"Oh, I forgot to tell you—I'm pregnant. Just one try, and I conceived. You, after three miscarriages, couldn't give him an heir. Tristan says only I'm qualified to give birth to his child. Shouldn't you thank me for completing the task you could never accomplish?"
My hand flew before I realized it, striking her hard across the face.
"Indeed. I should thank you—for revealing his true colors."
She toppled, clutching her abdomen, and shrieked. "Tristan! Help! She wants to kill our baby!"
Tristan came running.
In front of everyone, he shoved me aside with one powerful motion.
I stumbled back, instinctively pressing my hands to my belly, and fell hard against my mother's memorial table. A hot candle wax seared my palm, but it was nothing compared to the blast of hurt in my chest.
He scooped Hillary into his arms as if to protect her, his eyes rimmed with a hard-edged disgust. "Don't forget your brother is still in the hospital. If anything happens to Hillary or the child, I can stop his treatment with a single word."
My mother was gone; I could not lose my brother either.
I swallowed my rage until it choked me and watched him leave with Hillary. Around me, whispers pierced through me like knives.
"What a pathetic legitimate wife..."
"I heard she drugged him to climb into his bed when Hillary's plane crashed—how shameless!"
"Tristan went after Hillary so publicly back then—how could she insert herself?"
The room blurred, and I fainted.
When I woke up, I was lying in our bedroom with an ice-cold towel on my forehead.
Tristan sat in the shadows, expressionless. When he saw I was awake, he lifted the bowl of broth from the bedside table and spooned a spoonful toward my mouth.
"Drink," he ordered. His movements were practiced, but his gaze held no warmth.
"Hillary and the baby are fine. This matter ends here. The funeral caused too much of a scene. I don't want unnecessary attention and speculation to shift to Hillary."
He leaned in, his voice low, laced with threat.
"My patience is limited. Cooperate, and your brother will receive the best treatment. Otherwise..."
His gaze cut through me, cold and merciless.
I stared at the man I once loved, and felt my heart die completely.
When Hillary's plane supposedly crashed, I stayed by his side day and night and pulled him back from despair. When he finally stepped out of the darkness, the first thing he did was ask me to marry him.