THE LAST BREATH OF A BROKEN WIFE

Chapter 2: The Coldest Night

The rain wasn't just falling; it was a deluge, a relentless weight that soaked through Aria’s thin cotton dress in seconds. As the heavy iron gates of the Blackwood Estate clicked shut behind her, the sound echoed like a guillotine blade.

She stood on the curb, a single plastic bag containing her phone and her sonogram in her hand. No coat. No money. Silas had even frozen the credit card she used for her heart medication.

Thump-thump. Thump-pause-thump.

Her heart skipped a beat, a sharp, electric pang radiating through her chest. Aria leaned against a cold stone lamppost, gasping for air.

"Not now," she whispered, clutching her stomach. "Please, little one, stay strong. Mommy just needs to find a place to sit."

She checked her phone. She had three missed calls from her sister, Lily, and a barrage of notifications. Her stomach plummeted. Silas hadn't just divorced her; he had released a press statement.

[BLACKWOOD CEO DIVORCES SPY WIFE: ARIA VANCE ACCUSED OF MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR THEFT]

Underneath the headline was a photo of her looking disheveled leaving the mansion. The comments were a bloodbath.“Gold-digger,” one read. “She should be in prison, not just divorced,” another said.

She couldn't go to her sister’s. Lily’s husband worked for a subsidiary of Blackwood Group. If Aria went there, Silas would ruin them too. He had promised to destroy anyone who helped her.

Aria’s vision blurred. The streetlights began to dance in dizzying circles. She needed a pharmacy, but her pockets were empty.

Suddenly, a sleek black sedan pulled up beside her, splashing muddy water over her legs. The window rolled down. Aria’s heart leapt for a second—was it Silas? Had he realized he was wrong?

But the face that peered out was Melanie’s. She wasn't crying anymore. She looked radiant, wrapped in a pashmina that Silas had bought for Aria last Christmas.

"Still here, Aria?" Melanie smirked, her voice like honeyed poison. "I thought you’d have crawled back to whatever hole you came from by now."

"Why, Melanie?" Aria choked out, her hand pressing hard against her aching chest. "You knew those files were faked. You knew I never pushed you."

Melanie leaned out, her eyes narrowing. "I knew that as long as you were in that house, I was second best. Silas doesn't love you, Aria. He loves the 'perfect wife' he thought you were. Now that he thinks you’re a traitor... well, look at you. A dying dog in the rain."

Melanie’s eyes dropped to Aria’s protective hand over her stomach. Her expression shifted to one of pure malice. "Don't tell me you're pregnant. Because if you are, I’ll make sure Silas thinks it’s your lover’s child. He’ll never let a 'traitor’s brat' carry the Blackwood name."

The car sped off, leaving Aria in a cloud of exhaust and despair.

The threat hit Aria harder than the cold. She couldn't tell him. If she told Silas now, Melanie would twist it. He would take the baby away just to spite her, or worse, Melanie would find a way to make sure the child "disappeared."

Aria stumbled toward a nearby bus stop, the only shelter in sight. She collapsed onto the cold metal bench, her breath coming in ragged, shallow wheezes.

She pulled out the sonogram, the edges damp from the rain. In the dim light of the streetlamp, she traced the tiny, flickering blur of life.

"It's just you and me, little heartbeat," she sobbed, the first tear finally falling. "I have to stay alive for you. I have to..."

Her eyes fluttered shut as her heart gave one more terrifying, irregular shudder. The world went black just as the distant sound of an ambulance siren wailed through the night—but it wasn't coming for her.