I sighed heavily as I climbed back into bed.
Of course, Alexei was gone. He was never around when I needed him.
I had watchedthe party unfold from the shadows at the top of the stairs, but not for long. It had been enough to see Violet cling to Alexei’s arm, wearing a clingy stain dress the same colour as her name. It showed off her baby bump, and it was perfect, like one of those fake ones.
Not that I was surprised, everything about her was perfect, so why shouldn’t her baby bump be the same?
I’d stayed hidden in the shadows for no more than three minutes before I had had enough. They were a beautiful couple. I could admit that Violet had all the grace to act like the real mistress of this house, unlike little awkward me.
It wasn’t until that moment when I watched her tilt her head back to stare at Alexei and laugh that I realized how out of place I was being his wife. That was when I had gone back to my room and hidden under my covers, quietly crying because none of this was fair. He had made me fall in love with him. I was married to him and carrying his child, and now he was downstairs with another woman.
“Crying again, little dove?”
The familiar shrill tone of Violet’s voice made me jolt upwards. Clutching the blanket to my chest, I watched her close the door behind her with a soft click. She took a step forward and studied me under the dim light of the lamp, and then her lips curled.
“So it’s true.” Her eyes raked me up and down. “You really are pregnant.”
I didn’t know how she could tell just from looking at me. I wasn’t showing yet. “What’s true?” I asked, a croak in my voice. “What areyou doing here, Violet? Shouldn’t you be downstairs enjoying your party?”
I couldn’t help it. My voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Oh, I am enjoying it.” She crossed her arms around her chest and grinned at me. It was the most unfriendly smile I’d ever seen. “I am an amazing hostess, and Alexei, ”she sighed theatrically like a woman in love, “well, Alexei is always so accommodating to my needs and wants.”
I remained silent. What was I meant to say to that?
“You see,” she crept forward, “I was always meant to be the mistress of this house. I was always meant to be his wife. Ever since we were teenagers. You aren’t right for him. You must see that. I mean,” her eyes swept over my dishevelled hair. “Look at you, and then look at me. I am the woman Alexei deserves to have by his side.”
I bristled. I might not be as polished and beautiful as she was. But it wasn’t just looks that made a good woman, and I knew the woman in front of me had a soul as black as night. “Yet he married me,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Throwing back her long blonde hair, she giggled. “He married you because the old man wanted him to. He told me all the details, Amy. He didn’t marry you because he loves you. He married you because, for some reason, he wants to make old Nikolai happy in his final years. Do you really think he is going to stay married to you when the old man dies?” She rolled her eyes. “Hopefully that won’t be too long.”
“Nikolai is a good man.” I snapped back, straightening more as she took another step forward. “He’s got many, many years left.”
Was she really wishing an old man dead? She really was a horrible person.
“I know you wish that was true because you want to keep your claws in Alexei, but let me make myself clear.” Now, at the side of the bed, she leaned over me, menacingly. “He isn’t yours to keep. You know that, right? You know that he will always choose this baby and me.” She reached down for me. “This lame attempt to trap him with a child of your own won’t work.”
She slipped her fingers around my throat and squeezed, but notenough to stop my breath. Paralyzed by fear, all I could was stare up at her with wide, terrified eyes.
“Scream for him, Amy,” she continued in her sing-song voice. “Call out for help and realize once and for all that he will never come for you.”
Her bony fingers tightened around my throat, and my hands went to claw at the back of her hands as I desperately tried to loosen her grip. Leaning close, I almost gagged at the smell of alcohol on her breath. She had been clearly drinking, even if she was pregnant.
Blackness swam around the edge of my vision as I tried to cling to consciousness. The pressure only increased.
“I can end your miserable existence any time I want, Amy, just remember that.” Her thumb pressed against my windpipe. “I can end you and the bastard you are carrying, and Alexei won’t lift a finger to help you. Do the right thing and disappear before I make you.”
The sound of heavy footsteps sounded outside the door, and she straightened. Her hands lifted from my throat to press against my forehead.
“Just rest, Amy. You shouldn’t stress yourself. It’s bad for the baby,” she cooed as the door swung open and Alexei stepped inside.
I sucked in a much-needed breath, tears still wet on my face.
“What’s going on in here?” Rushing forward, he glanced between the two of us, his eyes darting around the room. “What are you doing here, Violet?”
“I was just checking on Amy. I could hear her crying, so I just wanted to check she was OK. Isn’t that right, little dove?”
I scooted back away from them both as far as I could. My hand fluttered on my throat. She glared at me, almost daring me to tell him the truth. “I was a little thirsty. I think Violet was going to get me a glass of water.”
