Chapter 5 - Shattered Glass
The rejection hit me harder than a physical blow. I froze, my hands hovering emptily in the air between us, my throat tightening until I couldn't draw a breath.
"Elena, it's me," I said, my voice cracking as I tried to keep my composure. "You're safe. You're at St. Catherine's. The baby is safe—"
"Safe?" A harsh, bitter laugh broke from her cracked lips, turning immediately into a coughing fit that racked her frail frame. "You threw me away, Luke! You signed those papers without a single word of explanation, you locked me out of our life, and you left me to drown in that apartment while your brother systematically tore my world apart!"
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces. "My brother..." I stammered, leaning forward. "Elena, I didn't know. Julian lied to us both. He intercepted the threats, he drained your accounts, and he tried to destroy you to get to the Mercer trust. I didn't know he was behind it until last night."
Elena stared at me, her dark eyes searching my face with desperate intensity, looking for the monster she had grown to fear over the past three months. Slowly, the defensive fury drained out of her, leaving behind an overwhelming, suffocating tide of grief.
She looked down, her trembling hand coming to rest protectively over the gentle curve of her stomach, just as it had in the security photographs.
"He told me... he told me you ordered the divorce," she whispered, a tear finally breaking free and tracking down her hollow cheek. "He showed me documents with your signature. He said you never loved me, that I was just a convenient ornament while you built your empire, and that if I tried to contact you, your security team would make sure I never saw the light of day again."
A cold, murderous rage flared deep in my chest—not just at Julian, but at myself for being blind enough to let him orchestrate this nightmare.
"He lied," I said, my voice thick with absolute, unyielding devotion as I slowly reached out, placing my hand gently over hers on top of the blanket. This time, she didn't pull away. She let out a long, shuddering sob and collapsed forward into my arms, burying her face against my shoulder.
"I never stopped loving you, Elena," I murmured, pressing my lips against her hair, holding her as tightly as I dared without hurting her. "Not for a single second. I thought I was protecting you by walking away. But I was a fool. I left you unprotected in a war zone."
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She gripped the back of my shirt, her fingers bunching the fabric as she cried—not just for the terror of the past months, but for the agonizing relief of knowing she wasn't alone anymore.
"We're going to fix this," I promised, my voice echoing with a dark, terrifying resolve. "Julian is paying for what he did. And nobody will ever touch you or our child again. I swear it on my life."
