Chapter 232
Chapter 232:
I didn’t flinch. I simply looked at her, unmoved. “I don’t want him, Katherine. You can have the prize p>
“Liar!” she screamed, her face flushing an ugly shade of red. She spun toward Victoria, then back to me, her hand dropping protectively to her stomach. “You can’t have him. He is mine. We are a family now p>
The room went silent. Victoria gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
Katherine lifted her chin, a triumphant smirk twisting her lips. “That’s right. I’m pregnant. I am carrying the Hyde heir p>
I waited for the pain. I waited for the jealousy, the sting of betrayal, the crushing weight of inadequacy that had defined my life for so long.
It never came.
Instead, I felt lighter—as if the final chain binding me to this house had just snapped clean.
“Congratulations,” I said. The word was genuine.
іոt𝖾𝗻𝘀е 𝘳o𝗆аո𝘤e 𝗈𝗻
Katherine blinked, her smirk faltering. “What p>
“I said, congratulations,” I repeated, stepping around her to pick up the blue music box from the table. I clutched it to my chest, feeling the cool wood against my skin. “He’s all yours, Katherine. The title, the manor, the misery. Keep it all p>
I turned my back on her stunned silence and walked toward the door. “I’m leaving. For good this time p>
The voice came from the stairs, raw and ragged.
I froze in the doorway. Braydon stood on the landing, gripping the banister so hard his knuckles had gone white. He looked like a ghost of the man I once knew. His shirt was unbuttoned, his hair wild, and dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes.
He didn’t even glance at Katherine. His gaze was locked on me with a terrifying, starving intensity.
“You… you came back,” he rasped, stumbling down the first few steps. “I knew you would. I knew you couldn’t stay away p>
I looked up at him, clutching my mother’s box tighter against my chest. What I felt was nothing but pity.
“I came for this,” I said, lifting the box slightly. “And to say goodbye, Braydon p>
“No,” he growled, shaking his head as he descended another step. “No goodbyes. You belong here. With me p>
I shook my head slowly. “Not anymore. You have a new responsibility now.” I gestured vaguely toward the drawing room where Katherine stood frozen. “Go be a father to your pup, Braydon p>
Braydon stopped dead on the bottom step. The obsession in his eyes fractured, replaced by a look of pure, unadulterated horror. He looked at me, then slowly turned his head toward Katherine, as if seeing her for the very first time.
“Father?” he whispered, the word tasting like ash in his mouth. “What pup p>
The silence that followed Braydon’s question was heavy and suffocating, like the air before a thunderstorm. Katherine stood frozen, her hand still protectively covering her flat stomach, but the color had drained from her face, leaving her looking like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.