Three years later.
Aria sat on the cold marble floor of the master bathroom, her hands trembling as she stared at the small white stick in her palm.
Two red lines.
Positive.
"Oh god..." Aria whispered, pressing a hand to her flat stomach.
For three years, she had been the perfect, invisible wife. Damien was a demanding, insatiable beast in bed, but he was always careful. He ensured she took her contraceptives. He never allowed "accidents."
Except for one night last month.
It was the full moon. Damien had come home in a frenzy, his eyes burning with a terrifying gold light. He was in his Rut—a period of uncontrollable primal urge for werewolves. That night, he wasn't the cold CEO; he was a desperate wolf claiming his mate. He had knotted with her, growling "Mine" against her skin, pouring his life into her.
That single moment of loss of control had created a life.
Aria's heart fluttered with a foolish hope. A baby.
Over these three years, she had broken the one rule of their contract: she had fallen in love with him.
It wasn't just Stockholm syndrome. She remembered the time she had a high fever. Damien thought she was asleep. He hadn't left her side for two days, cooling her forehead with his own cold hands, his usually harsh voice whispering, "Stay with me, little mouse."
He had a heart. It was just buried deep under layers of ice and wolfish instinct.
If he knows about the baby... maybe he won't be just a 'contract husband' anymore. Maybe we can be a real family.
Clutching the test, Aria washed her face and walked downstairs, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation. Today was the last day of their contract. She wanted this news to be a new beginning, not an end.
But as she reached the living room, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Damien stood by the window, his back to her. The air around him was crackling with dark, chaotic energy. He was smoking—something he rarely did.
"Damien?" Aria called out softly.
He turned around. His face was gaunt, his grey eyes bloodshot as if he hadn't slept in days. There was no warmth in them today, only a tormented resolve.
Without a word, he slid a document across the coffee table.
DIVORCE AGREEMENT.
The hope in Aria's chest cracked. "Damien... I have something to tell you. I..."
"Sign it," Damien interrupted, his voice rough, like gravel grinding on glass. "Elena is back in the country. My grandfather... he has made his decision."
"Elena?" Aria felt the blood drain from her face. The news had been buzzing about his first love returning, but hearing it from him was a dagger to the heart. "So... because she's back, I have to go? Just like that?"
Damien's jaw tightened. He looked away, unable to meet her tearful gaze. "It's for the best, Aria. You don't belong in this world. You never did. You were a transaction."
A transaction.
The word erased the memory of him caring for her when she was sick. It erased the heat of their nights.
"I see," Aria whispered, her hand instinctively covering her pocket where the pregnancy test lay hidden.
"Take the check," Damien said, his voice hardening, though his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "Ten million. Enough for you to live anywhere. Just... go. Leave New York. Today."
He sounded desperate to get rid of her. As if her presence was a burden he couldn't bear for one more second.
Aria looked at him—really looked at him. She saw a man who was choosing his past, his family, and his power over her.
If she told him about the baby now, what would happen? He would probably take the child—his heir—and kick her out anyway. Or worse, he would let Elena raise her baby.
No. Her inner wolf—dormant but protective—snarled in her mind. *He rejected us. He doesn't deserve to know.
Aria wiped a tear from her cheek. The sadness in her eyes turned into a cold resolve.
"Okay," she said, her voice steady. "I'll sign."
She picked up the pen, signing her name for the last time as *Mrs. Sinclair.
"Goodbye, Damien," she said softly. "I hope she's worth it."
She turned and walked away, taking his unborn children and her shattered heart with her.
Behind her, Damien watched her leave. He didn't tell her that he wasn't marrying Elena. He didn't tell her that the "family decision" was a death threat against her if she stayed.
He thought he was saving her by pushing her away.
He didn't know he had just lost the only thing that mattered.