The room fell silent.
Richard’s grin widened. “Did the ornament learn to speak?”
Adrian hissed, “Mara, don’t start.”
I looked at my husband. “I’m pregnant.”
The silence changed—sharper now, hungrier.
For a heartbeat, Adrian’s face drained of color.
Then Richard laughed.
“Pregnant?” he said. “Convenient timing.”
I blinked. “What?”
He set his bourbon down. “You hear that, everyone? She finally secured the family fortune.”
Adrian seized my wrist. “Why would you announce this now?”
“Because it’s true,” I whispered.
His grip tightened. “Do you even know whose child it is?”
The words landed before his hand did.
Then came the slap.
My cheek burned. My ears rang. My heart collapsed inward.
No one defended me.
Not Adrian’s mother, staring into her wine.
Not his friends, who had smiled at me for years.
Not the women who had praised my dress an hour earlier.
I looked around the room and saw the truth clearly.
They had all been waiting for me to break.
