Page 179 of Maddening Fixation

Panic seized me.

I had to speak before that cold, lethal calm in his eyes turned into something far worse—before he did whatever violent thing his mind had already begun to consider.

“She called me this morning,” I blurted out. “Yarina called me and told me she killed my cat.”

His expression didn’t change.

I rushed on, my words tumbling over one another.

“She said she did it because she wanted to hurt me—for going through with this marriage to you. She wanted me to suffer because I married you.”

My throat tightened, but I forced the words out.

“She lied. She’s been lying all along.”

My voice cracked. “She didn’t find Raven dead.”

I swallowed hard, staring into his unreadable eyes. “She told me she killed her herself.”

The silence between us became unbearable.

“I know you don’t believe me,” I whispered, blinking back fresh tears. “You never do. But it’s the truth.”

I searched his face for even the smallest flicker of uncertainty...

...but all I found was the same impenetrable wall that had stood between us since the moment we were forced to say our vows.

My hands trembled as I fumbled for my phone.

“There.”

I unlocked it and thrust the screen toward him, the recent call log from Yarina glowing brightly between us.

“She called me this morning.”

Romeo didn’t even spare it a glance.

His gaze never left my face.

It was as though the evidence didn’t matter because he had already reached his verdict.

That unwavering stare was far more terrifying than shouting. It felt like he was silently deciding whether I deserved to walk out of this room alive.

Panic tightened around my chest.

Desperate, I grasped at the only truth I had left.

“She’s pregnant.”

The words escaped before I could second-guess them.

For the first time, the silence seemed to shift.

So I kept going.

“Yarina is carrying your late brother’s child.”

My voice shook, but I forced the words out before fear could stop me.