d, his touch gentle on her arm as he tried to coax a smile from her. "You're looking better, Ava. The color is coming back to your cheeks." She offered him a weak,

It was the perfect excuse. Her body, her supposed frailty, was now her shield. The very condition he had imposed on her was the weapon she used

a man' s murmur. It was coming from the room next door, Olivia' s room. Her room, which now connected to Noah's. Ava lay in the dark, h

a said, a mocking pity in her voice. "It's almost sad." Noah's voice was a low rumble. "It was necessary. She'll be the perfect wife now. Quiet, beautiful, and no threat to us. To our son." Our son. The words echoed in the

with a numb, chilling calm. The family's oppressive routine continued as if nothing had happened. Mrs. Harrison corrected her posture at breakfast, her voice sharp. "S

ursery, their voices bright with excitement. Ava sat in silence, an unwanted spectator at the celebration of her o

le on his lips. As Ava passed the doorway, he called her over. "Look," he said, holding it up. It was a tiny

hing she had bought when she first found out she was pregnant: a pair of tiny, hand-knitted blue booties. She had hidden them away, a secret treasure. The little horse in his h

r to act as a servant to the woman who had taken her place. She entered Olivia' s room without knocking, a small act of defiance. Ol

She held one up to the light. "They're a bit plain, aren't they?" Before Ava could react, Olivia deliberately dropped one of the booties into her teacup. The delicate wool instantly soaked up the dark liquid. As A

't look at Ava. He slapped her, hard, the force of it sending her stumbling backward. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he roared, his face

y ruined on the floor, a soggy, pathetic symbol of her loss. "No," she said, h

have believed her. He hesitated, his hand still raised. His gaze softened almost imperceptibly.

e had clearly been waiting for the perfect moment to reveal. "Mother, I just came from the doctor this morning. I'm pregnant." The words hung in the air. Noah's face we