Even so, thinking of everything we'd shared, I couldn't stop myself from offering him one last chance.

"Chester, can you just not marry her?"

He turned the teacup in his hands, over and over, his brow furrowed tight.

"Not marry her? Marry you instead?"

"Do you really have to force me to say it plainly?"

"She is the Grand Chancellor's legitimate daughter. And you? A peasant woman who knows nothing but watering crops and tilling soil. How could you possibly be fit to stand beside me as the wife of a Young Lord?"

The color drained from my face. I refused to let it go. "Do three years of what we had really mean nothing unless I have the right family name?"

A searing pain tore through my lower abdomen. I pressed both hands against my stomach, but I kept my eyes on him, waiting for his answer.

"In noble families, status and rank matter above all else. The line between a legitimate wife and a concubine is absolute."

He paused, guilt flickering across his face.

"Shelagh might be pregnant."

The room tilted. I stared at him, unable to process what I'd just heard.

"Stella, her child has to be recognized as the firstborn heir. That's the only way you'll be safe."

The pain in my belly twisted like a knife. Cold sweat beaded across my forehead. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the box of pastries.

"Chester, this is your child too. How could you bear to..."

Chester's eyes reddened. He apologized again and again.

"I'm sorry, Stella. She knows you exist. By the timing, your child is further along than hers. She won't allow you to give birth to the firstborn..."

So he laced my favorite pastries with the drug, and I ate them without a second thought.

"Chester, my stomach hurts so much. I just ate them, there's still time. Please, go find a physician."

He didn't move. My voice cracked raw with panic. "I won't marry you, is that what you want? I just want my child. I'll take her and leave, go far away. I won't be in your way, I swear."

No matter how I screamed and begged, Chester didn't flinch.

He held out his arm. "Bite down on this. It won't hurt as much."

I shoved his arm away. "Go find a physician. I'm begging you, Chester."

"Stella, don't be ridiculous. No royal physician is going to treat someone of your standing."

"The drug's already taken effect. It's too late. Be good. Once Shelagh gives birth to the legitimate heir, we can have another child."