Chapter 6 - Serena's Last Desperate Lie Turned My Pregnancy Into a Dangerous Game of Betrayal
I was fourteen weeks pregnant when Serena Keller finally called me herself.
I had been staying at Margaret's guesthouse for nearly three weeks.
Natalie had helped me arrange prenatal care with a local physician.
Dr. Grant had transferred my records at my request.
I was sleeping better.
Eating regularly.
And slowly learning that a quiet life didn't have to feel empty.
Some mornings, I walked through the garden with Margaret.
She showed me how to prune roses before winter.
Other afternoons, Natalie brought groceries and stayed for dinner.
We talked about everything except Adrian.
Not because he had disappeared from my thoughts.
But because I was beginning to understand that my life contained more than my marriage.
Then Serena called.
I almost ignored the unfamiliar number.
But when I answered, her voice was unmistakable.
"Elena."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"What do you want?"
"I need to speak with you."
"Then speak."
She hesitated.
"Adrian knows about my father."
"I know."
"He thinks I betrayed him."
"Did you?"
"Things aren't that simple."
I looked toward the garden.
"They rarely are when someone has been lying for years."
Serena inhaled sharply.
"Richard is dangerous."
"Then cooperate with the authorities."
"You don't understand."
"You're right. I don't understand why you spent six years interrupting my marriage."
Silence.
Then she said, "Because Adrian was supposed to marry me."
I closed my eyes.
"Serena."
"Our families had an agreement."
"Adrian isn't property."
"He loved me before you."
"And he married me."
Her voice hardened.
"He would have come back if you hadn't gotten pregnant."
I felt a sudden coldness.
"You knew I was pregnant before he did."
She didn't answer.
"How?"
"Richard had people watching you."
I sat down.
My pulse accelerated.
"Did he access my medical records?"
"I don't know."
"Serena."
"I heard you were visiting a doctor. Richard thought you might be pregnant."
I pressed my free hand over my stomach.
"What does he want?"
"Control."
"Of Adrian?"
"Of everything."
"Then why are you calling me?"
She began crying.
"Because Richard says Adrian is going to destroy us."
I said nothing.
"He's threatening my father."
"Your father is alive."
"Yes."
"Then the debt Adrian spent eight years repaying was a lie."
Serena sobbed.
"I didn't plan for it to go this far."
"At what point did you plan to stop?"
She couldn't answer.
I thought about our anniversary dinners.
The hospital room.
The lonely holidays.
The night I told Adrian we were having a baby.
"Did you know I was telling him that night?"
Another silence.
"Serena?"
"Richard told me you had something important planned."
I closed my eyes.
"And you called anyway."
"I needed Adrian to come."
"No. You needed to prove he would."
Her breathing became uneven.
"Elena, please."
"For six years, you treated my marriage like a competition. But I was the only one who didn't know we were playing."
I ended the call.
My hands were shaking.
Margaret found me sitting on the kitchen floor.
She lowered herself beside me with surprising ease.
"Bad news?"
I nodded.
She waited.
Finally, I whispered, "I don't know how people can be so cruel."
Margaret took my hand.
"Some people spend so much time trying to possess love that they forget love isn't something you can steal."
I looked at her.
"What if Adrian still loves her?"
"Then that's his responsibility. Not yours."
That evening, Natalie arrived with an update from the federal prosecutor.
Investigators had begun reviewing Richard's financial network.
Thomas Keller had agreed to provide a statement through counsel.
Several companies were under scrutiny.
But Richard remained free.
And he knew someone was cooperating.
"He's getting nervous," Natalie said.
"How do you know?"
"Two witnesses received threats. One left the state."
I looked at her.
"Should I leave?"
"We're arranging additional protection."
"From whom?"
"People outside Adrian's organization."
I nodded.
Then Natalie hesitated.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
"Adrian has been cooperating with investigators."
I stared at her.
"Since when?"
"About a week."
"Why?"
"Apparently, he provided financial records that implicated Richard."
I looked away.
Adrian had spent years protecting his empire.
The idea that he might expose parts of it voluntarily was difficult to believe.
Natalie continued.
"He also asked whether you were safe."
"What did you say?"
"That I couldn't discuss your location."
"Good."
"He didn't argue."
That surprised me more than anything.
Later that night, I received a message through Natalie.
It was from Adrian.
"I won't ask you to come home. I won't ask you to forgive me. I only want you to know that I'm working to make sure you and our baby are safe. You deserved a husband who stayed. I understand that now."
I read it several times.
Then I placed the phone face down.
An apology could be sincere.
It could also be too late.
I wasn't ready to decide.
Two days later, Serena appeared at Richard Voss's office.
She was furious.
"You promised Adrian would come back to me."
Richard barely looked up.
"Plans change."
"He's investigating everything."
"I know."
"My father is talking to the government."
"I know that too."
Serena slammed her handbag onto the desk.
"Then do something."
Richard studied her.
"You're becoming inconvenient."
She went still.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you've served your purpose."
Serena stepped backward.
"You can't just abandon me."
Richard smiled.
"That's exactly what you taught Adrian to fear."
She stared at him.
Then she noticed a photograph on his desk.
It showed a small yellow guesthouse.
A woman stood on the porch.
Pregnant.
Me.
Serena's face drained of color.
"Why do you have that?"
Richard followed her gaze.
"Insurance."
"Elena hasn't done anything."
"She made Adrian question me."
Serena whispered, "You can't hurt her."
Richard leaned back.
"Then perhaps you should stop giving me reasons to."
May you like
For the first time, Serena understood what it meant to be powerless before the man she'd helped.
And she finally realized that the woman she'd spent years trying to replace was now in danger because of her.
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