When I looked into his eyes, I didn’t doubt his feelings. But maybe he’s even better at hiding his true emotions than I am. I thought we were past the façade.
I thought maybe, just maybe, Leo and I had found something real.
But I was wrong. So stupidly, blindly wrong. Heart lodged in my throat, I turn to tiptoe back into the foyer. Then, I run.
I don’t stop until I reach our suite, my breath ragged and my chest aching like something inside me is collapsing in on itself. I can’t breathe.
It’s agony to know the man I love was just using me for his family—to gain control, power over mine. If only he knew how little that would work. After yesterday, his father must have realized that.She’s no use to us anyway.
And all this time, I was falling for him.
I press a trembling hand to my stomach.
My excitement this morning over telling Leo about our child feels like a bad joke now.What do I do? Do I stay? PretendI didn’t hear? Pretend it didn’t crush something sacred inside me? Or do I run?
I think of my family, the house I haven’t stepped foot in since the wedding, and my mother, who I barely got the chance to speak to yesterday before I went head over heels over the yacht’s railing.
We don’t always see eye to eye, but she’s the closest thing I have to a confidante in this world. It’s time I paid her a visit.
The Tanaka estate is the same as it always was—cold walls dressed in tradition, silence wrapped in tension, tranquility draped over indifference.
I step through the gate like a ghost, half-expecting to be turned away.
But they let me in.
My mother meets me in the sitting room, perfectly composed in her deep navy wrap dress, not a hair out of place. She watches me closely, as if trying to figure out why I’ve returned. “I didn’t expect to see you,” she says. No hug. No warmth. Just an observation.
“I needed to talk to someone,” I say quietly, not trusting myself to look her in the eyes. “I… could use your advice.”
She raises a brow but doesn’t interrupt, and I sink onto the cushion across from her, fingers twisting in my lap.
“I’m pregnant,” I say.
The room stills. For a moment, I think she might show emotion—joy, surprise, concern. Something.
But when she speaks, her words hit me like a slap. “You weren’t supposed to get pregnant so soon.”
“What?” I’m genuinely sure I must have heard her wrong.
“For God’s sake, Sora. You’ve barely been there a month. Did you fall into bed with him every chance you got? Did you eventryto show restraint? A child was supposed to be a long-term contingency, not an immediate complication.”
A complication?I stare at her, heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. “But… this marriage was your idea. To stop the fighting. What did you think would happen if I took a husband? That he wouldn’t want to touch me? That he would just be fine with the idea of not consummating the marriage? I have spent weeks enduring a family who hates me. But this was supposed to be for our family, so I tried to make my marriage work!”
She sighs. “You were meant to secure the alliance—not bear a child that ties you to them irrevocably.”
Something inside me fractures, and suddenly, I feel so utterly alone in this world. I’m not a pawn in their chess match. I’m the tennis ball being served between two courts. No one wants me. I’m only here to be used in their twisted game for dominance.
“They’re going to die, Sora,” she continues, as calm as if she were discussing the weather. “The Chiaroscuros are done. Their reign is over. And when we’ve killed every last one of them, you won’t need to be married to that brute anymore.”
My stomach twists, my blood turning to ice in my veins. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s already a plan in place. I’ll admit, it took longer to come to an agreement with the Murrays than I would have liked. We probably could have avoided this whole pregnancy issue altogether if they’d stopped dragging their feet. But your visit couldn’t have come at a better time. Your father intended tospirit you from the Chiaroscuro estate during the attack, but this way is less risky. You’ll stay here until it’s done, and once they’re gone, we’ll handle your little… problem.” Her eyes flick down to my belly, a look of distaste curving her mouth downward. “You’ll get an abortion—quietly—and when the time is right, we’ll find someone more suitable for you to marry.”
I can’t breathe. The walls close in. My hands fly to my stomach as my protective instincts kick-in at full force. “No.”
My mother lifts her chin. “This isn’t your decision, Sora. You belong to this family.”
“Iwon’tkill my baby,” I snap, voice rising. “You can’t make me.”
