Chapter 2

When they shoved me into the bedroom, my knee slammed hard against the bed frame.

Before I could even stand up, the door slammed shut in my face.

I froze.

The noise outside dimmed for a second, then the party started up again, even louder than before.

I was locked in that room from noon until total darkness fell.

No one came to open the door. No one even checked on me.

I screamed until my throat was completely raw. In the end, I could only slide down against the door, listening to the party noises slowly fade away.

But my mind only grew sharper and clearer.

When the house finally went completely quiet, the door opened.

I pulled myself up using the bedpost. My legs were completely numb.

My parents walked in first, followed by Liam and Chloe.

My mom's eyes were red, looking as if she were the one suffering.

"Elena, honey... look. You and Liam did those fertility tests before, right?"

"We saw the portal report. The doctor said... it might be very hard for you to ever have children."

My entire body went rigid.

We had done those tests right before Liam and I were planning to get married.

But I never got my hands on the results. Liam said he would handle the portal access, and I hadn't thought much of it.

It turned out I didn't need to think.

Everyone had already made the decisions for me.

I looked at Liam.

"You knew all along?"

He kept his head down, refusing to meet my eyes.

My dad spoke up. "Liam is an only child. This kind of issue would have ruined your marriage eventually. If you two broke up normally, could you even handle the heartbreak?"

My mom immediately chimed in. "So, your dad and I talked it over. We figured it was best to let Chloe and Liam get married first and have a baby. Once that's done, you can come back. We can all live together and get through this."

My brain exploded.

My lips trembled, and it took me forever to force out a single sentence.

"Have you all lost your minds?"

Chloe took a step forward.

Her eyes were watery, her voice soft and fragile.

"Elena, everyone is just really worried about you. I've been alone for so many years, and I've always seen you guys as my family. If I can help you keep Liam, I'm willing to do it."

She finished speaking and gently placed her hand on her flat stomach.

"Besides, I'm already pregnant."

I stared at her stomach, a wave of intense nausea hitting my throat.

I slowly turned to Liam.

"And you agreed to this?"

He stayed dead silent.

My vision went dark. My chest felt so tight I couldn't breathe.

The next second, I collapsed onto the floor.

When I woke up, the room was pitch black.

I fumbled around for my phone. The moment the screen lit up, notifications flooded in.

Missed calls, messages from former coworkers, and over a hundred unread alerts in our group chat on Snapchat.

I tapped into it.

At first, some people were asking why Liam had suddenly married Chloe.

But then, the tone shifted.

Someone wrote, "Oh my god, my favorite ship actually became canon!"

"Right? Chloe is so sweet and gentle. Elena has such a bad temper and is always so dramatic. No guy could stand her."

I scrolled down and saw another message.

"Remember when Liam worked overtime until midnight, and she still forced him to drive across town to get her takeout? So annoying. Total spoiled princess."

"Exactly. She deserved to get dumped."

I stared at those words, my hands turning ice-cold.

On that night, Liam had been the one who insisted on buying me food, telling me to just name what I wanted.

I had even told him to forget it because it was too late.

He had laughed and told me it was fine.

But in everyone else's mouths, it became proof of my selfishness.

With my heart squeezing painfully, I instinctively typed a message into the Snapchat group.

"You all knew about this?"

The chat went dead silent for a second.

The next second, a notification popped up: You have been removed from the group.

They didn't even bother to give me an explanation.

I sat on the edge of the bed and let out a soft, hollow laugh.

It wasn't just my parents. It wasn't just Liam.

My friends, my coworkers. Everyone had been lying to me.

I stood up and started packing.

I didn't want to stay in this place for another single minute.