Chapter 72
$5 viruchand
Morning came way too fast. Elara wished she could have stayed in that warm cocoon of Marcus’s arms for hours longer. The night had been so nice, so peaceful, so different from everything they’d been through before. She’d slept better than she had in months, maybe years.
She woke up to find Marcus’s side of the bed already cold. He was out of bed as usual, probably had been for a while. Elara stretched, her muscles pleasantly sore, and padded out of the bedroom in the oversized t-shirt he’d given her to sleep in.
When she got downstairs, she found him in the kitchen already making breakfast. He was still in his pajama pants but shirtless, his back muscles moving under his skin as he worked at the stove. The smell of eggs and toast filled the air, mixed with the rich aroma of fresh coffee.
Elara walked over to the breakfast bar and sat down on one of the stools, watching him work. He turned when he heard her, a smile breaking across his face that made him look younger, more relaxed.
“Good morning,” he said, walking over to kiss her cheek. “How did you sleep?”
“Really well, actually.”
“Good.” He placed a plate in front of her. Scrambled eggs, perfectly golden toast, fresh fruit arranged beautifully on the side. “Eat.”
“You made all this?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I can cook when I want to.”
Elara picked up her fork and started eating in silence, savoring the food that was somehow even better than what he’d made before. Marcus moved around the kitchen with ease, pouring her a glass of orange juice, refilling the fruit bowl, cleaning up as he went.
After a few minutes, Elara broke the silence. The question that had been nagging at her since last night finally pushing its way out.
“So?” she started, setting down her fork. “What do we do? Do we tell people I’m pregnant or…?”
Marcus cut her off immediately, his expression shifting from relaxed to serious in an instant. “No. There’s no way we’re announcing that.”
Elara blinked, surprised by the firmness in his tone. “But it’s already out there. The blog posted everything. My medical records, the ultrasound images, all of it.”
“We debunk it,” Marcus said, leaning against the counter, “We put out a statement saying it’s fake news. Doctored images. Someone trying to stir up drama for clicks and ad revenue.”
“But people saw me at the hospital.”
“Lots of people go to hospitals for lots of reasons. We say you were there visiting for something else, which is true. We say the pregnancy rumors are completely fabricated.”
Elara wanted to ask why so she’d understand what the big deal was about people knowing she was pregnant. They were married, even if it was just a contract. Having a baby wouldn’t be scandalous under
14:56 Mon, May 11 (
Chapter 72
normal circumstances.
But part of her held back. Part of her trusted that Marcus knew what he was doing, that he had reasons she didn’t fully understand yet. Reasons that probably had to do with business and shareholders and all the complicated politics of running a billion-dollar company.
She nodded slowly. “Okay. If you think that’s best.”
“I do.” Marcus’s expression softened slightly. “First and most importantly, my stepmother must not know that you’re pregnant.”
That caught Elara’s attention. “Why not?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened, that familiar tension creeping back into his shoulders. “Because Penelope is dangerous. If she knows about the babies, she’ll use them. She’ll find a way to hurt you or manipulate the situation to her advantage. I need to keep you safe, and that means keeping this pregnancy completely under wraps until I figure out how to deal with her.”
The way he said it sent a chill down Elara’s spine. She’d heard about Penelope in passing, knew she was Marcus’s stepmother and that they didn’t have a good relationship, but the genuine fear in his voice when he talked about her was something new.
“Okay,” Elara said again, quieter this time. “We keep it quiet.”
“Thank you.” Marcus walked over and kissed the top of her head. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But I promise, once I handle things with Penelope, we can tell everyone. We can celebrate properly.”
They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of everything settling over them like a heavy blanket.
Then Marcus checked his watch and cursed under his breath. “I have a board meeting today. I’ll have to leave you for a few hours.”
“That’s okay,” Elara said, finishing the last of her eggs. “I wanted to go see my mum anyway. And I need to meet up with Emeka and Mimi. I haven’t seen Emeka since after I stopped work, and he’s probably dying for details.”
“Make sure you take a driver,” Marcus said immediately, his protective instincts kicking in. “Don’t use a cab Elara. Not after yesterday.”
“I won’t.”
“Promise me, El.”
“I promise. I’ll take a driver.”
Marcus nodded, satisfied. He leaned down and kissed her properly this time, his lips stayed on hers for a moment longer than necessary. When he pulled back, there was something in his eyes that made her stomach flip.
“I’ll see you later,” he said.
“See you later.”
He disappeared upstairs to get ready for his meeting, and Elara sat there at the breakfast bar, finishing her
14:56 Mon, May 11
Chapter 72
orange juice and trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Last night she’d been terrified of telling Marcus about the pregnancy. Convinced he’d be angry, maybe even accuse her of trying to trap him. But instead, he’d been happy. More than happy. He’d been ecstatic in a way she’d never seen him before.
And now he was making her breakfast and kissing her goodbye and asking her to promise she’d be safe.
It was almost too good to be true. Which meant, knowing how her life usually went, something was probably about to go very wrong.
But for now, she pushed those thoughts away. For now, she was just going to enjoy the fact that Marcus knew about the babies and everything was okay.
She stood up, carried her plate to the sink, and headed upstairs to get ready for the day.
She had a mother to visit, friends to catch up with, and a secret pregnancy to keep hidden from a stepmother she had no business with but was apparently terrified of.
Just another normal day in the life of Mrs. Elara Thorne.
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