REBEL MONTGOMERY | The Devil’s Claim

001 It was almost eight in the evening, yet Clara had not received a single call or text from her husband, Nikolai Sarkhel, not even the usual signal that he wanted her to come to his bookstore; it was their first wedding anniversary, and Clara had accidentally discovered that Nick had personally hired the same florist and event styling shop to prepare something special, the same place where she had gone to bring her gift for him, and while she was there, the staff congratulated her warmly, telling the unsuspecting Clara that her husband had already planned a surprise for her. At the stroke of exactly eight in the evening, Clara finally decided she would go to Nick’s bookstore on her own will, carefully bringing the box she had prepared to gift him, that inside it was a positive pregnancy test result she believed would probably make Nick so happy. Two months after their civil wedding, Nick came home from the clinic carrying a report that confirmed what he had feared… he had a medical condition that made it impossible for him to conceive a child with Clara. The following month, despite the weight of that truth, they made a mutual decision to try anyway, agreeing to undergo assisted reproduction so they could still build the family they both wanted. Clara agreed without hesitation because she loved Nick and wanted a future with him, and Nick was determined more than ever to have a child with her by his side. Little does Clara know that she is not an ordinary woman who lost her foster parents. She is actually the daughter of Don Cassian Morcant. To keep her safe, a plan was set in motion to let her live a normal life away from the mob world where she truly belongs until she turned twenty-five. However, her husband, Nikolai, has known the truth all along. Their first attempt failed, leaving them quieter and more careful with hope. On their second try through intrauterine insemination, Clara finally received a positive pregnancy result. She stood frozen for a moment, disbelief slowly giving way to joy, her hands trembling as she pressed the result closer. For the first time in months, she felt something like certainty bloom in her chest, and all she could think about was telling Nick the moment he came home. Clara rode a cab to the bookstore and, upon arriving, decided to take the back door instead of the front entrance, which was already closed. She thought that perhaps Nick was still not yet finished preparing his wedding anniversary surprise for her inside, carefully unaware of what awaited her on the other side. Inside the bookstore, Nick was with Calla Morcant, a top model, and the moment Clara stepped into view through the partially open back door, she froze at the sight of them in an intimate and unmistakably compromising situation. Her husband was heavily pounding another woman from behind while clinging tightly to one of the bookshelves. The world seemed to go still around her, the anniversary surprise she had been imagining collapsing into something she could no longer recognize. “Oh damn it, Nick… f**k me harder… Harder, Nick… I’m cumming. Ahhh!” Hearing the woman moan, Clara felt her heart shatter. “You are so damn hot inside, Calla. f**k yeah… I’m going to pounce your sweet cunt as hard as you liked.” The two people’s moment of pleasure was abruptly cut off when Clara’s gift box for Nick slipped from her trembling hands and fell to the floor with a sharp, hollow thud that echoed through the bookstore, instantly breaking the silence. Both Nick and the woman froze, their movements stopping at once as the sound cut through the room like a warning. “Damn, what perfect timing,” Calla said with a slow, mocking smile, her voice dripping with sarcasm as her gaze shifted toward Clara. “Now we’ve got an audience in the form of your naive wife, Nick.” Nick’s expression darkened as he turned toward Clara, his sharp gaze cutting through the space between them as if her very presence was the reason for the interruption, a silent accusation forming in his eyes that she had arrived at the worst possible moment. “Nick… Nick, you’re cheating on me,” Clara said, her voice breaking as the words came out unevenly, tears slipping down her face before she could stop them. “And you were never supposed to find out if you just stayed at home,” Nick said coldly, his frustration barely contained as he looked at her. “Why are you even here?” “Nick… oh God, I’m the one who’s supposed to be angry,” Clara said, her voice trembling as hurt and fury rose through her tears. “You’re the one cheating on me. Since when, huh?” Nick didn’t bother to cover himself, his focus unshaken as he stood there, his expression hard and unreadable while the tension in the room thickened around them. The naked mistress remained unbothered, settling into a nearby chair as if nothing had happened, calmly lighting a cigarette while watching Clara’s heartbreaking moment unfold with detached amusement. Clara recognized the woman as a model she had seen recently, a frequent visitor in Nick’s bookstore who often came in as a persistent and noticeable buyer, and the realization made her stomach twist as the pieces began to fall into place. “Nick, what have I done for you to cheat on me and have s*x with that other woman?” Clara asked, her voice cracking as the words poured out in disbelief and pain. “I’ve been loyal to you… I’ve been a good wife to you, Nick.” “That’s exactly why it bored me to death,” Nick said flatly, his tone cold and dismissive as he met Clara’s tear-filled eyes. “Your goodness, your loyalty, all of it… it has no thrill. You’re boring, Clara. Boring as hell. When I was with you, it felt like I was touching something dead, like a fallen, rotting trunk of wood. You never made me enjoy it at all. Even on our first night, there was nothing special in it. Nothing.” “Nick, please don’t hurt me like this,” Clara pleaded, her voice breaking as she took a shaky step forward, tears still falling. “Let’s go home… please.” “I’ll only go home with you if you agree to my condition, Clara.” “W—what would that be?” “You, me, and Calla… let’s have a threesome.” Clara shuddered at what she heard—it was disgusting coming from her own husband. “Don’t ask something so immoral of me, Nick,” Clara said, her voice trembling as she shook her head in disbelief. “Please… clear your mind.” “Then get the hell out,” Nick snapped, his voice cold and final as his gaze hardened on her. “Don’t ruin my enjoyment, Clara. I’ve been enduring this boring life as your husband for a year. I want a way out!” “No, Nick… no, please. I love you,” Clara cried out, her voice breaking completely as she dropped to the floor where her gift box had fallen. With trembling hands, she opened it and pulled out the positive pregnancy test and the paper inside, clutching them desperately as if they could still save everything. She looked up at Nick, tears streaming down her face, and tried to hold onto the last fragile hope that he would still see what she had come to tell him. “Look at it, Nick,” Clara cried harder, her hands shaking violently as she pushed the papers toward him. “It’s positive… the intrauterine insemination worked. You wanted a baby, remember? We have it now—our baby is inside me, Nick. It’s real… it’s happening. Please, please don’t throw this away. Let’s fix this… let’s go home, I’m begging you.” Nick took the paper from Clara’s trembling hands, his expression stern and unyielding as he glanced at it once. Without a word, he reached for the lighter in Calla’s hand, sparked it to life, and set the document ablaze. The flame quickly consumed the evidence of Clara’s words, and when it was fully burning, he let it fall from his grip, watching it drift to the floor at Clara’s feet as the ashes curled and scattered in the air between them. Nick’s expression didn’t soften as he looked at her, his voice cold and decisive. “Abort that baby,” he said flatly. “I don’t want it anymore. I found out last month that my infertility can actually be treated, and I can conceive naturally now. In fact, Calla is already carrying my child.” He paused, then added without hesitation and pure disgust, “You are nothing compared to Calla, Clara. Choosing you over her was my biggest mistake. I’m correcting it now… by dumping you. You’re dull, naïve, and utterly forgettable as a wife. And that baby created through science inside your womb needs to be terminated, Clara. And we’re getting a divorce too.” Hearing the word abortion made Clara feel violently sick. Her vision blurred, her breath broke, and before she could process anything else, she turned and ran as fast as she could out of the bookstore, her footsteps echoing in panic as she fled into the night, leaving behind the man she once called her husband.