Elaris’s POV
“Oh, Seraphina, you’re back,” Nyra said, smiling at me with that false, sugary sweetness that had begun to make my skin crawl.
I stopped in the doorway, confused.
I had rushed back to the estate, thrown open the door to our bedroom, and braced myself for the worst.
But instead of what I had imagined, I found Nyra curled up against my husband’s chest.
They were fully clothed.
Across the room, the television flickered with shadows, and the breathless moans I had heard outside were coming from the scene playing on the screen.
For a moment, my mind simply stopped.
“What... what is going on here?” I asked.
Nyra had sent me that image of herself in Draven’s arms. But what I was seeing now looked nothing like it.
At once, Nyra’s face crumpled, and tears rushed to her eyes.
“Oh, Draven,” she said shakily, “I knew we should’ve spoken to Seraphina first. I feel awful. Just let me go back to the townhouse.”
I frowned, still trying to understand what kind of game she was playing.
The scene on the television changed, and the moaning stopped.
“You just can’t stand seeing Nyra at peace, can you?” Draven snapped.
I turned to him in disbelief. “What did I do? I only just came back.”
“Nyra can’t stay in the guest room,” he said coldly. “The bed in there makes her dizzy and sick. The bed in our room is softer, more comfortable for her, so I moved her here. And now you come in with that look on your face and upset her.”
I stared at him, struggling to make sense of his words.
“Wait,” I said slowly. “I don’t understand. Nyra moved into our room? Our bedroom?”
Draven frowned, kissed Nyra’s forehead, and murmured, “Rest. Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle Seraphina.”
Nyra nodded and lowered her lashes obediently.
Then Draven crossed the room, grabbed my arm, and dragged me into the hall.
His grip was so tight it made me wince.
“You’re hurting me,” I gasped.
He loosened his hold, but only barely, and let out an impatient breath.
“Listen, Seraphina. Nyra has been through enough. The last thing I want is for her to be uncomfortable.”
“She can be comfortable somewhere else,” I shot back, glaring at him.
“No,” Draven snapped. “It’s just a room, Seraphina. If it matters that much to you, I’ll have another suite prepared for you.”
I stared at him.
“But that’s our room,” I whispered. “Ours. So what now? The three of us share it?”
“For God’s sake, no,” he scoffed. “Nyra will stay there. I had your things moved to the guest suite. It’s only temporary, until she gives birth.”
I nodded once, biting the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood.
My husband had taken my things out of our room and made space for another woman.
“So where will you sleep?” I asked.
Draven rubbed at his jaw and looked away for a moment. “Don’t make this difficult, Seraphina. You know Nyra still wakes up screaming from nightmares because of what her ex-husband did to her. I’ll stay with her whenever I’m home.”
A bitter laugh broke out of me.
“So you throw me out and move your first love into our bed?”
“It’s not like that,” Draven said tiredly. “Stop being difficult. Nyra is pregnant. You don’t know what that feels like, so at least try to understand.”
That broke something inside me.
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
“Of course I don’t know what that feels like,” I said.
Then I turned and walked away before he could see my face fall apart.
I shut myself inside the guest suite, curled up on the bed, and cried until my chest hurt and my eyes burned.
At some point, I fell asleep like that.
---
I woke with a violent start.
My heart was pounding, and my body was drenched in freezing water.
I shoved myself upright, gasping, and found Nyra standing beside the bed with an empty bucket in her hands and a smirk on her lips.
“Nyra?” I stared at her. “Did you throw water on me?”
She scoffed. “What do you think? It’s morning. Get your lazy ass out of bed.”
I frowned, still shivering, and looked around the suite I had been thrown into.
“Excuse me?” I said. “You don’t decide when I sleep or wake in my own house.”
Nyra gave a light, mocking laugh.
“After yesterday? And seeing as you’re the one sleeping in the guest suite?” She tilted her head. “Are you sure this is still your house?”
My glare sharpened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” she said lightly. “Only that your husband is mine. And the photo I sent you yesterday? That was very real.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said coldly. “Draven only pities you. He’s trying to help you.”
Nyra laughed under her breath.
“You still don’t understand, do you, Seraphina?”
“Get away from me, Nyra. I don’t want to start my day looking at your face.”
I swung my legs off the bed and stood.
Nyra’s smile only widened.
“Oh, poor Seraphina,” she cooed. “Crying herself to sleep in the guest suite, and she still knows nothing.”
I turned back sharply. “What are you talking about?”
She stepped closer.
“What do you think Draven would do,” she asked softly, “if both of us were in danger?”
My brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
I barely got the words out before she shoved me.
Hard.
I fell backward and hit the edge of the bed with my lower stomach.
Pain exploded through me.
A sharp, sickening pain deep in my abdomen.
I sucked in a breath, unable to scream.
But before I could even recover, Nyra let out a piercing cry.
“No, Seraphina, stop!” she screamed. “I’m sorry!”
I looked up in shock just as she threw herself onto the floor, clutching her stomach and writhing as though she were the one in agony.
My mind went blank.
“What... what are you doing?” I managed through clenched teeth, one hand pressed to my aching stomach.
Then the door flew open.
Draven stood there, eyes wide, face stricken.
He looked from Nyra on the floor to me beside the bed.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded.
