2
I deleted the text message from Declan.
Nust wanted to grab my luggage and leave, but as I opened the front door, Declan enthusiastically pulled my hand, leading me into the living
room.
“Aria, are you upset with the kids because you don’t want to take care of them?”
“It’s okay, I found a nanny to look after them.”
<
I just wanted to grab my luggage and leave, but as I opened the front door, Declan enthusiastically pulled my hand, leading me into the living
room.
“Aria, are you upset with the kids because you don’t want to take care of them?”
“It’s okay, I found a nanny to look after them.”
“Now you can relax!”
“She just happens to have six children of her own, so she’ll need to live with us.”
“Don’t worry, she’s a professional when it comes to kids…”
He chattered on, completely ignoring my reaction, beaming as if he’d accomplished some great life feat.
Looking at the eight children, big and small, in the living room, my stomach churned. I covered my mouth, feeling nauseous. Seraphina Vance glided over, her hand reaching out to steady me.
“Hello, Mrs. Thorne, I’m the new nanny.”
Her grip tightened imperceptibly on my broken finger, a searing pain that made me gasp. Blood instantly bloomed, soaking through the gauze. She leaned in close, her voice a poisonous whisper.
“Sweetheart, the unloved one is the mistress.”
She then shrieked loudly, staggering backward.
“Mrs. Thorne, if you don’t like me, just tell me to leave! Why did you push me?!”
Declan rushed forward in one stride, catching her.
“Aria Maxwell, have I spoiled you rotten these past few years?”
“Why is your temper so terrible?”
His words from our wedding day echoed in my mind, the solemn vow he’d made before the priest:
“Aria, I’ll pamper you into the most cherished princess!”
I lifted my bleeding hand.
“It wasn’t me!”
“Enough!”
Declan’s eyes instantly filled with resentment. Looking at the family of ten before me, I felt utterly superfluous in my own home.
I turned and went back to my room to get my luggage.
Seraphina gently patted Declan’s arm.
“I’ll go comfort Mrs. Thorne.”
She walked in and closed the bedroom door, dropping her fragile act completely.
Seraphina grabbed my arm, yanking me close to her.
“A barren hen like you, still clinging on?”
“I come from a lineage renowned for its boundless fertility. As you can see, all eight of those children are mine, children I bore for Declan.”
844 AM C
<
I stared at the beautiful woman before me.
A chill ran down my spine. I didn’t want to engage in a pointless argument; I just wanted to leave.
But she blocked my way again.
“Do you really think you still hold a place in his heart?”
She grabbed my hand and, with it, slapped herself hard across the face.
My palm went numb from the impact.
As expected, her scream drew Declan’s attention.
Declan rushed in, caressing the red mark on her face with tenderness.
Then he turned and shoved me, sending me tumbling. My lower back hit the corner of a cabinet, and pain shot through my entire body.
He wasn’t done. He swung his hand, connecting with a sharp crack across my face. Blood welled up at the corner of my mouth, and my cheek burned with searing pain.
“Aria Maxwell, you’ve gone too far!”
“I’ve gone too far? What about your promise to protect me forever?!”
His pupils constricted, his expression flustered.
But when he heard Seraphina’s sobs again, he chose to turn away from me, helping Seraphina out of the room,
After they left, I was in too much pain to move.
Mr. Thompson, call a doctor…”
“Mrs. Thorne, all our family doctors are currently in the nanny’s room, tending to *her* face…”
“Mr. Thorne won’t let them come.”
Declan had once arranged for ten family doctors for me.
And now, all of them were attending to Seraphina’s face!
The butler’s words were like needles, piercing my entire body, leaving only a dull, aching throb.
I bit back the tears, refusing to let them fall, and dialed 911 myself.
“Mrs. Thorne, congratulations! You’re two months pregnant!”
“Though you’ve had a slight scare, please be sure to take good care of yourself when you go home!”
I instinctively touched my lower abdomen, disbelief washing over me,
Tears streamed down my face.
My hand trembled as I called Declan.
“Declan, we… we’re having a baby.”
There was no joy, no surprise as I’d hoped. Only a sneer.
“Arla, are you really so desperate to fight with the kids that you’d make up a lie like that?”
8:44 AM
<
There was no joy, no surprise as I’d hoped. Only a sneer.
“Aria, are you really so desperate to fight with the kids that you’d make up a lie like that?”
I froze, unable to speak.
Before the call disconnected, I faintly heard a woman’s soft moans from his end.
I tilted
my head back, forcing the tears not to fall.
When I got home, Declan walked out of the nanny’s room.
The hickeys on his neck were a glaring, painful accusation.
I forced myself to ignore them and handed him a document.
He paused for a second, then laughed, signing his name with a flourish.
www
www.
at midi il poll.
– 1 l l
“Aria, I’ll buy you whatever you want, but you need to be obedient, okay?”
“Tomorrow, I’m planning a party to announce that all eight of these children are mine!”
www
I laughed, a bitter, angry sound. He wasn’t even pretending anymore?
“You said you only adopted two. Why are you claiming the other six now?”
www.
ww
3
