Chapter 134
Elara’s POV
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Two days. It had been two full days since Elara had properly spoken to Marcus, and they were living in the same house.
They moved around each other like ghosts. Marcus would leave for work before she woke up. She’d make sure to be in her room or out of the house by the time he came home. When they did cross paths in the hallway or kitchen, it was just polite nods and mumbled greetings.
No real conversation. No touching. No eye contact that lasted longer than a second.
And Aurora was still in the guest house.
Marcus had tried to explain why. Something about the Wellington business failing, about Aurora being broke, about her family losing everything if the deal fell through. He’d stood outside Elara’s bedroom door the night he was supposed to kick Aurora out and explained it all through the wood.
Elara had listened in silence. Then she’d said, “Do whatever you think is right,” and that was the end of it.
She couldn’t even be angry anymore. She was just tired. Tired of fighting, tired of feeling like she was losing, tired of waking up every day in this beautiful penthouse that felt more like a prison than a home.
The only bright spot was the babies. Elara would lie in bed at night with her hands on her growing stomach, feeling the small flutters of movement that had started a few days ago. They were real. They were hers. No. matter what happened with Marcus, she’d have them.
That morning started like the previous two. Elara woke up alone in her bed, checked her phone to see no messages from Marcus, and forced herself to get up and face another day.
But the moment her feet hit the floor, her stomach lurched violently.
She barely made it to the bathroom before she was throwing up, her whole body heaving. The morning sickness had been bad before, but this was different. More intense. More painful.
When she finally stopped, Elara slumped against the bathroom wall, her entire body shaking. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, like the room was spinning around her.
She tried to stand up but her legs wouldn’t support her weight. She sank back down to the cold tile floor and pulled out her phone with trembling hands.
Elara: Mimi, can you come over? I don’t feel good.
The response came immediately.
Mimi: On my way. 20 minutes.
Elara closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the nausea. In and out. Slow and steady. Just twenty minutes. She could make it twenty minutes.
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Chapter 134
She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, someone was shaking her shoulder.
“Elara! Elara, wake up!”
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Elara’s eyes flew open. Mimi was kneeling beside her on the bathroom floor, her face creased with worry.
“How long have you been like this?” Mimi asked.
“I don’t know. What time is it?”
“Almost ten. I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes. You weren’t answering the door so I used the spare key you gave me.” Mimi pressed her hand to Elara’s forehead. “You’re burning up. We need to get you to a doctor.”
“I’m fine. It’s just morning sickness.”
“This is not just morning sickness. You’re lying on the bathroom floor barely conscious. That’s not normal.”
Elara tried to sit up straighter but another wave of dizziness hit her. “Okay. Maybe not normal.”
“Where’s Marcus?”
“Work. He left hours ago.”
“Did you tell him you were sick?”
“We’re not really talking right now.”
Mimi’s expression hardened. “I don’t care if you’re fighting or not. You’re pregnant with his children and you’re sick. He needs to know.”
“Mimi….”
“I’m calling him.” Mimi already had her phone out.
“Don’t. Please. I don’t want him coming home out of obligation. I don’t want his pity.”
Mimi looked like she wanted to argue but something in Elara’s face must have stopped her. “Fine. But we’re going to the doctor right now. Can you stand?”
With Mimi’s help, Elara managed to get to her feet. They made it to the bedroom where Elara changed out of her pajamas into something presentable. Every movement felt like it took enormous effort.
The drive to the doctor’s office was a blur. Mimi kept talking, trying to distract her, but Elara couldn’t focus on the words. All she could think about was the babies. Were they okay? Was something wrong?
When they arrived, the receptionist took one look at Elara and immediately got her into an examination room. Within minutes, a doctor appeared. Dr. Sarah Chen, the same obstetrician who’d been monitoring Elara’s pregnancy.
“Elara, what’s going on?” Dr. Chen asked, already pulling on gloves.
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Chapter 134
“Bad morning sickness. Dizziness. I almost fainted.”
“Any bleeding?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“Just nausea. And my head hurts.”
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Dr. Chen pulled out her stethoscope and started the examination. She checked Elara’s blood pressure, her temperature, listened to her heart. Then she pulled over the ultrasound machine.
“Let’s take a look at the babies,” Dr. Chen said, her voice calm and professional.
Elara lay back on the examination table while Dr. Chen squeezed the cold gel onto her stomach. Mimi stood beside her, holding her hand.
The ultrasound screen flickered to life. Elara could see the two shapes of her babies, slightly bigger than the last time she’d seen them.
Dr. Chen moved the wand around, her eyes fixed on the screen. She was quiet for a long time. Too long.
“Is everything okay?” Elara asked, her voice small.
“Just checking some measurements,” Dr. Chen said, but there was something in her tone that made Elara’s stomach clench with fear.
The doctor moved the wand to focus on one baby, then the other. She clicked some buttons, took some measurements, frowned slightly at the screen.
“What is it?” Mimi demanded. “What’s wrong?”
Dr. Chen set down the wand and turned to face them. Her expression was serious, concerned.
“Elara, I’m seeing some concerning signs with Baby B. The heartbeat is weaker than it should be, and the growth measurements are behind where I’d expect them to be at this stage of your pregnancy.”
Elara felt the room tilt. “What does that mean?”
“It could be several things. One possibility is twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one twin is getting more blood flow than the other through the shared placenta. Another possibility is intrauterine growth restriction.”
“Are they going to be okay?” Elara’s voice was shaking now.
“I need to run more tests to know for sure. But I’m going to be honest with you, Elara. This is serious. We need to monitor you very closely from now on. I’m talking about weekly appointments, possibly bed rest depending on how things progress.”
“Bed rest?” Elara felt tears starting to fall. “For how long?”
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“Could be a few weeks. Could be the rest of the pregnancy. It depends on how the babies respond
Mimi squeezed Elara’s hand tighter. “What can we do? How do we fix this?”
“Right now, we monitor closely. Make sure Elara is getting proper nutrition, plenty of rest, minimal stress. If things get worse, we may need to consider early delivery, but we’re not there yet.”
Dr. Chen pulled up a stool and sat down, her expression softening. “Elara, I know this is scary. But we caught this early. That gives us the best chance of managing it. I need you to take care of yourself, okay? No stress, no heavy lifting, lots of rest.”
Elara nodded numbly. No stress. Right. Because her life wasn’t already falling apart.
“I want to see you back here in three days for another ultrasound,” Dr. Chen continued. “And if anything changes, if you experience any bleeding or severe pain, you come to the emergency room immediately.”
After Dr. Chen left to arrange the follow-up appointment, Elara just lay there staring at the ceiling. Mimi was still holding her hand, not saying anything.
“I need to tell Marcus,” Elara said finally.
“Yes, you do.”
“He’s going to blame himself. He’s going to think this is because of all the stress with Aurora.”
“Maybe it is,” Mimi said bluntly. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is these babies and keeping
them safe.”
Elara closed her eyes. One of her twins wasn’t doing well. The doctor had used words like “concerning” and “serious” and “close monitoring.”
And Marcus didn’t even know.
“Something’s wrong with one
of the twins,” Elara whispered, the reality of it finally hitting her fully.
