CLAIMED THEN CAST ASIDE

🌕 Chapter Six: Strings and Shadows

The sun slipped through the curtains like a thief.

Selene stirred beneath silk sheets she didn’t remember pulling over herself. The room was quiet. Too quiet. No birds. No footsteps. No wind. Just silence and that tight feeling in her chest she’d been waking up with more and more.

She rolled onto her back, wincing slightly.

Her thighs ached.

Her belly twisted.

She closed her eyes again, pretending for a moment that she was still in her childhood room back in Duskvale. Back before the mark. Back before Kael. Back before—

“Don’t think about him,” she muttered to herself.

She reached for her phone. Two missed calls. One message from Maya.

Selene sat up slowly. The silk sheet slid down her body, revealing the faintest bruise on her collarbone—Richard’s mouth had been everywhere last night.

Unprotected. Again.

She should have said something. She didn’t.

She never did.

---

In the kitchen, Richard was already gone. A note sat on the counter.

> “Out for meetings. Be good. — R”

Next to it, a credit card and a sleek black phone.

Selene stared at both.

Then ignored them.

She made coffee in silence. Ate a piece of toast that tasted like nothing. Then sat at the table staring out at the skyline, one hand resting on her stomach without thinking.

A dull heat pulsed there.

Like her body was keeping a secret.

Because it was.

---

Later that day, Selene finally called Maya back.

Her voice trembled a little when she said “hello.”

“Selene?” Maya’s voice was so warm, so familiar it made her chest ache.

Selene smiled faintly. “Hey…”

“Where the hell have you been? You vanished after texting me that weird ‘I’m okay, don’t worry’ message.”

“I just needed time,” Selene said. “I’m… staying with someone.”

“Someone?”

“A guy. Just a friend.” The lie rolled off her tongue like water.

Maya was quiet on the other end. Then: “You don’t sound okay.”

“I am.”

“Is this guy… safe?”

Selene’s breath caught. Her eyes drifted to the bedroom door. “Yeah. He’s helping me out. Just until I figure things out.”

“I want to see you.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Selene—”

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

She ended the call and pressed the phone to her chest.

Maya didn’t deserve this silence. But Selene didn’t know how to explain what her life had turned into.

---

Hours passed.

She took a shower. Wore the clothes Richard left for her. Tried to read a book she couldn’t focus on. Tried to nap, but nausea gnawed at her.

Her body felt different lately. Her breasts were sore. Her stomach felt strange. Her cravings were weird—like she wanted toast and lemons and dirt all at once.

It wasn’t her imagination.

She was sure of it now.

She was pregnant.

Again.

But this time… no one knew.

And she didn’t know who she feared more: the man who rejected her or the one who might never let her go.

---

Evening fell.

The door opened just after eight.

Richard entered, wearing a crisp suit, the top buttons undone, tie half-loose around his neck. His jaw was tight. His eyes were darker than usual.

Selene froze when she saw him.

Something was wrong.

He didn’t speak.

He poured himself a drink and downed it. Then poured another. Then leaned against the counter and finally looked at her.

“You spoke to someone today,” he said.

Selene stiffened. “Maya. Just a friend.”

“I don’t like people knowing where you are.”

“I didn’t tell her.”

“Good.”

He came closer, each step measured.

“Because you’re mine now, Selene.”

She swallowed hard.

“I picked you up off the street,” he said. “Gave you a roof. Fed you. Protected you.”

“I didn’t ask you to—”

“But you let me.”

He was in front of her now. Too close.

“You sleep in my bed,” he whispered. “You let me in your body. You breathe my air.”

Selene’s heart raced.

“You belong to me.”

His hand brushed her jaw. Gentle. Then not.

“And if anyone tries to take you away…”

His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’ll bury them.”

—

Selene didn’t speak.

She couldn’t.

Richard’s breath was warm against her face. His fingers slid down her jaw, down her neck, over the mark that had nothing to do with him but made his lips curl in satisfaction every time he looked at it.

He didn’t care who gave her that scar.

Only that it was his now.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

Selene stepped back, needing air. Space. Something.

But Richard followed.

He gripped her waist, pulled her into him, and kissed her with a force that wasn’t about romance—it was about ownership. His mouth was hot, rough, commanding.

She let him.

Even as her stomach twisted and her hands trembled.

Even as she tried to turn her face away.

“I don’t want to—” she whispered.

But he silenced her with his mouth again.

“Don’t think,” he muttered against her lips. “Just stay where I can see you.”

He carried her to the bedroom. Dropped her onto the bed like he was already undressing her in his mind.

Selene laid there, frozen for a second.

Then sat up quickly, breath shaking.

“Richard,” she said softly, “I don’t feel well tonight. I think something’s wrong with me. I need to see a doctor.”

His brows furrowed.

“Do you have a fever?”

“No. But I feel dizzy. Sick. My body’s… off.”

“You’re probably just tired. Stress. Eat something. Sleep.”

Selene opened her mouth to argue.

But he was already taking off his shirt.

Already undoing his belt.

Already climbing over her.

His lips found her neck.

His hands were everywhere—fast, practiced, greedy.

He didn’t notice her hesitation.

Or he didn’t care.

—

He didn’t use protection.

He never did.

Not once had he paused to ask.

Not once had she gathered the courage to stop him.

She’d gone quiet during it all. Like her body moved without her. Like she watched herself from far away.

When it was over, he fell asleep quickly.

Selene didn’t.

She stared at the ceiling. Felt her stomach churn again.

Something was changing inside her.

Something growing.

And she wasn’t sure what terrified her more—telling Richard the truth…

Or keeping it hidden.

---

The next morning came with quiet tension.

Richard was up early, pacing by the windows on his phone. He didn’t notice Selene curled in the sheets, listening.

“…I said no,” he snapped. “You don’t get to dictate how I run my business. I made more in the last quarter than you made in the last three years—”

A pause.

Then his tone changed.

Low. Tight.

“I said I’m handling it.”

Another pause.

“Don’t threaten me with the board. You think they want to run this empire without me? You think they care about a f***ing heir?”

Silence.

Then:

“I don’t want a damn child, Father. I don’t need one. I don’t trust anyone enough to raise one. And right now, it’s a distraction I can’t afford.”

Selene froze.

A chill ran down her arms.

“I’ll find a solution,” Richard said through gritted teeth. “But don’t call me again unless it’s a funeral.”

He ended the call and smashed his glass against the table.

Selene flinched.

Richard turned slowly and saw her sitting there, wide-eyed, wrapped in the sheets.

He smiled. But it wasn’t soft.

It was sharp. Calculating.

“You look like you heard something,” he said.

Selene shook her head. “No. I just woke up.”

He walked over, crouched beside the bed, brushed her hair from her face.

“You’re very quiet lately.”

“I’m just tired.”

“Don’t be,” he murmured. “I need you strong.”

She didn’t ask why.

He didn’t explain.

---

That afternoon, Selene stared at herself in the mirror.

Her fingers trembled as they traced over her lower belly.

It was still flat. Still nothing there.

But she could feel it.

The heaviness. The changes. The warmth that didn’t feel like hers anymore.

She had to get out of here.

She had to tell Maya.

But first—she needed proof.

Selene left the penthouse that night when Richard was out. She took the card he left and walked to the nearest pharmacy in silence, heart thudding the entire way.

She bought three tests.

Just in case.

---

By midnight, all three showed the same thing.

Two lines. Bold. Clear.

Pregnant.

Her legs gave out in the bathroom.

She slid to the floor, her hand pressed to her mouth.

This wasn’t a dream.

This wasn’t something she could undo.

And the man sleeping beside her every night?

He had no idea.

Selene stood, flushed the test down the toilet, and wiped her tears.

She was going to have this baby.

But she wasn’t going to be Richard’s forever.

---

Later that night, as Selene lay in bed pretending to sleep, Richard stood at the foot of the bed—watching her.

His phone buzzed once. He read the screen.

A contact labeled: Zara Crowne.

The message said:

> She’s still alive? Interesting.

Keep her close. I’ll be coming for what’s mine.

Richard stared down at Selene’s sleeping form.

Then turned off the phone.

And slipped back into bed beside her like nothing had changed.