I Left My Vampire Husband for the Man Who Chose Me

Elena's POV

Vicky leaned against Jason, her face pale.

She looked at me and licked her lips. "I'm sorry, Elena."

Her smile was gentle. "The doctor said… pregnant vampires need human blood for nourishment."

The study reeked faintly of blood.

Two servants stood behind me, pinning my wrists in an iron grip.

A sharp silver needle broke the skin, and a crystal goblet was placed beneath my wrist.

Bright red blood dripped into the glass, one drop at a time.

Through the half-open door, I heard the physician speaking to Jason in a low, urgent voice.

"Sir, too much blood loss at once is dangerous for a human. Elena is already frail. If the bloodletting continues, she could go into shock."

"And Vicky's cravings are just a pregnancy symptom — animal blood would work just as well."

"No need."

Jason's voice was cold as ice.

"Your only job is to keep Vicky healthy. I'll handle the rest."

I heard his footsteps approaching and slowly closed my eyes.

"Does it hurt?"

He stood before me.

Maybe it was the blood loss playing tricks on me, but I thought I heard something tender in his voice.

I turned my head away. "Once you've taken enough, let me go."

My eyes stayed shut. Ever since watching my parents die, I couldn't look at that shade of red. I could only fight to keep my voice from trembling.

I'd hoped our last moments together could at least be dignified. But looking back, Jason resented me for tying him down his entire life, for failing to give him an heir while occupying the seat of his wife. Of course he wouldn't let me go easily.

Vicky nestled against Jason, watching the bottles fill with my blood. She sighed softly.

"I've always felt sorry for Elena, honestly. Living here all these years and leaving with nothing."

She sipped my blood as she spoke, her tone impossibly gentle.

Jason glanced at the blood in the bottle, his expression flat. "She was only ever a human."

Vicky laughed.

"But the clan spent quite a bit on her, didn't they?"

"I heard they brought in physicians from the oldest bloodlines just to help her conceive a vampire child."

Her gaze drifted to me — half-collapsed on a narrow medical cot, thin as paper.

"What a shame. Ten years, and she couldn't produce a single heir."

Jason didn't argue.

He simply said, "The Vanderlooms don't keep dead weight."

A buzzing sound broke the silence.

My phone.

I forced my eyes open and stared at the dim screen as notifications piled up.

Vicky glanced over and smirked.

"You're popular. All these messages — who's looking for you?"

Jason's gaze flickered to me with a hint of displeasure, but he quickly smoothed it over with the same mask of indifference.

"Debt collectors? If you apologize to me now, I might consider settling the debts your parents left behind."

Listening to the sound of my blood filling those bottles, my mind drifted.

Years ago, Jason's grandfather had officiated our wedding. Afterward, the old man went north to expand the family's business and rarely returned to the main estate.

Without him here, Jason had grown bolder in disregarding our marriage.

Even the assets my parents left behind were carved up by other clans. Funds they'd legitimately withdrawn for investments were repackaged as debts I could never repay.

My parents never could have imagined that the gratitude they'd bought with their lives would become chains around my neck.

I looked down at my phone.

[Elena, the driver says you haven't come out yet? Don't tell me you've changed your mind.]

[You promised to marry me. Why won't you let me come get you?]

[You still care about that vampire, don't you? … It's okay. I don't mind. As long as you're willing to come with me.]

Message after message lit up my screen.

My finger hovered for a few seconds before I tapped the reply field.

The glow of the screen fell across my face.

Jason suddenly noticed something different in my expression.

Not the despair and humiliation I usually wore in front of him — but something he hadn't seen in a long time. A quiet tenderness.

His brow furrowed slightly.

Vicky scoffed.

"Texting someone at a time like this? Elena, your creditors really don't give up."

I ignored her.

I typed slowly.

[Just a little longer. I'll be there soon.]

My vision began to dim. I could no longer make out what Jason and Vicky were saying about me.

The usual things, probably — that I couldn't produce an heir, that I was draining the Vanderloom fortune, that I was clinging to their charity.

In my memory, the image of the bright, smiling vampire boy I'd once known faded to nothing.

I sat there quietly.

As if none of this had anything to do with me anymore.

Only one message remained in my mind.

[As long as you're willing to come with me.]

In ten years, I'd had countless chances to leave — to walk away from this hopeless marriage.

But I kept letting myself believe that Jason still loved me, staying like a fool to be humiliated and tormented.

Now he had a child on the way. He had a woman carrying it for him.

There was no reason for me to stay.

This blood — consider it my final repayment to the Vanderlooms.

Soon, I'd be free.