Chapter 5

Clarissa Hart POV

Adrian was about to look at what it was, but I moved faster.

Before he could read the title, I'd already bent down to pick up the document, clutching it tightly to my chest.

I protected the document like a treasure. Remembering how I'd held the papers last night, Adrian blurted out, "This is the gift I want."

He laughed, thinking I just cared about this gift that proved his love.

"Once I give it to you, it's yours. Why are you so nervous about it?"

I breathed a silent sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject. "What gift were you talking about?"

Only then did Adrian remember the actual matter. He pulled out a set of keys from the drawer and dangled them in front of me, a delicate metal pendant hanging from them.

"Come with me."

The car drove to a standalone mansion in the wealthy district on the east side of the city.

"You said the old house was too oppressive, that you didn't like it," Adrian said, leading me inside. "This place is decorated entirely according to your taste."

The house had a modern minimalist design with large expanses of white space and clean lines.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the backyard was filled with white roses.

My favorite flower-quiet and pure.

He led me upstairs and pushed open the door next to the master bedroom.

Inside was a nursery.

The walls were a soft beige, thick wool carpet covered the floor, and an oak crib sat in the corner with a handmade cosmic mobile hanging above it.

Adrian embraced me from behind, his voice low and tender.

"In the future, our child will live here." He painted an imaginary future. "Let's give them a name that combines both of ours. As a symbol of our connection. How does that sound?"

I listened, looking at everything before me.

This should have been the home I'd always dreamed of-with an adorable child and a husband who loved me.

If all this had happened before the miscarriage, I would have been moved.

But now.

Tears fell hot on the back of my hand.

Adrian seemed to notice I was trembling. He turned me around to face him, only to see my face streaming with tears.

He thought I was moved.

He smiled and reached out to wipe my tears. "Silly girl, why are you crying? Don't you like it?"

"Adrian, so this is where you are." A voice interrupted, breaking the moment between us.

Seraphina walked in as if she'd happened to pass by.

She surveyed the house, her eyes full of undisguised admiration.

"This house is beautiful." She walked straight to Adrian's side, linked her arm through his, and made her demand. "I just got back to the country and haven't found a suitable place to live yet. Give it to me, won't you?"

Adrian's expression became troubled.

"Seraphina, this is for Clarissa-a gift for her pregnancy."

"But I really like it, and I'm in urgent need." Seraphina tugged on his arm and swayed gently, leaning close to his ear to whisper coquettishly, "Adrian, just give it to me. She's your wife. You can buy her something even better later. I'm just an outsider without even a place to live. How pitiful."

Adrian hesitated. He looked at Seraphina's expectant, aggrieved eyes, then at me standing silently beside them.

He knew I'd be good. I wouldn't make a fuss.

But Seraphina needed him to coax her, needed him to compensate her.

A moment later, he made his decision.

"Alright."

He agreed to Seraphina's request.

He turned to me with his promise. "Clarissa, I'm sorry. I'll buy you an even better house later. Let her stay in this one for now. She just got back and it's inconvenient for her."

He paused, then added another line.

"Besides, the baby hasn't been born yet. There's no rush."

That sentence completely crushed the last remnant of hope in my heart.

Yes, the baby hasn't been born yet.

No. The baby is already dead.

Dead the night he took Seraphina to watch the meteor shower.