Chapter 45

Chapter 45
DEREK’S POV

The moment Abigail’s voice cut  through the air, the room froze, faces awestruck and hearts beat simultaneously.

Her slow, deliberate clap echoed off the marble, breaking the tense quiet like a gunshot.

“Well well well,” she said, stepping out from behind the door with a gruesome mocking smirk that curled like poison. “Since everyone’s spilling secrets this morning, I suppose it’s only fair that I share mine too.”

She was dressed seductively — all white, ironic in its falseness. In her hand, a folded sheet of paper trembled slightly, but her eyes were steady, glittering with venom.

“ Good news, I’m pregnant,” she declared. “You heard me right, isn't that great?” “With Derek’s child.”

The words thundered.

I felt the world tilt for a second, sound vanished out and my knees bones weakened.Then I saw Sylvia — her face pale, her lips parted in utter shock.

“Abigail, don’t,” I growled, but it was too late.

Sylvia’s hands flew to her mouth, as tears trickled down her eyes. Before I could reach her, she turned and clamped — her bare feet screeching the stairs in a frantic pattern, her sobs echoing faintly through the house.

“Sylvia!” I shouted, moving after her. But halfway up the staircase, a piercing cry shattered the air.

“Maria!” Mr. Navarro’s voice roared.

I froze. Mrs. Navarro had crumpled to the floor.

Her eyes fluttered, her hand clutching her chest. Panic rippled through the foyer.

Damn it.

I hesitated, torn — my instinct screaming to go after Sylvia, but the sight of her mother unconscious on the marble pulled me down like gravity.

“Call the doctor!” I barked, rushing down the steps two at a time. Mr. Navarro was already kneeling beside her, shaking.

“She fainted,” he stammered. “Derek—she’s not responding!”

I dropped to my knees beside them, checking her pulse — faint, but there. “She’s breathing. Get her some space!”

Abigail was still standing there, smirking faintly, enjoying the wreckage she’d caused.

I turned to her slowly. “What the hell did you just do?”

Her face  didn’t flinch neither shaken . “I told the truth.” She lifted the paper — a printed document with clinic logos and her name. “Proof, in case you still pretend not to remember.”

My blood boiled.

“Don’t,” I said softly — dangerously soft. “Don’t play this game with me.”

She laughed, low and cruel. “Game? Oh, Derek… You were so quick to call me a mistake, but here’s the thing about mistakes — sometimes they have consequences.”

I took a step toward her. Mr. Navarro looked up, panicked. “Derek—”

I ignored him. “You forged that, didn’t you?”

Her smile faltered for a split second — just enough.

“I’ve seen you pull stunts before,” I said, my voice dropping to a growl. “But this—this is low, even for you. You think waving a piece of paper around will undo what Sylvia and I have?”

Her chin lifted defiantly. “What you had,” she spat. “You think she’ll forgive you after this? You think she’ll believe anything you say?”

The rage that pulsed through me was cold, not hot — the kind that could kill quietly. I stepped closer, my eyes locked on hers until she backed up a pace.

“I warned you once,” I said quietly, deadly calm. “Stay out of my life. Stay away from her.”

She laughed again, but there was a flicker of fear in her eyes. “You can’t scare me anymore, Derek. Not when I’m carrying your child.”

“That’s not my child,” I said, my voice cracking through the room like thunder. “And you damn well know it.”

The doctor burst in at that moment, summoned by a guard. The chaos shifted as they rushed to Mrs. Navarro. I didn’t look back. My eyes stayed fixed on Abigail.

She tilted her head. “Why don’t we let the tests decide?”

“You’ve already faked one,” I hissed. “I’ll burn your lies to ash before I let you hurt Sylvia again.”

She smirked, inching closer. “You sound desperate. Maybe because deep down, you’re not sure. You’ve been around me enough to know how blurred your nights used to be. Maybe—just maybe—you did forget something.”

That hit like a bullet. My fists clenched, but I didn’t move.

Because she was right about one thing — there was one night months ago, blurred by rage, grief, and whiskey after a war meeting. A night I’d buried deep because it disgusted me.

And Abigail had always known how to twist the knife there.

“Get out,” I said, stepping forward until my shadow swallowed her. “Before I forget there’s a woman lying unconscious behind me.”

Her jaw tightened. “You can’t hide from the truth forever, Derek.”

“I don’t have to hide,” I said, glaring down at her. “Because the truth has a way of destroying liars first.”

I turned my back on her and strode toward the doctor, who was checking Mrs. Navarro’s vitals. “How is she?”

“She’s stable,” he said, glancing at me nervously. “It was a fainting episode. Likely from stress.”

I exhaled, relief flickering through the storm. Mr. Navarro’s eyes were wet when he looked at me. “She’ll wake soon.”

“Good,” I said quietly, then stood. My gaze swept the foyer — but Abigail was gone. The paper, too.

“Where did she—”

“She left,” one of the guards muttered. “Through the side door.”

I nodded slowly, jaw tight. “Good. Keep it that way.”

I turned toward the stairs. My chest burned with anger and regret. Every step I took upward, I could still hear Sylvia’s sob echoing through the house — the sound that gutted me deeper than any wound ever had.

When I reached our room, the door was shut.

“Sylvia,” I called softly, resting a hand on the wood. “Please. Open up.”

No answer.

“Baby, it’s not true. None of it.” My voice cracked for the first time. “Abigail’s lying. She’s trying to break us again.”

Still silent.

I pressed my forehead against the door, my hand curling into a fist. “Please,” I whispered. “Don’t let her win.”

I stayed there, unmoving, the quiet between us heavier than any threat.

Below, the sound of the doctor’s voice faded, the chaos settling. But inside me, the storm only grew.

Because Abigail had drawn blood again — and this time, I swore it would be the last, the very last war she would ever wage against me.