Chapter 3 You're Just A Barren Little Witch

Elena's Point Of View

I stood there frozen, my hand gripping my phone so tightly I feared the screen might shatter. Graham's voice still echoed in the air like a foul stench.

"We're together. She's carrying my child."

I blinked, once. Twice. The world tilted. Just slightly at first. The floor didn't shift beneath me, but it felt like it did. My knees buckled slightly and I caught the edge of the couch to steady myself.

"You-" I blinked. "You're what?"

"I told you," he said, voice calm, almost soothing like he was explaining a business merger. "I need a child. Lillian agreed to help. She's been a part of the family for years, so it makes sense."

Then my gaze slowly slid to the woman now resting smugly on the armchair like a queen on a throne... Lillian. His so-called cousin.

My voice, barely above a whisper, trembled out of me. "Your cousin?" I took a shaky step forward, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. "You're screwing your cousin, Graham?"

He laughed.

He... Laughed. That low, deep chuckle he always gave when he found something amusing or ridiculous, except this wasn't either.

"Well... she's not my family, I just didn't know how to present it to you without hurting you," he said with an infuriating shrug.

My stomach clenched. My throat burned. The walls of the room swayed like they couldn't handle the weight of what had just been said.

"You lied to me?" My voice cracked, full of disbelief. "All this time? You introduced her as your cousin to my face... for years!"

He gave me that tired sigh again. The one he'd mastered. The one that said this conversation is beneath me.

"Elena, stop being paranoid."

That was it. That one sentence shattered whatever pieces of restraint I had left.

"Paranoid?" I gasped, eyes wide, chest rising and falling violently. "You call this paranoia?" I gestured wildly between him and her. "You cheat, you bring her into our house... pregnant, and I'm the crazy one?"

He looked at me then. Not with regret. Not with empathy. But with the calm of a man who had rehearsed this moment and felt no shame in it.

"I told you we needed to evolve," he said.

"Evolve?" I echoed, blinking rapidly. "So this..." I waved at Lillian who was now running her hands over her pregnant stomach like it was some damn trophy, "...this is your version of evolution?"

He walked past me casually and picked up a bottle of water from the bar like this was just any other Tuesday evening.

And then he dropped another bomb. "One more thing," he said over his shoulder. "She'll be moving into our room." I turned around slowly, mouth ajar, stunned into absolute silence.

My voice returned, trembling with restrained rage. "What?" He didn't even look at me. "She's moving in."

"Not only into our house," I said, disbelief dripping from every syllable, "but into our matrimonial bed too?"

Before he could answer, Lillian giggled mockingly from her throne. "Excuse you?" she said with a faux-sweet tilt of her head. "Moving in with who?"

She smirked and crossed her legs, her belly round under her designer maternity gown.

"What he meant, darling," she said, stressing the word with venom-laced glee, "is that you'll be moving out while I move in."

My ears rang. My vision blurred.

I turned to Graham. "You're okay with this?" I whispered. "With her speaking to me like that? With this...this circus?"

"Elena," he said in that maddeningly neutral voice, "you agreed to the open marriage. You said it yourself."

I took a shaky step back, my nails digging into my palms. "That doesn't mean you bring your mistress, and your bastard child into our home like it's some goddamn royal parade!"

He winced at my words but didn't deny them.

Instead, he just stared.

"Graham," I whispered again. "This isn't you. You've always adored me... loved me... my body, my heart, everything. What changed?"

He finally looked me in the eye. And I wished he hadn't. Because what I saw there was worse than hatred. It was nothing.

"The promise we made," he said coldly, "ended the day I realized you couldn't give me what I wanted."

My chest caved in.

I felt Lillian's eyes watching me, amused. Like I was a pathetic soap opera character unraveling before her.

Lillian looked up at me like I was pathetic. "We can make this work, Elena," she said sweetly, rubbing her belly. "You just need to be open-minded. Graham's right... you're still young, beautiful. You could have your own fun. Live a little."

I wanted to claw her face off. I turned toward her, rage seething through every inch of my body. "I'm his wife," I said, voice rising, "you're just a womb with legs."

"Elena," Graham warned sharply, but I didn't care anymore.

"Oh please," Lillian replied with a mocking laugh, flipping her curls. "You're just mad that he finally chose a woman who doesn't bore him to death in bed."

"I swear to God..."

"Enough!" Graham barked. "This is happening. You can either accept it or leave."

I was still reeling, my pulse a storm in my ears, my body trembling with a fury I couldn't contain, when the door creaked open again.

Graham's mother stepped in, a vision of grace in her tailored coat, her heels clicking against the marble like she owned the air in this room.

My breath hitched with something that felt dangerously close to hope. Finally. Someone sane. Someone who'd look at this madness and put an end to it.

"Mrs. Sinclair," I whispered, rushing toward her like a woman reaching for a lifeline. "Please. You need to talk to your son. He's lost it... he cheated on me, brought her into this house and says she's pregnant. And now he's saying she'll be moving into our bedroom, our matrimonial bedroom! This is insane, it's cruel, you have to..."

Crack!

The sound echoed like a whip in the living room, slicing the air. My cheek stung. I stumbled back, losing my footing, hitting the cold floor with a hard thud.

For a moment, I couldn't comprehend it. The burn on my skin. The shock in my heart. She had slapped me. His mother had slapped me. I looked up at her in disbelief, one hand holding my throbbing cheek.

Graham didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't even blink.

Lillian still curled smugly in the armchair like a pampered serpent, smirked and rested her hand on her stomach, like this was some royal ceremony and she was the crowned queen.

"What... what did you just do?" I choked out, barely able to form the words.

"How dare you speak about my daughter-in-law like that?" she snapped, standing tall like some regal executioner. "Lillian is carrying the future of this family. And you...? You're just a barren little witch."

The room spun.

"You knew?" I breathed, eyes wide. "You knew he was cheating? You knew and did nothing?"

She scoffed and crossed her arms. "And so what if I did? It's about time someone opened his eyes. My son deserves better more. He deserves a legacy, not years of empty promises and wasted time."

Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of her. Not in front of them. "You stood beside me at our wedding," I said quietly. "You called me your daughter."

She sneered. "That was before I realized you couldn't give him what matters. If you can't provide a child, the least you can do is give him some peace and quiet."

My lips trembled. "So this is it? You're all in on it? You've been planning this behind my back like some twisted conspiracy?"

"If I ever hear that you raised your voice at her again," she said, pointing a finger like I was some rabid dog, "I'll have the staff personally drag you out of this house. Do you understand me, Elena?"

I didn't answer.

I couldn't. I looked at Graham... my husband, the man who once promised me forever. He said nothing. Not a word.

Not a defense. Not a denial. Not even a flicker of regret. He just stood there, staring at me with those empty eyes I didn't recognize anymore.

And Lillian, still lounging like she owned the damn place, laughed softly under her breath.

"Oh, sweetie," she said mockingly, "I hope you don't bruise easily. That face of yours is about the only thing you still have going for you."