(Steele Morgan’s POV)

I wasn’t there by coincidence.

Years ago, after Elara married Damien Vale, my younger sister Aliana warned me repeatedly to leave her alone. She said Elara had made her choice and that I needed to respect it.

But forgetting Elara, and staying away from her were two different things.

So instead, I did the only thing I could. I quietly placed trusted people around her over the years. Not to interfere in her marriage or monitor her life obsessively, but to make sure she was safe. If Elara ever needed help, someone would always be nearby.

She never knew.

For a long time, the reports about her remained simple. Mrs Vale was fine. Then the reports started changing…

Elara looked thinner, and barely smiled anymore.

Then yesterday, the birthday scandal exploded online.

I saw the videos… Saw security dragging Elara away while the guests laughed and recorded her humiliation like it was entertainment.

So today, I personally came.

I only intended to see her once and leave.

Instead, I watched Elara step out of a car looking like she could barely stand. One hand pressed tightly against her stomach while pain flashed across her face.

Then I saw blood.

Everything after that happened quickly.

I remembered shoving the car door open while Rowan called after me. My bodyguards rushed behind me just as Elara’s body gave out completely.

I caught her before she hit the ground.

Even now, standing in the silent hospital corridor hours later, I could still remember how light she felt in my arms.

Too light.

The operating room doors suddenly opened, jerking me from my thoughts.

A doctor stepped outside while removing his mask before his eyes settled on me. “Mr Morgan? Please come with me.”

Something about his expression immediately made my chest tighten.

I followed him silently into his office.

The room remained quiet after we entered. The doctor sat behind his desk while glancing down at a report in front of him. I remained standing.

Several seconds passed before he finally asked, “Are you family?”

“No.” The answer came automatically.

Then after a brief pause, I quietly added, “…I should have been.”

Sympathy immediately crossed his face, clearly misunderstanding my words.

The doctor sighed softly before looking back at the report. “The patient was pregnant.”

My brows furrowed slightly.

Pregnant?

“We’re sorry,” he continued gently. “We couldn’t save the baby.”

For a moment, everything around me seemed distant.

Elara had been pregnant?

Then the doctor lowered his voice further. “We also found traces of abortive compounds commonly used in medication to terminate pregnancies.”

My eyes slowly lifted toward him.

“No,” I said immediately.

Because the Elara I knew would never willingly hurt her own child.

Years ago, Aliana owned a tiny goldfish she adored. When it died unexpectedly, Elara cried harder than Aliana herself. She spent nearly three hours digging beneath a tree in our backyard because she insisted Sunny would feel lonely if nobody buried him properly.

That was who Elara was.

Too soft-hearted for cruelty.

A woman like that would never willingly hurt her own child.

“Could she have taken it unknowingly?” I asked quietly.

The doctor adjusted his glasses before nodding slowly. “It’s possible.”

Something cold settled heavily inside my chest.

This no longer felt accidental.

Someone had hurt Elara.

When I stepped outside the office, Rowan immediately approached me with concern written all over his face. “Sir, the investors are still waiting. Mr Haynes has called three times already.”

“Cancel everything tonight.”

Rowan froze slightly.

In six years of working beside me, he had never once seen me postpone an important meeting. Even during my father’s surgery, I attended meetings remotely because business remained business.

But tonight, none of it mattered. Elara was lying unconscious a few feet away.

Night gradually settled over the hospital while the corridors became quieter. Nurses passed occasionally, their footsteps soft against the polished floors. Through the glass window, Elara remained motionless beneath the pale lights.

The hospital gown swallowed her small frame completely.

She looked fragile.

Broken.

Alone.

For years, I had stayed outside her life because I thought distance was the right thing to do. But watching her lying there now, I realized something painfully clear.

Some promises should have been broken sooner.

Movement inside the room suddenly caught my attention.

Elara’s fingers twitched slightly.

I straightened immediately.

Slowly, her eyelashes fluttered open before her unfocused eyes moved around the room weakly. Without realizing it, my feet were already moving toward the door.

When I entered the room, her gaze slowly lifted toward me.

Confusion crossed her pale face at first.

Then recognition followed.

“…Brother Steele?”

Her weak voice tightened something painfully inside my chest.

After all these years, she still remembered me.

I stepped closer to the bed quietly while the room fell silent except for the soft beeping of machines nearby.

Then suddenly, her hand moved toward her stomach.

Fear flashed across her expression as she asked “How’s my baby?”

I couldn’t answer her. So instead, I quietly texted Rowan.

In no time, the doctor entered the room and explained everything again. The miscarriage, the abortive compounds found in her body… I watched Elara’s face as the truth slowly settled inside her.

Her fingers tightened around the blanket “That glass of water…” she whispered faintly.

“They killed my baby.” Her voice cracked as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She broke completely, her shoulders shaking in agony. I remained beside her quietly. Some pain could not be comforted with empty words.

Several minutes passed before the room gradually became quiet again.

Elara suddenly lifted her head, her red-teary eyes meeting mine. She spoke firmly “…Brother Steele, I want revenge.”

(Elara’s POV)

The next morning, I insisted on leaving the hospital.

My body still felt weak, and every movement sent dull pain through my stomach, but I could not remain there any longer.

Steele disagreed with my decision, “You should rest another day,” he said, standing near the door.

“I’ve rested enough.” My voice sounded hollow even to me.

Silence stretched between us before Steele finally sighed “Alright then, let Rowan drive you.”

I nodded quietly.

Before leaving, Steele looked at me for several seconds like he wanted to say something else but instead, he said “Call me if anything happens.”

That simple sentence affected me more than it should have because, for years, I had begged Damien to notice when I was hurting. Steele noticed naturally without me asking.

The drive back to the Vale mansion felt painfully long.

I stared silently out the window while memories replayed endlessly inside my head.

Mila calling Vivienne ‘Mommy’.

The birthday party, the strange taste of the water, blood, my baby…

My fingers slowly tightened against my lap.

By the time the car stopped in front of the mansion, I already felt exhausted again.

The servants opened the gates quickly after spotting the car’s model, but their eyes immediately widened when they saw me stepping out.

Whispers spread almost instantly.

“She’s back…”

“I heard she disappeared overnight…”

“Mrs Vale looks terrible…”

I ignored them and walked inside.

The mansion was brightly lit despite the early hours. Voices drifted from the living room before I even reached the stairs.

Then I saw them.

Vivienne sat comfortably beside Mila on the large cream-colored couch while helping her peel strawberries onto a plate. Mila leaned against her happily while swinging her legs.

Like mother and daughter.

Meanwhile Evelyn Vale sat nearby drinking tea elegantly while Lucien Vale read through some documents in complete silence.

Damien stood beside the window speaking on the phone.

For one brief second, nobody noticed me.

Then Mila suddenly looked up “Mommy Vivienne said she’ll take me shopping later!” she said excitedly, hugging Vivienne’s arm tighter.

Vivienne smiled softly before finally lifting her gaze toward me.

“Oh,” she said gently. “You’re back.”

The sweetness in her voice made my stomach twist violently.

Evelyn noticed me immediately afterward, and her expression darkened at once “So the embarrassment finally decided to return home.”

The room instantly became tense.

Damien slowly turned toward me after ending his call. His eyes moved briefly over my pale face before hardening “Where were you?”

His first question wasn't whether I was okay or what had happened to me. It was simply where I had been… Even now, he didn't care.

Evelyn scoffed loudly before setting her teacup down “You disappeared without explanation after humiliating this family publicly. Reporters have been calling nonstop since yesterday.” Her cold eyes swept over me disgustedly. “Do you realize how much damage you caused?”

I said nothing.

Vivienne suddenly spoke softly “Elara probably just needed time to calm down.”

Fake concern wrapped in silk.

Lucien Vale finally lowered the document in his hand and looked toward me calmly. Unlike Evelyn, Damien’s father never raised his voice, which somehow made him colder.

“If you intended to leave the house overnight,” he said evenly, “informing your husband beforehand would be proper.”

My chest tightened painfully. Not one person in this family cared if I was hurt.

Then Mila frowned suddenly while looking at me “You look scary.”

Silence filled the room.

Mila tilted her head slightly before continuing innocently “Mommy Vivienne says stress makes women age faster.”

My fingers immediately stiffened at my side.

The words dragged me straight back to yesterday outside the school gates when Vivienne said “Stress can be very dangerous for delicate things.”

Coldness spread slowly through my chest.

Vivienne knew… She knew about the pregnancy somehow.

My stomach twisted violently again. Then Mila wrinkled her nose slightly.

“And you smell like hospital.”

For a moment, I wondered if she would ask whether I was sick… She didn't.

Vivienne rubbed Mila's shoulder gently. “Mila, don't be rude.”

Yet there was no warning in her voice. If anything, she looked pleased.

Hours ago, I would have broken down from Mila’s words. But now… I only felt tired of it all.

Evelyn suddenly spoke again “No wonder Mila prefers Vivienne. Look at the difference between the two of you.”

That should have shattered me too, but strangely it didn’t. Because something inside me had already broken completely inside that hospital room.

Damien finally walked toward me slowly, his expression cold “You disappeared without answering your phone,” he said flatly. “Do you have any idea how childish that was?”

I stared at him.

Childish?

Without another word, I walked past all of them toward the staircase. Nobody stopped or followed me.

When I entered the bedroom, everything looked the same. Cold.

I stood there silently for several seconds before slowly sitting at the edge of the bed.

Memories filled every corner of the room…. Years of begging for affection, waiting for Damien to love me.

My hand instinctively moved to my stomach. There was no baby anymore.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, I had been thinking about how to protect my child and leave this family. Now there was nothing left to protect.

Tears burned my eyes, but I forced them back down.

I was done crying and begging. I was done humiliating myself for people who never cared about me.

Hours passed, and night settled over the mansion.

Damien returned to the room much later. The bedroom door opened before footsteps approached. I didn’t turn around immediately.

Damien loosened his tie while speaking behind me “My mother is still furious about yesterday.”

Silence.

“You’ll apologize to her tomorrow.”

Still I said nothing.

Finally, Damien frowned. “Elara.”

I slowly turned toward him then.

For one second, confusion crossed his face because I wasn’t looking at him with those sick-love eyes anymore. I simply looked tired. Done.

Damien’s brows furrowed slightly. “What’s wrong with you?”

A hollow laugh almost escaped me. What was wrong with me?

I lost our child yesterday, Vivienne possibly poisoned me, Mila hates me… Yet somehow, you still thought the problem was me.

I stood slowly from the bed before finally looking directly at Damien Vale.

“I want a divorce.”