As I'd expected, Declan never came home. When I reached for him in the night, my hand met only the cold, empty space where he should have been. A familiar ache seized my chest.
A series of rapid, increasingly heavy knocks sounded at the door.
I opened it to the butler, Mr. Peterson. His gaze swept over me with thinly veiled disdain.
"The matriarch, Mrs. Ramsey, requests your presence at the manor. Bring the child."
Declan's grandmother, Genevieve Ramsey, had never liked me. No matter how hard I tried to please her, she saw me as a woman of questionable character and despised my son, Julian, just as much. Following her lead, the entire manor staff treated us with a cold, biting disdain.
When I arrived at the Ramsey Manor, I found the entire family gathered.
Declan, who had been gone all night, was holding Hazel, gazing at her tenderly, his eyes brimming with an affection I hadn't seen in years.
Genevieve was beaming at Hazel's belly, a triumphant smile spreading across her face. The sight of it was a physical sting.
"Now that Hazel is finally pregnant, and all our relatives are here today, it's time to honor the agreement we made six months ago!"
The family's patriarch, Alistair Ramsey, then stood and formally declared Declan the sole beneficiary of the Ramsey family trust.
"And since we're about to welcome a new heir, it's time to start planning the wedding."
I looked up and saw that every eye in the room was fixed on Hazel.
Declan's hand rested on her stomach, his voice thick with emotion as he murmured, "I'm going to be a father..."
Not 'again,' I thought, the bitterness rising in my throat. Just... a father.
I swallowed hard, my grip on Julian's hand unconsciously tightening.
In the silent hall, Julian suddenly whimpered, "Mommy, that hurts."
I quickly let go, only to see his small hand was already red.
"I'm sorry, Julian. Here, let Mommy kiss it better..."
Julian's whimper drew everyone's attention, their gazes a mixture of scrutiny and open displeasure.
Alistair frowned. "If news gets out that the heir to the Ramsey family has an illegitimate child, it will damage the company's stock price."
Declan's mother, Eleanor Ramsey, let out a cold snort. "We'll simply tell the public the boy is an art student the family is sponsoring out of charity."
Eleanor disliked me, and she disliked Julian even more. She had orchestrated this entire arrangement for Declan and Hazel to produce a proper heir. With Hazel pregnant, Julian had become an inconvenient stain.
Declan let go of Hazel. "Mom, that's too much."
He started toward me, but Hazel’s hand on his arm stopped him short.
I watched her subtle victory, then squared my shoulders and walked up to Eleanor. "I understand," I said, my voice cold. "From this day forward, Julian is no longer Declan's son."
Then I knelt in front of Julian, my eyes burning, and told him, "Julian, from now on, you can't call him 'Daddy' anymore, okay? You can only call him 'Uncle Declan'."
Declan stared at me in shock. He knew Julian was the only reason I had tolerated his family for so long.
Julian didn't understand and began to cry in confusion. I picked him up to leave, but Hazel blocked our path.
"Gillian," she began, her voice dripping with false sweetness, "I heard agarwood is wonderfully calming for pregnant women. Declan has been searching for some for days, with no luck. Then I remembered... that gorgeous bracelet on your wrist."
"Can you give it to me?"
