Chapter 2 - THE CONTRACT BEHIND THE PREGNANCY
I did not leave immediately.
Not because I changed my mind.
Because I wanted the truth before I walked out.
Sophia sat in the drawing room with one twin asleep against her chest.
The other rested in a bassinet beside her.
Alexander stood near the fireplace.
His mother looked furious.
Not at him.
At Sophia.
“What contract?” I asked.
Sophia looked at Alexander.
“You didn’t tell her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“That was private.”
I laughed.
“Your private agreement created two children you wanted me to help raise.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“The contract was not what you think.”
“That sentence should be engraved on your family crest.”
Sophia lowered her eyes.
Then explained.
A year earlier, she had been diagnosed with a hereditary ovarian condition.
Doctors told her she might lose fertility quickly.
She wanted children.
She had no husband.
No stable partner.
So she asked Alexander to be a donor.
I stared.
“Donor?”
Alexander nodded.
“At first.”
“Meaning?”
Sophia continued.
“There was supposed to be IVF.”
“So why did he sleep with you?”
Her cheeks reddened.
“The first cycle failed.”
Alexander spoke.
“We were drunk.”
“You were married.”
“Yes.”
“She was your childhood sweetheart.”
“Yes.”
“And afterward?”
“We decided never again.”
I looked at Sophia.
“Did you know I existed?”
Her face hardened.
“Of course.”
“And you still agreed to have his children.”
“It was medical.”
“It became adultery.”
She looked away.
At least she had enough shame to do that.
Alexander continued.
“The twins were conceived that night.”
“So the contract gave you legal parental rights.”
“Yes.”
“And you planned to move them into our home.”
“Yes.”
“And what exactly was I?”
No one answered.
I turned to Elena.
“You supported this.”
She straightened.
“The Moretti line needed heirs.”
There it was.
Not love.
Not family.
Bloodline.
Legacy.
Power.
“You approved Sophia?”
“She is suitable.”
I laughed.
“And I wasn’t?”
“You never became pregnant.”
The sentence cut deeper than I expected.
Alexander turned sharply.
“Mother.”
Elena continued anyway.
“You and Alexander had been married three years.”
“You told me not to worry.”
“I was being polite.”
My hand tightened around the suitcase handle.
Sophia looked uncomfortable.
Alexander looked furious.
At his mother.
Good.
For once, let him hear the cruelty I had swallowed for years.
I turned toward the twins.
They were innocent.
That was the only easy truth in the room.
“I don’t hate them.”
Sophia looked at me.
“I hope not.”
“Don’t mistake that for forgiveness.”
She nodded.
I looked at Alexander.
“The divorce stands.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You’re angry.”
“I’m finished.”
His voice became colder.
“I won’t sign.”
“You already did.”
He froze.
My attorney had filed an uncontested petition using the postnuptial agreement Alexander himself insisted on creating two years earlier.
There was a morality clause.
Adultery made the process simple.
His own contract protected me.
For once, Moretti paperwork worked in my favor.
I walked toward the door.
Then Elena said:
“You cannot go to Germany.”
I turned.
“Watch me.”
She looked at Alexander.
He said nothing.
Then she revealed why.
“Your company’s German division belongs to us.”
I stared.
“What?”
My employer, Stratton & Vale Consulting, had offered me a senior position in Frankfurt.
Elena smiled coldly.
“Moretti Holdings owns thirty-eight percent.”
My stomach dropped.
Alexander looked genuinely shocked.
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire was useful there.”
I felt sick.
Even my escape route touched his family.
Then Elena added:
“And Alexander approved the acquisition six months ago.”
May you like
I looked at him.
His silence became the final betrayal.
