MARRIED TO THE WRONG MAN

Chapter 5

Camilla's pov

Twenty-one days.

That’s how long it had been since that night the penthouse had seen my world collapse.

Three weeks of a quiet, exhausting war, not through words, but through absences.

I had learned how to be invisible. I left the penthouse at five in the morning, long before Ethan’s “guests” had finished their champagne, and I didn’t return until the city lights were the only ones still awake.

I threw myself into Aetheris work. I scrubbed servers, rerouted firewalls, and endured endless, soul-draining board meetings.

If I stayed busy, I didn’t have to feel the way my heart jumped every time I heard the private elevator chime. If I stared at enough lines of code, I could pretend I didn’t care which floor Ethan was on, or who he was with.

He never noticed. Not the late nights, not my hollow eyes, and certainly not the way I was disappearing right in front of him.

To Ethan, I was just the technical side of a corporate merger—a necessary, replaceable piece.

But my body remembered everything my mind tried to forget.

The morning started like any other Tuesday. I was in a high-stakes briefing with the security heads, pointing out a vulnerability in the Q3 patch, when the room suddenly tilted.

The bright fluorescent lights shot jagged streaks into my eyes. The voices of the executives around me sounded muffled, as if they were underwater.

“Camilla? Are you with us?”

I grabbed the edge of the mahogany table, my knuckles turning white. My stomach threw a sudden, violent heave.

“I… I need a moment,” I whispered.

Pushing my chair back, I didn’t wait for a response. I made it to the executive restroom just in time, shutting the heavy door behind me. I barely reached the stall before I was sick.

I stayed on the cold tile floor for a long time, forehead pressed against the marble, gasping for air.

It’s just stress, I told myself. The betrayal. The lack of sleep or three weeks of Ethan’s cruelty.

But when I finally stood and saw my reflection, the truth hit me harder than I expected. My skin was pale, almost see-through, but there was a strange glow in my eyes that terrified me.

I didn’t go back to the meeting. I walked out of the Aetheris tower, ignoring my assistant’s questions, and took a drive to a private clinic three blocks away—a place where the doctors were paid enough to keep quiet even if a Vance or a Sterling walked through the door.

The clinic was too quiet. The air smelled faintly of lavender and antiseptic. I sat in the examination room, my hands hidden under my thighs to stop them from shaking.

A kind, professional doctor came in holding a tablet.

“The blood work is back, Camilla,” she said softly.

I held my breath. The silence felt like a weight pressing down on me.

“You’re about three weeks pregnant. Your HCG levels are high, which explains the sudden nausea and dizziness. Congratulations.”

The word “congratulations” landed like a punch to my chest. It echoed in the quiet room, almost mocking me.

“I’m pregnant? Are you sure?” My eyes widened. “The… timing. Could this be a mistake?”

“The tests are definitive,” she said, her face showing concern now. “Should someone be called? Your husband?”

“No,” I snapped. The word came out sharper than I intended while I stood up. “No one.”

I left the clinic in a daze and drove back to the penthouse. I didn't return to my office.

By the time I got to the penthouse, the sun was setting. Long, bloody shadows stretched across the living room. I stepped out of the elevator and saw Ethan.

He was standing by the window, drink in hand, looking over the city like he owned it.

“You’re back early,” he said without turning. “The board was asking why you walked out of the briefing. Marcus thinks you’re losing your edge.”

I didn’t answer. My throat felt tight, filled with a secret that could choke me.

“Camilla?” He finally turned, seeing my face. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I looked at him, really looked at him. The arrogance in his shoulders, the cold in his blue eyes, the memory of the man who had held me three weeks ago.

If I told him now… everything would change.

He would never let me go. Not because of love, but because a Sterling heir was a prize no one else could have. I would be trapped—a mother, a wife, a pawn.

If I stayed silent… the pregnancy wouldn’t stay a secret forever. Soon the world would know….

My father would know. Ethan would know. And the betrayal of staying quiet could be enough to destroy Aetheris.

“I’m just tired, Ethan,” I said, my voice hollow. “I’m going to my floor.”

“Fine,” he muttered, turning back to the window, already bored. “Don’t forget the OmniCorp mediation on Thursday. Pull yourself together by then.”

I walked to my bedroom, each step heavy like lead, and shut the door. I sank to the floor, darkness swallowing me. I placed my hand on my flat stomach. A ticking time bomb.

I was twenty-five. I had built a life of logic, code, and control. And in one night, I’d created something I couldn’t control.

I had two choices:

I could tell him—the man I was beginning to feel for, the man who would use this news to trap me, or I could run and disappear before the bump showed, before lawyers got involved, before the Vance and Sterling names consumed this child.

But where do you hide when the world’s eyes are everywhere?

The elevator chimed. Ethan was on his way up.

The silence of the penthouse was the only answer. For the first time, I had no plan. The Ice Queen was gone.

All that remained was a woman with a secret that could change everything, and a man who didn’t even know he was already a father.

What am I supposed to do now?