Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 244

Chapter 244: Chapter 244
Seraphina’s POV

The sound of Lily crying shattered something inside me.

I didn’t think. Just moved.

My feet carried me back through the door. Past Damien. Up the stairs.

Lily saw me coming and ran. Her small body crashed into mine. Arms wrapping around my waist. Face buried in my stomach.

“Mama,” she sobbed. “Please don’t go. Please stay.”

I dropped to my knees. Pulled her close. “Shh, baby. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Her voice cracked. “You and Daddy are fighting and you’re leaving and nothing’s okay!”

Adrian stood frozen on the landing. His face carefully blank. But his hands were clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

“Adrian?” I reached for him.

He stepped back. “We’re fine. Go ahead and leave. That’s what you do, right?”

The words hit like a slap.

“Adrian, that’s not—”

“Just go.” His voice shook. “We don’t need you anyway.”

Then he turned and walked to his room. The door closed. Not slammed. That would’ve been better somehow. Just closed. Final.

Lily’s sobs got louder. Her whole body shaking against mine.

Damien appeared at the top of the stairs. His face destroyed.

“I’ll stay,” I heard myself say. “Tonight. Just tonight.”

Lily’s crying slowed. “Promise?”

“I promise, baby.”

She hiccupped. Wiped her face on my shirt. “Can you sleep in my room? Please?”

“Okay. Whatever you need.”

I carried her back to bed. Tucked her in. Lay down beside her.

She curled into me immediately. Her small hand gripping my shirt like I might disappear.

“I love you, Mama,” she whispered.

“I love you too, baby girl. So much.”

Her breathing gradually evened out. Sleep claiming her.

But I stayed awake. Staring at the ceiling. Listening to my daughter breathe.

What was I doing? What the hell was I doing?

Staying here. In this house. Pretending we could be a family. Pretending any of this was salvageable.

But Lily’s tear-stained face flashed through my mind. Adrian’s broken expression. Their desperate need for things to be normal.

I couldn’t do this to them. Couldn’t keep breaking their hearts over and over.

But I also couldn’t stay. Couldn’t live in this house. Couldn’t share space with Damien. Couldn’t pretend Emma and her baby didn’t exist.

There was no good answer. No right choice. Just varying degrees of wrong.

I waited until Lily was deep asleep. Then carefully extracted myself from her grip.

The house was dark. Silent. I crept down the stairs. Into the kitchen.

Found paper and a pen in the drawer where we’d always kept them.

My hand hovered over the blank page for a long moment.

Then I wrote.

*Damien,*

*I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep pretending. I can’t keep hurting the kids by making them hope for something that isn’t going to happen.*

*I want a divorce. A real one this time. Legal papers. Clean break. Everything divided fairly.*

*We can figure out custody. Whatever’s best for Adrian and Lily. I’ll be flexible. Reasonable. But I need this to be over.*

*I’m sorry. For everything. For leaving three years ago. For not being strong enough to fix this. For letting it get this bad.*

*But mostly I’m sorry that I still can’t forgive you. That I can’t move past what happened. That seeing you hurts too much.*

*Emma’s having your baby. She deserves a chance at being your Luna. At having the life I couldn’t give you.*

*The kids will adjust. They’re strong. They’ll be okay.*

*Please don’t fight me on this. Please just… let me go.*

*- Sera*

I left the note on the kitchen counter. Where he’d find it in the morning.

Then I grabbed my keys and walked out.

—

The drive home was a blur.

My apartment building appeared through the windshield. Small. Shabby. Nothing like the house I’d just left.

But it was mine. My space. Where I could fall apart without witnesses.

I parked. Grabbed my bag. Started toward the entrance.

And froze.

Someone was standing by my door.

A woman. Visible under the dim hallway light.

With a very obvious baby bump.

Emma.

My blood turned to ice.

She saw me. Smiled. That perfect, practiced smile. “Hello, Seraphina.”

I didn’t move. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk.” Her hand moved to her stomach. Cradling. Protective. “Woman to woman.”

“We have nothing to talk about.”

“Don’t we?” She stepped closer. The overhead light caught her belly. Made it impossible to miss. “I think we have quite a lot to discuss, actually.”

Seven months. She was seven months pregnant. The evidence undeniable.

“Congratulations,” I said. Kept my voice flat. “Hope you’re very happy.”

“I am.” Her smile widened. “Damien’s been so generous. Did you know he gave me two million dollars?”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“Two million.” She pulled out her phone. Showed me her banking app. The number was there. Clear. Unmistakable. “Transferred into my account. Just like that.”

I stared at the screen. At all those zeros.

She touched her stomach again. “His baby. Our baby. The future heir to the Nightshadow pack.”

“You said it yourself once, remember?” Emma tilted her head. “You said if I could make Damien love me, I should try. Remember that conversation?”

I did. In the hallway at the training facility. A lifetime ago.

“Well.” Emma’s smile turned sharp. “I did try. And look what happened.”

She gestured to her belly. “He chose me, Sera.”

“You told me he loved you,” Emma continued. “That I’d never be more than his assistant. That you were his wife. His mate. His choice.”

She stepped closer. Close enough I could smell her perfume. “Do you still believe that? After everything? Do you still think he loves you?”

The words hit like knives.

“He gave me two million dollars,” Emma repeated. “Do you know what that means? It means he’s taking responsibility. It means he acknowledges this baby. It means we’re connected forever now.”

“And you?” She looked me up and down. “You’re living in this tiny apartment. Alone. While he moves on with me. While we build a life together. While I become his Luna.”

Something inside me snapped.

“You want to be Luna?” The words came out cold. Final. “Then be Luna. Take him. Take the title. Take everything.”

Emma blinked. Like she’d expected a different reaction.

“I’m done,” I continued. “I’m done fighting. Done caring. Done pretending any of this matters.”

I stepped past her. Unlocked my door. “You want Damien? He’s yours. I left him divorce papers tonight. By this time next week, he’ll be free to marry whoever he wants.”

“And that baby?” I turned back. Looked her straight in the eye. “That bastard you’re carrying? Congratulations. Hope it inherits his lying eyes. Hope every time you look at it, you remember how you got it.”

Her face went white. “How dare you”

“How dare I?” I laughed. The sound was bitter. Harsh. “You show up at my home. Pregnant with my husband’s baby. Flaunting it like some prize. And you ask how dare I?”

“Get the hell away from me,” I said. “Take your bastard. Take Damien. Go be Luna. I don’t care anymore. I’m done.”

I stepped inside my apartment. Started to close the door.

Emma’s hand shot out. Stopped it. “You’re going to regret this!”

“I’m done,” I said. “Completely done. So take your pregnant ass and your two million dollars and your precious baby and get the fuck away from me.”

I slammed the door in her face.