Pregnancy Amidst Cruelty

The sound of shattering crystal still echoed in my ears as I knelt before Arlet's portrait, my knees raw against the marble floor. Three months had passed since that terrible wedding day, three months of this daily ritual that Kian insisted would cleanse my family's sins. The girl in the painting gazed down at me with painted eyes that seemed to mock my suffering—beautiful, ethereal Arlet, who had chosen death over a life that included my existence.

"Your penance is not yet complete," Kian's voice cut through the silence like a blade. He stood behind me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his anger radiating against my back. "Your family destroyed her. They drove her to jump from this very house."

I wanted to scream that we had done nothing, that my father had been an honorable man, that my mother had never spoken an unkind word about anyone. But the words died in my throat as they always did. What was the point? Kian's grief had transformed into something monstrous, and I was the convenient target for his rage.

The grandfather clock in the corner chimed noon, its deep tone reverberating through the mansion's empty halls. I had been kneeling since dawn, my legs numb and trembling. The jade bracelet my mother had given me—the only thing of hers I had left—pressed against my wrist like a lifeline to happier times.

"Stand." Kian's command was sharp, final.

I struggled to my feet, my vision blurring from the sudden movement. The world tilted dangerously, but I forced myself to remain upright. Showing weakness would only fuel his contempt.

He circled me slowly, like a predator studying its prey. "I have news about your precious family business."

My heart stopped. Palmer Industries had been struggling for months, hemorrhaging money and contracts in ways that made no sense. My father had worked himself to exhaustion trying to save the company his grandfather had built, but every effort seemed to backfire spectacularly.

"Palmer Industries is finished," Kian said with cold satisfaction. "Completely bankrupt as of this morning."

The words hit me like physical blows. I gripped the back of a nearby chair to keep from falling. "No... that's impossible. Father said—"

"Your father said many things." Kian's smile was cruel, predatory. "None of them true, it seems."

Before I could process this devastating news fully, the butler appeared in the doorway, his face grave. "Sir, there's been an incident. Mr. Palmer..."

Kian waved him forward impatiently. The butler whispered something in his ear that made Kian's eyes flash with dark triumph. My blood turned to ice.

"It seems your father has taken the coward's way out," Kian announced, his voice devoid of any human warmth. "He jumped from his office building this afternoon. Couldn't face the shame of his failures, I suppose."

The room spun around me. The marble floor rushed up to meet my knees as I collapsed, a keening wail tearing from my throat. My father—gentle, kind, hardworking—was gone. The man who had taught me to ride horses and read bedtime stories was dead, and I hadn't even been there to say goodbye.

"This is justice," Kian said, standing over my broken form. "Your family destroyed an innocent girl. Now you know how it feels to lose everything."

Through my tears, I saw his polished shoes, expensive leather that probably cost more than most people's monthly salary. "Please," I whispered, the word scraping against my raw throat. "Please, I need to go to my mother. She'll be—"

"Your mother is already dead."

The words fell like stones into still water, creating ripples of disbelief that spread through my entire being. "What?"

"Heart attack. Brought on by grief, the doctors said. She died within hours of hearing about your father's suicide." Kian crouched down beside me, his face inches from mine. "You're alone now, Lillian. Completely alone, just like Arlet was."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. My parents—both gone in a single day. The two people who had loved me unconditionally, who had believed in goodness and kindness, were dead. And I was trapped here with this man who blamed me for everything wrong in his world.

"But you're not completely without family, are you?" Kian's voice took on a new, calculating tone. "There's still little Sage."

My head snapped up, terror flooding through me. Sage—my sweet, sick little sister with her weak heart and bright smile. She was all I had left in this world.

"She's quite ill, isn't she?" Kian continued conversationally. "Heart disease is expensive to treat. Very expensive. And with Palmer Industries gone..."

He didn't need to finish the threat. I understood perfectly. Sage would die without proper medical care, and I had no way to pay for it. No way except...

"What do you want?" My voice was barely a whisper.

Kian smiled, and it was the most terrifying expression I had ever seen. He reached into his jacket and withdrew a thick document, placing it on the floor in front of me.

"A contract," he said simply. "You will serve as my personal servant. You will endure whatever punishment I deem appropriate for your family's crimes. You will never speak publicly of our marriage or your treatment here. In exchange, your sister will receive the finest medical care available."

I stared at the papers through blurred vision, the legal text swimming before my eyes. This was my choice: become Kian's prisoner, his personal victim, or watch Sage die.

There was no choice at all.

With trembling hands, I reached for the pen he offered. The gold felt heavy, weighted with the gravity of what I was about to do. As I signed my name at the bottom of the contract, I felt something inside me break—not just my heart, but my spirit, my hope, everything that had made me who I was.

Kian took the contract and smiled again, satisfied. "Welcome to your new life, Lillian. I hope you're prepared for what you've earned."

As he walked away, leaving me broken on the marble floor beneath Arlet's painted gaze, I closed my eyes and tried to remember my father's laugh, my mother's gentle hands. They were gone, but Sage was alive. And for her, I would endure anything.

Even this.