Serene could barely breathe.
Ever since the pregnancy news had gone public, the entire Ashborne estate felt like it was holding its breath. Maids moved with more quiet urgency. Security lingered longer by doors. Roman's presence—usually thunderous and demanding—had turned into something worse: watchful, patient... all-seeing.
And that terrified her.
She could feel him watching even when he wasn't there. And maybe he wasn't. Maybe it was just her guilt, blooming quietly like the child inside her.
But then again, Roman Ashborne was not a man you could easily lie to.
She paced in her room, wrapping her arms around her body like she could hold herself together. The mirror showed her a woman who looked... familiar. Too familiar. She had stared too long the night before and seen herself again. The real Serene. The girl with fight in her eyes and broken chains clinking in her bones.
He must have noticed, right? The way her shoulders didn't sag anymore when he entered the room? How she no longer looked at him like he was her savior?
God. Had she been that obvious?
---
Lelo hadn't been the same either.
The little girl usually clung to her like a second skin, but lately, there was... distance. A strange tension in her tiny smile. It wasn't fear, no. It was more like suspicion—like Lelo knew Serene was holding something back. Like Lelo could smell the plans forming in her head and didn't quite like them.
She would sit near the window, scribbling something quietly with her lips pressed together, and when Serene would touch her shoulder, the child would flinch—just slightly.
Was it the pregnancy? Was it her memory? Or did Lelo already know what Serene hadn't yet told her?
That she was trying to leave.
---
Serene's stomach twisted.
She didn't have an escape plan yet—not a real one. She didn't even know how she'd make it past the gates, let alone out of Switzerland. But she knew she had to try. She couldn't raise her child under Roman's shadow. Not when she had finally remembered who she was. Not when the real Serene was clawing back to the surface.
But then, like divine timing—
The door creaked open behind her.
"Miss Serene?" It was one of the younger maids. Pale, soft-spoken. She glanced behind her nervously before stepping inside.
"Someone asked me to give you this," the girl whispered, slipping a folded note into Serene's palm. "She said to read it alone and burn it after."
Serene's heartbeat picked up like it had been shocked into motion. She waited for the maid to leave, her fingers trembling slightly as she unfolded the note.
It was from Gloria.
> "The plan is in place. Be alert. Do not trust the silence. Ashbornes see everything. We will need to move soon. You need to stay alive and keep calm. They can't know—yet."
Serene's knees buckled slightly as she sank onto the edge of the bed.
She should have felt relief. But hope was dangerous in a house where secrets didn't stay hidden for long.
She remembered Gloria's desperate eyes, her pain, her anger. And she remembered the deal she had made—the only deal that could possibly save her and this child.
If Gloria wanted her family back, she had to help Serene disappear.
And Serene would do anything—anything—to escape.
Even if it meant walking into the fire with Gloria at her side.
---
She went to the window and looked out into the snowy estate grounds. Roman was down there, speaking to one of the guards. He looked up suddenly, like he felt her gaze—his eyes catching hers for a split second.
Her heart dropped.
His smile was slow, predatory.
He knew something.
And the worst part?
She couldn't tell if it was about the baby... or the escape.
Either way—Serene couldn't run yet. But soon. Very soon.
---