Chapter 2
Every sensation seemed amplified, almost unbearably so.
After a month apart, Stewart’s intensity was almost frightening.
Briony struggled, but it was futile; in the end, she could only grit her teeth and endure.
Outside, the snow fell harder and harder, the wind howling around the house.
She lost track of time. Eventually, Briony was left completely spent, her skin clammy with sweat.
A dull ache lingered in her abdomen.
She thought of her period, which was late again. Summoning her courage, she tried to say, “Stewart, I-”
But Stewart, clearly dissatisfied with her distraction, only grew rougher, his demanding kisses swallowing any
protest.
When it was finally over, dawn had yet to break.
Briony was so exhausted her mind felt foggy, the ache in her lower belly persistent–dull, not sharp, but impossible to ignore.
His phone began to ring.
She forced herself awake and opened her eyes, vision blurry. She could just make out Stewart’s silhouette as he walked over to the window to answer the call.
The room was so quiet, she could hear the faint, flirtatious voice coming from the other end of the line.
Stewart soothed whoever it was with a patience and gentleness he never spared for his wife, who lay half–asleep beside him.
Moments later, the sound of a car starting drifted up from the driveway.
Stewart was gone.
When Briony woke up the next morning, the spot beside her was still cold.
She rolled over, pressing a hand to her abdomen.
The pain had faded.
Her phone rang again. This time, it was Stewart’s mother–Fiona Clarke.
“Come here. Now.” Fiona’s tone was icy, brooking no argument.
Briony managed a soft, neutral reply.
Fiona hung up without another word.
Five years of a secret marriage to Stewart, and in all that time, Fiona had never warmed to her. Briony had grown used to it.
After all, the Wentworths were Northborough’s most powerful family. Briony might have been born a Kensington, but she was the family’s cast–off daughter, barely acknowledged.
Her marriage to Stewart had been a transaction from the start.
Five years ago, her mother, in an act of self–defense during one of her father’s violent rages, had killed him. Briony’s younger brother, grandmother, and the rest of the Kensingtons had turned on her mother, pushing for the harshest sentence.
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Chapter 2
Even her mother’s family–the old–money Hudsons–had immediately announced they were cutting ties.
Briony tried to defend her mother, but both families made her pay dearly for it. When she had nowhere else to turn, her academic advisor suggested she seek out Stewart.
The Wentworths‘ influence in Northborough was untouchable, even by the combined power of the Hudsons and the Kensingtons.
And Stewart–in court, he’d never lost a case.
He managed to reduce her mother’s sentence to five years. In return, Briony became his secret wife.
Stewart had told her that his adopted son, Irwin Wentworth, had lost both parents in a tragic accident. Stewart had been close friends with Irwin’s father, so he’d taken the baby in.
Five years had passed, and in just one more month, Briony’s mother would be released.
Their marriage had always been a straightforward bargain–nothing more, nothing less. Briony knew she hadn’t been shortchanged.
Still, despite knowing that love was never part of the deal–that it could end at any moment–she had let her heart get involved.
Banishing the thought, Briony got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
As she showered, the unease in her abdomen returned.
Anxiety bubbled up inside her again.
She and Stewart were always careful, but a month ago, he’d been drunk…
She’d taken a pill the morning after, but even that wasn’t foolproof.
Just to be sure, on her way to the Wentworths‘ that morning, Briony stopped at a pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test.
