Chapter 2 The Silence of Proof

Back home, Mia's father couldn't shake the rage in his chest. The shame. The humiliation. A daughter pregnant before her wedding-how could she? Who would marry her now?

Still, something about her eyes had unsettled him. The panic, the pain-it didn't look like guilt. It looked like truth.

Fueled by suspicion, he stormed into the home office and pulled up the CCTV footage from the past five months. Camera after camera, day after day-nothing. She hadn't left the house. Not once. No strange visitors. No boys. No late-night sneaking out. Nothing.

He sat back, frowning. How could she be pregnant if she had never even left the damn house?

---

Weeks passed. Rumors brewed. The Richard family wedding was postponed. Mia was confined to her room, her growing belly a constant reminder of the mystery that no one could solve-and the shame that her father wore like a collar.

Then one cold afternoon, Kelvin returned.

The black luxury car pulled into the Smith driveway, and Mia watched from her window as he stepped out-tall, sharp, and colder than the wind around him. Her heart raced. He hadn't spoken to her in weeks.

He didn't even knock.

Kelvin burst through the door, his shoes echoing on the marble floor. Mia was in the hall, frozen as he approached her like a storm.

"You lied to me!" he shouted. "You fucking lied!"

"I didn't-" she started, voice shaking.

"You think I'm a joke?!" he snarled. His hand rose, rage boiling over.

Before he could strike, the front door slammed open. Her father stepped into the scene.

"Kelvin!" he called out with surprising warmth, as if nothing was wrong. "You're back!"

Kelvin dropped his hand but didn't lose the fury in his eyes. He turned to face the man who once saw him as a golden ticket.

"Call your daughter off," Kelvin said darkly. "Or I pull every damn cent out of your company. I'll watch it burn to the ground."

Her father's smile dropped. "W-what?"

"I'll ruin you," Kelvin spat. "One press of a button."

That was all it took.

He turned to Mia, his voice becoming venom. "You shameless little bitch! You think your lies won't destroy us all? Look what you've done-!"

Before he could finish, Mia screamed.

A sharp, twisting pain tore through her abdomen. Her hands gripped her belly, her knees buckled.

"Mia!" someone shouted.

Blood. Pain. Panic.

---

Within minutes, she was in the backseat of a car, her father barking at the driver to step on it. Mia drifted in and out of consciousness, Kelvin silent in the seat beside her, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on nothing.

As the hospital loomed in the distance, no one noticed the truth crawling just beneath the surface.

This was no ordinary pregnancy.

And Mia's nightmare was only beginning.