CLAIMED THEN CAST ASIDE

🌘 Chapter Eight: The Price of Secrets

Selene didn’t move.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing nothing but a soft shirt and shorts. Her toes curled against the cold tile floor. The pregnancy tests were right there on the counter—lined up like weapons. Positive. Positive. Positive. All six of them.

Richard didn’t look angry. Not exactly.

He looked something worse.

Controlled.

His eyes were unreadable, his mouth a flat line. He picked up one of the tests, turned it in his hand like he was examining a crime.

“When were you going to tell me?” he asked.

Selene’s heart pounded. “I… I wasn’t sure.”

He set the test down slowly.

“You weren’t sure you were pregnant?”

“No,” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure how you’d take it.”

Richard didn’t blink. He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest.

“You didn’t think I deserved to know?”

Selene wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s only been a few days. I didn’t even know if I was keeping it.”

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to decide that.”

Her throat went dry.

Richard stood up. Walked slowly around the counter. Each step made her want to shrink smaller and smaller.

He stopped in front of her.

“You’re living in my house,” he said. “You sleep in my bed. You wear my shirts. You let me f**k you—raw.”

Selene flinched.

He kept going.

“So tell me again why you thought you could keep something like this a secret from me?”

“I wasn’t—”

“I asked a question.”

His voice dropped.

Low. Calm. Threatening.

Selene didn’t answer.

Because she didn’t have one.

Not one he’d accept, anyway.

Richard stepped closer. His hand reached out—not to hurt her, but to touch her stomach. Lightly. Just a brush of fingers across the soft curve just below her navel.

He looked down at her like she was a puzzle he was starting to solve.

His voice dropped even lower.

“You’re carrying my child.”

Her breath caught.

She should’ve said something. Should’ve told him the truth. That there was a real chance this wasn’t his.

But she didn’t.

Because she couldn’t.

Because the truth would tear this whole thing apart.

And she wasn’t ready for what came after that.

---

Richard called the doctor that afternoon.

Selene wasn’t allowed to speak.

He made the appointment. Gave her name. Told them it was urgent, private, and needed to be done in his home.

He hung up.

Turned to her.

“Go take a shower,” he said. “You’ll want to look calm.”

“I don’t—”

“I wasn’t asking.”

---

The doctor arrived at sunset.

She was a woman in her forties, dressed in black, with her hair in a tight bun and lips lined in red. Her smile was cold and professional. Her eyes didn’t linger on Selene. Just scanned her quickly like she was a chart.

“Vitals first,” she said.

Blood pressure.

Heartbeat.

Weight.

All done without warmth.

Then came the ultrasound.

Selene lay on the edge of the bed while the doctor spread cold gel across her lower belly and pressed the wand against her skin. The screen flickered. Static. Then a soft pulsing sound.

The heartbeat.

Tiny. Rapid. Alive.

Selene stared at it.

Her own heart stilled.

That sound… it made everything real.

Not just the nausea. Not just the soreness.

The baby.

Hers.

She turned her head to look at Richard.

He was standing against the wall, watching the screen with narrowed eyes. His jaw was clenched, but his expression stayed unreadable.

The doctor glanced at him. “Seven weeks,” she said. “Maybe eight. Healthy so far.”

“Is it mine?” Richard asked.

Selene’s throat locked up.

The doctor didn’t answer. “A blood test can tell us more.”

---

The blood was drawn in silence.

Selene looked away as the needle slid in.

The doctor sealed the vials and packed them carefully.

“You’ll have results in twenty-four hours,” she said, looking at Richard. Not Selene.

He nodded.

She left.

---

Selene sat on the bed, her hand still pressed against the spot where the wand had touched her skin.

She felt raw.

Not just her body—but her mind. Her heart. Her soul.

She didn’t know what this was anymore.

A home? A cage? A slow-burning trap?

Richard walked over. Sat beside her.

He didn’t say anything for a while.

Then he spoke softly.

“You should be happy.”

Selene looked at him.

“I’m not going to leave you,” he said. “You’ll have everything you need. Clothes. Food. Protection.”

He turned to her fully.

“And no one will touch you. No one will look at you. You’ll be safe… as long as you obey.”

Selene swallowed hard.

“Is that what you think I want?”

Richard tilted his head. “I think you don’t know what you want. But I do.”

He touched her stomach again. Gentle.

Almost loving.

But it wasn’t love.

It was possession.

Selene stayed quiet.

Because what could she say?

If she pushed back now… he’d take everything.

---

That night, she couldn’t sleep.

Richard was beside her, snoring softly.

She stared at the ceiling.

Every shadow looked sharp.

Every breath felt heavy.

She kept hearing Victor’s voice in her head.

“You need an heir.”

And Richard’s: “You’re carrying my child.”

Her fingers pressed lightly to her belly again.

“I’ll protect you,” she whispered. “I promise.”

She didn’t know how.

But she would.

Even if it meant running again.

Even if it meant lying.

Even if it meant surviving a little longer in this cold, gilded cage.

---

The next morning felt colder than usual.

Selene woke up in the big bed alone. Richard was already gone. The sheets beside her were still warm. He hadn’t gone far.

She sat up slowly, careful with her body. Her stomach still felt strange. Not sick. Just… aware. A quiet throb of life inside her. Like her body had changed without asking for permission.

She pulled on a robe and went to the kitchen.

He was there. Drinking coffee. Staring at his phone.

He didn’t say good morning.

She didn’t expect him to.

There was tension in the air again. That quiet pressure that came before something snapped.

She moved around the kitchen slowly, pretending to look for food. But her eyes kept flicking to the envelope on the counter.

Thick. Sealed. Marked with the name of the doctor’s clinic.

Selene’s heart began to race.

She knew what it was.

The test results.

She turned away, busying herself with a glass of water.

Then Richard spoke.

“Come here.”

She froze.

The glass trembled in her hand.

“Selene.”

Her name sounded sharp from his lips.

She walked over slowly.

He held the envelope in one hand. Still unopened. He looked at her, calm and quiet.

“I haven’t read it yet.”

Selene said nothing.

“I wanted to see your face first.”

Still, she didn’t speak.

Richard tilted his head. “You going to tell me anything before I open this?”

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

His eyes narrowed.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s see what the truth costs.”

He slid his finger under the flap and opened the envelope.

Unfolded the papers.

Read.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

His face didn’t change.

Then his jaw clenched.

His grip on the paper tightened.

His green eyes slowly lifted to hers.

He didn’t yell.

Didn’t throw anything.

Didn’t accuse.

He just stared.

And then he said one word.

“Explain.”