Chapter 5

Aurelia POV:

The doorbell chimed, a cheerful sound that felt profoundly out of place in my current state of anxiety. My heart leaped into my throat. I hadn't ordered anything, I wasn't expecting anyone. My hand instinctively went to my belly, a protective gesture. I peered through the peephole.

Kaleigh.

She stood there, radiating an artificial innocence. Her hair, a perfect cascade of golden curls, framed a face carefully devoid of makeup, giving her an angelic, fragile look. She clutched a thermal food container, a sickly sweet smile plastered on her lips. She looked like a benevolent angel, ready to offer comfort. But I knew the viper beneath the veil.

I opened the door only a crack, leaving the safety chain on. "What do you want, Kaleigh?" My voice was flat, devoid of welcome.

"Aurelia, darling! I was so worried about you!" Her voice was a theatrical purr, dripping with false concern. She tried to push the food container through the gap. "Jacob told me you weren't eating properly. I made you some homemade chicken soup. It's so nourishing for the baby." Her eyes darted past me, trying to catch a glimpse of the apartment.

I pushed the container back, firmly. "I don't want your soup, Kaleigh. And I don't want you here. Leave."

Her perfect pout wavered for a split second, a flash of irritation replacing the saccharine sweetness. Then she regained her composure, her eyes welling up with perfectly timed tears. "Aurelia, how can you be so cruel? I'm just trying to help. We're sisters, after all. And this baby... it's Jacob's, our family's. We're all so worried."

"You lost the right to call yourself my sister a long time ago," I snapped, my patience wearing thin. "And Jacob's family? That's rich. I'm divorcing Jacob."

A flicker of triumph, swift and almost imperceptible, crossed her face before she rearranged her features into a mask of feigned sadness. "Oh, Aurelia. I know you're upset. Jacob is so distraught. He just wants what's best for everyone. Especially the baby." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "He really wants you to have this baby, you know. He's so excited to be a father."

My head snapped up. My eyes, narrowed and sharp, fixed on hers. "He wants me to have this baby?" The words were a dangerous whisper. "Why? So you can play mother? Is that it, Kaleigh? Do you want to raise my child?"

Her fragile facade cracked, just a little. She stammered, her eyes darting away. "N-no, of course not! How could you even think that? It's just... the baby. It deserves a family. A complete family. It's not the baby's fault you two can't work things out." She wrung her hands, a picture of distressed innocence. "And Jacob... he misses having children around. I mean, children. He really just wants to experience parenthood." She trailed off, her gaze dropping to my belly.

Then she whispered, her voice barely audible, "And you know... I can't. I can't give him that. My... my body won't let me."

The words hung in the air, heavy and poisonous. I can't give him that.

The pieces clicked into place, forming a monstrous, horrifying picture. The secret postnup, the asset transfers, Kaleigh's constant presence in Jacob's life, his strange obsession with having a child now, after years of indifference. The way he had dismissed me, the vessel, while coveting the product. The truth was a physical blow, worse than any punch.

I wasn't just a stand-in wife. I was a surrogate. A breeding machine. He wanted my child, not for us, but for them. For Jacob and Kaleigh, to complete their twisted fantasy of a perfect family. I was nothing more than a convenient, fertile uterus, a means to an end for a child he intended to mold into Kaleigh's image, the child she couldn't bear herself.

A guttural sound escaped me, a mix of disbelief, rage, and profound disgust. "You want my baby?" I spat, my voice shaking with venom. "You want to raise my child for Jacob, because you can't have one? Is that what this is? Is that why he married me? Because I look enough like you to fool him, and I can give you the child you're incapable of carrying?"

The sheer, grotesque absurdity of it all hit me with such force that my vision swam. My stomach lurched, my gorge rising. I felt a primal scream building in my chest, a desperate need to cleanse myself of the sickening truth.

Without thinking, my hand shot out. I snatched the thermal food container from Kaleigh's trembling hand. The ceramic felt cold, heavy. With a furious roar, fueled by years of betrayal and this ultimate, sickening revelation, I hurled it. It flew past her head, missing by inches, smashing against the wall of the hallway with a sickening wet crash. Chicken soup, once intended as a gesture of false kindness, splattered across the pristine white paint, leaving a grotesque, greasy stain.

Kaleigh shrieked, a high-pitched, genuine sound of terror. She stumbled back, clutching her chest, her carefully constructed facade completely shattered. Her eyes, wide with fear, stared at me, no longer seeing a gentle victim, but a woman pushed to the brink.

"Get out!" I screamed, my voice raw, hoarse. "Get out of my sight! Get out of my life, you manipulative, disgusting snake! And never, never come near my child again!" I slammed the door, the flimsy chain rattling, cutting her off midscream.

On the other side of the door, I heard her furious, venomous voice. "You'll regret this, Aurelia! You won't win! You will have this baby, and Jacob will make sure we get it!" She hammered on the door once, twice, then her footsteps retreated rapidly.

I slid down the door, my legs giving out, collapsing onto the floor. My body shook violently, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Fear, cold and insidious, wrapped its tendrils around my heart. They wouldn't let me go. They wouldn't let my child go. Jacob's power, his wealth, his relentless determination to get what he wanted-it was a terrifying force. Kaleigh, with her twisted desires and manipulative cunning, was just as dangerous.

They wanted my baby. Not our baby, not my baby, but their baby. A living, breathing doll to complete their grotesque family portrait.

No. I wouldn't let them. I wouldn't. This child, this innocent life stirring within me, was mine. My only hope, my only future, the only pure thing left in a world tainted by lies. I would protect them, fiercely, with every fiber of my being. I placed my hands on my swollen belly, feeling a soft flutter, a gentle reminder of the life I carried.

"It's just you and me, little one," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "Just you and me. And I promise, they will never, ever get you."

A wild, desperate thought sparked in my mind, a terrifying, exhilarating idea born of pure desperation. If they wanted my child so badly, if they believed this baby was theirs... what if the baby, and I, simply ceased to exist? What if we vanished without a trace, leaving them with nothing but echoes and unanswered questions? It was insane. It was dangerous. But it was the only way. The only way to truly escape, to truly protect my child.