's constant presence in Jacob's life, his strange obsession with having a child now, after years of indifference. Th

r Jacob and Kaleigh, to complete their twisted fantasy of a perfect family. I was nothing more than a convenient, fert

king with venom. "You want to raise my child for Jacob, because you can't have one? Is that what this is? Is that why

ion swam. My stomach lurched, my gorge rising. I felt a primal scream build

by years of betrayal and this ultimate, sickening revelation, I hurled it. It flew past her head, missing by inches, smashing against the wall of the hallway wit

g her chest, her carefully constructed facade completely shattered. Her eyes, wide wit

life, you manipulative, disgusting snake! And never, never come near my child a

this, Aurelia! You won't win! You will have this baby, and Jacob will make sure we

sidious, wrapped its tendrils around my heart. They wouldn't let me go. They wouldn't let my child go. Jacob's power, his wealth, his relentless

by, but their baby. A living, breathing doll

only future, the only pure thing left in a world tainted by lies. I would protect them, fiercely, with every fiber

, tears streaming down my face. "Just you and m

elieved this baby was theirs... what if the baby, and I, simply ceased to exist? What if we vanished without a trace, leaving them with nothing but