Chapter 1

Aria’s POV

The laughter around me kept drifting further away, like I was trapped behind a showcase watching someone else’s celebration. Ribbons were dangling from the ceiling, red balloons crowded all corners of the hall, and on the table before me was a cake that read “For Mommy & Baby.”

I moved my hand to my swollen belly and tried to put up a smile when another guest walked up to me to congratulate me. But even with such a happy occasion, one would wonder why I felt so distant.

Everyone was here for me, but yet I had never felt so lonely, because the one person who should have been sitting beside me hadn’t even bothered to return my calls.

The empty chair to my left stared back at me, the glass of champagne before it still untouched, sparking under the lights as though it was mocking my hopes.

My chest tightened, dragging me back to breakfast, a few hours ago before Damien left for work.

He barely looked at me that morning, his focus all over his phone like it was holding something precious to him.

“Hope you’ll be coming back early? I know you’re very busy, but me and the baby need your presence for the baby shower,” I said it as a gentle reminder, well aware of how easily he overlooked things, especially those that concerned me

I watched him nod distractedly, before grabbing his bag and without any words he was gone, leaving me with nothing but the echo of his indifference.

My marriage with Damien has been on for three years and in these years it has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. The first year was filled with love and happiness though Damien was still struggling to find his footing in the business world.

I had left home for him, defying my father’s plans to marry me off to his friend’s son, abandoning every luxury I was familiar with for the sake of love. If only Damien knew the life I had risked for him, the comforts I had left behind and the family I had defied all for a man I had believed would cherish me in return.

Immediately his company broke into the top five in the country, everything shifted. In gaining a successful husband, I had lost the man I once loved, the caring and attentive man who had once made me feel cherished. And no matter how hard I tried, I could never understand where I had gone wrong.

“Keep your chin up,” Mrs Scott’s voice cut into my thoughts, snapping me out of memory lane. She then bent closer, enough for only me to hear her, the scent of her perfume mingling in my nostrils.

“Do not shame this family more than you already have. People are watching.”

I clenched my jaws, as I didn’t know where her statement was coming from. She had never missed the opportunity to belittle me since I got married to her son and even this special day wasn’t an exception.

Just as she left, a hand brushed mine gently. It was Mara, Damien's distant cousin and a good friend of mine.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered with a reassuring smile. “He will come. He has to.”

I nodded, forcing my lips to curve though deep down I knew Damien might not show up.

Once again, sounds of laughter and clinking glasses filled the room but I couldn’t partake. I kept staring at my phone screen, probably waiting for his call to light it up. The least he could do was send a message that he was on his way.

Nature decided to toy with my feelings and my phone buzzed with an incoming message causing my heart to jump into my throat as I reached for it.

Surely, it was him I told myself but as always, I was only setting myself up for disappointment.

Photos. One after another, flooded my screen as I opened the message. It was Damien in the same suit he had worn to work that morning at a rooftop bar, his arm wrapped tightly around someone I never expected to see with him.

Chloe. His ex. The woman who had walked away from him when he was still clawing his way up, before he gained success and fame.

Her lips were pressed against his jaw, his smile very wide and care-free, a kind I hadn’t seen in months.

Beneath the photos, a single line of text burned into my chest:

“Enjoy your little ceremony. He belongs to me tonight.”

I locked the phone quickly before anyone noticed my trembling hands.

But his mother was watching, while of course she was. Her eyes narrowed, her lips curled as if she already knew what was going on.

My chest burned with every second, each breath I took now felt shallow and uneven as though an invisible hand was squeezing the air out of my lungs.

I remember muttering something about needing air before pushing myself to my feet, ignoring the curious looks from everyone.

In the restroom, my hands were trembling as I tried calling Damien’s number again and again.

”Pick up. Please, pick up.”

But all I got was the same flat voice of the network: The number you are trying to call is not reachable.

My throat tightened, my pulse slamming in my ears. I wanted to believe there was an explanation to why he wasn’t picking but the images of him with Chloe wouldn’t leave my mind.

I tried again, but it ended the same way, another failed attempt before the screen went black.

“No, no, no,” I whispered, my breath quick and shallow, refusing to steady.

Suddenly, a cramp tore through my stomach, sharp and violent, stealing the air from my lungs. My knees buckled, and I staggered, gripping the sink for support, though my phone had already slipped from my hand, crashing against the tiles with a sound that echoed like a gunshot.

I pressed my hand to my belly, desperate to ease the pain, but it was no use.

“Help!” The word escaped from my throat as I fumbled the door open. I stumbled forward, but my heel got stuck on the floor mat, jerking me off balance.

I crashed to the tiles with a loud cry, pain burst through my stomach.

Everything around me turned blurry, my fingers twitching towards my phone before everything went blank.