Before I left him, I was pregnant with his twins

Adrian’s hand was still raised when he saw Selene’s eyes—wide,broken,staring at him in shocked pain.A strangled sob escaped her as a thin line of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

“A—are you all right,Selene—”Adrian reached out,but she recoiled as if struck.She scrambled to her feet,trembling,putting instinctive distance between him and the small lives in her womb.Even his touch felt corrosive now,as if acid had burned the skin.

“Forgive me,sister,it is my fault.Adrian,apologize to Selene at once,”Cassandra begged,hands pressed to her face,and for a moment Adrian froze at the sight of Selene’s terrified gaze—as though she were a stranger.

“Selene,listen to me.If you apologize to Cassandra,I will forget this and we will act as though nothing happened,”Adrian said.The humiliation that she felt was raw;tears blurred her view of the man who would soon be the father of her twins,who looked at her now with something like guilt.

Cassandra sobbed and clasped her hands over her mouth.“Oh my God,I—this was never my intention.I can’t believe I caused harm to my sister.”She rose as if wounded and hurried from the room,playing the injured one.

“Cassandra—wait!”Adrian called,uncertain for a moment.

“Selene,go home and put on something for your wound.You’ve disappointed me greatly;don’t expect me to return tonight.”Like a master dismissing a subordinate,Adrian left her behind and went after Cassandra without a backward glance.

Three years of Selene’s love and sacrifice were discarded in a single instant of anger;Adrian had chosen Cassandra over her.Even on his birthday,when the betrayal had first been made plain,Selene had clung to the hope that at least her children might have their father’s protection.Now she realized neither she nor her unborn twins belonged in his life.

She stepped out of the Blackthorn hall and realized she had left her phone inside.Limping,ankle stinging from a new cut,she walked back toward Cassandra’s chamber to retrieve it.A muffled sound slipped through the cracked door and hit her like ice.

Muffled moans and breathy whispers leaked from within.Selene pressed a hand to her mouth and peered through the crack.Two figures lay entangled on the bed—Adrian and Cassandra,half-clad and intimate.

“Oh,Adrian,you should take off your ring…”Cassandra murmured between kisses in a tone meant to be sweet.

“No,”Adrian replied,voice rough with appetite,“forbidden makes it more thrilling.If only Selene were half as…enticing.”He held Cassandra’s hand to stop her from removing his ring and they continued.

The scene split Selene open.The same man who had struck her,the same man who had dismissed and humiliated her,now shared the marital bed with the woman who had mocked her.Memories of pain and sacrifice flooded her:the nights she had sat at the Moon Altar while priests drew blood to save his life;the months she had given her own blood and strength so he might survive;the endless shifts working herself to near-collapse so he could rest in comfort.

She thought of the satin dress he had once given her—how she had cooked for him in it,how he had pressed kisses to her throat and whispered that she was his one true love.Now that dress,the tenderness of those moments,felt like a lie.

The diamond ring with his initials burned at her finger.She clawed at it with her nails until blood welts rose and,with trembling hands,she shoved the band off and left it upon the flower table outside.Then she fled,heels clicking across the polished floor,each step carrying her further from the marriage that had been nothing but a cage.

This union,like her heart,lay shattered.

Just then,Mara's message came through:[Selene,I've already completed the information you need.When do you need it?]

Selene breathed a sigh of relief.Apparently,she wouldn't have to wait seven days.

[Tomorrow morning]