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The Arrangement Katia I woke up to the sound of people singing badly. “Happy birthday to you...” I blinked hard against the sunlight filtering through the curtains, my brain slow to reboot. The voices were getting louder, and for a second, I thought I was dreaming. A really weird, off-key dream. “Happy birthday, dear Katia...” My bedroom door flung open. I sat up so fast the blanket tangled around my legs like a trap. My vision adjusted just in time to see a small parade entering my room, Delia leading the way with a cupcake on a tray, Dad trailing behind her holding a phone like he was filming a hostage video, and then, my mother, smiling. I nearly choked because my mom has never smiled at me. “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” she said; her voice was smooth and artificial, like she’d sprayed it with perfume before letting it out of her mouth. I stared at her like she’d grown a second head. Because here’s the thing: Martha didn’t do birthdays. Not mine, anyway. Delia got birthdays. Princess themes, balloons, new dresses, and a chorus of relatives pretending they liked each other. I got awkward silences and last-minute gas station cards. I once got a vacuum cleaner. I was twelve. So this? This felt like a setup. “Um... thanks?” I said, my voice rough from sleep and suspicion. Delia plopped the tray down in my lap like she was presenting a peace offering. “I made the cupcake myself,” she said sweetly, which meant the maid probably did it while Delia supervised with a glass of wine. I looked down at it. Vanilla with white frosting and one lonely candle jammed in the center like a warning flare. “Blow it out,” my dad said cheerfully, but his eyes were doing that thing they always did when he was nervous, darting around like they were looking for an exit. I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, seriously. What’s going on?” My mom gave a soft laugh, as if I was being silly for having the correct instincts. She sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing the comforter like she’d ever touched it before. “You’re twenty now,” she said gently. “That’s a very important age.” “Cool,” I said, unimpressed. “Should I be bracing for a tax seminar or something?” Delia giggled. Dad coughed. Mom kept going, undeterred. “You’re a woman now, Katia. And your father and I have something very exciting and important to tell you.” There it was. The sting in the frosting. The trap under the ribbon. I sat up straighter. “Okay…” She looked at me like she was about to hand me a tiara. “You’ve been chosen to marry Julian Windsor.” The room didn’t go quiet; it went hollow. For a second, I couldn’t even process the words. I stared at her, waiting for a punchline, a camera crew, or something. “Who?” I asked, even though I’d heard her perfectly. “Julian Windsor,” she repeated, like I was the dumb one. “The Windsor heir. Their family has been interested in an alliance for years. You were betrothed when you were sixteen.” I blinked. “What?!” Dad gave me a sheepish look. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you at the time.” “At the time? You mean when I was sixteen?!” Mom’s smile never wavered. “It was a strategic match. His family is very private. Very powerful. This is a good thing, Katia. You’re incredibly lucky.” Lucky? Like this was some kind of prize. Like I should’ve been jumping up and down because I was the golden ticket in a billionaire breeding lottery. “I’ve never even met him,” I said, still struggling to wrap my head around the casual horror of what she’d just dropped on me like it was a brunch topic. “Neither has Delia,” she replied smoothly. “But if things had gone differently, she would’ve married him instead. You should be grateful it’s you.” “Wow,” I muttered. “How generous of you, Mother.” Delia leaned against the bedpost, swirling her hair around her finger. “He’s supposed to be really handsome. And rich. Like... rich rich. The Windsors own, like, everything. Casinos. Oil. Maybe a spaceship? I don’t know. They’re super secretive.” “Oh great,” I snapped. “So I’m marrying a ghost with a trust fund, and you know this how?” My mom’s eyes hardened, just for a second. “Don’t be dramatic. He’s real. And they chose you. That should mean something.” “No,” I said. “What means something is that you waited four years to tell me I was promised to a complete stranger like this is a medieval auction.” My dad cleared his throat. “We thought we’d wait until the Windsors reached out. And... they have.” I stared at him. “You mean this is happening now?” “They’ve arranged to meet in a few weeks,” my mother said. “There will be dinner. Formalities. You’ll get to know each other before the engagement becomes public.” Public? Right. Because this wasn’t a relationship. It was a press release waiting to happen. “I can’t believe this,” I said, my voice flat. “You didn’t even ask me.” “You don’t ask about opportunities like this,” she said firmly. “You accept them.” That was her tone now. The mask was slipping. She wasn’t the smiling mother with a cupcake anymore. She was the CEO of this family, and I was a failed acquisition being forced into a merger. I got out of bed, shoving the tray off my lap. The cupcake toppled sideways, the candle smearing frosting across the blanket like a smear of white lies. “I need air,” I said. Mom stood up. “Katia, don’t be ridiculous—” “No. I need to think. I’m going to Vegas.” That caught her off guard. “Vegas?” “Just a weekend,” I lied. “To clear my head. You want me to marry a stranger? Fine. But let me have one moment of freedom first.” She looked like she wanted to argue, but Dad touched her arm. “Let her go. She’ll come around.” I watched the silent war play out in her expression. In the end, control won. Because she thought she already had it. “Fine,” she said, that awful smile returning. “Go. Take some time. But don’t forget what’s waiting when you come back.” I didn’t answer. I was already packing the second the door closed. They thought they were giving me space. What they didn’t know was that I wasn’t going to Vegas for air. I was going for speed. The Racer and the Popped Cherry ~Katia~ Vegas heat hit me like a wave the second I stepped off the private jet. The runway shimmered under the late afternoon sun, and I squinted past my sunglasses, already half-listening to the ping of updates on my encrypted racing burner phone. Six hours before the race, and my heart was already trying to climb out of my chest. But I wasn’t nervous. I was hungry. The black Rolls Royce Ghost waiting for me outside the hangar wasn’t subtle, but nothing about this trip was supposed to be. My crew greeted me like I was a CEO arriving for a hostile takeover. I didn’t speak; they knew why I was here. The underground race wasn’t some little street corner showdown. This was the elite of the elite, with closed invitations, encrypted access, and enough luxury vehicles to make a Formula 1 grid look like a used lot. They held it at a decommissioned airfield just outside the city. From the sky, it looked abandoned. From the ground? It was a neon-lit colosseum, pulsing with noise and heat and money. My car was already there. A midnight-blue Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, customized down to the bolts. The engine purred like a lion in a cage. I ran my hand along the hood, letting the vibration travel up my arm. This machine was built to win. Just like me. I pulled on my suit in the back trailer, matte black, form-fitted, and made from materials that cost more than some people’s homes. The helmet was blacked out, with only a blood-red visor slit. I didn’t need people seeing my face. They didn’t deserve to. By the time I stepped onto the tarmac, the place was alive. Hundreds of people lined the barricades, some rich kids trying to live out their Fast & Furious fantasies, some seasoned racers who had bet money they couldn’t afford to lose. Cameras flashed, and beats thumped from speakers the size of trucks. Drones hovered above, catching every movement. But everyone turned when someone arrived. I believe it must be the infamous Jules. Silver McLaren Sabre. Chrome trim with black spoilers. The engine sound was so deep it made the air feel heavier. He stepped out like a ghost in steel. His helmet mirrored mine, faceless and unreadable. He didn’t look at me, not directly, but I felt his attention like static on my skin. Everyone knew Jules, but no one knew who he was or what he looked like. He had never lost. Not once. Not in three years. His name was synonymous with fear on the track. Not just because he was fast. But because he made the others look like they were standing still. Until now, I didn’t come to Vegas for a vacation. I came to end his streak. The announcer’s voice echoed over the PA system. “Ladies and gentlemen... this is the one you’ve been waiting for. The Queen of the Strip versus the Phantom King. Catwoman. Jules. One race, one winner.” The crowd screamed. Cameras whipped between us. I stepped into my car and strapped in, letting the silence of the cockpit swallow me whole. My hands slid over the wheel like I was touching something sacred. The world outside didn’t exist anymore. There was just the road, the engine, and the finish line. The lights went red. Then yellow. Then, Green and I launched. The G-force hit like a punch to the chest. My vision tunneled as I hit the first corner, tires screaming against the pavement. Jules was there, always there like a shadow glued to my rearview mirror. Every turn, he matched. Every burst of speed, he answered. But I had studied him. I knew how he took his corners. Knew where he hesitated by a millisecond. And tonight, I wasn’t just racing; I was attacking. We blazed through lap one in under a minute. Lap two blurred with flames from the sidelines, the smell of burned rubber, and the deafening chant of the crowd. My pulse synced with the growl of my engine. By lap three, I took a chance. He pulled left, I cut inside and clipped the corner, skimming the barricade by inches. My car shook. My teeth rattled. But I surged ahead. The crowd exploded. The final stretch was chaos—necks craning, bets screaming, people recording history with shaky hands. I kept my foot down. No fear. No mercy. The finish line tore toward me like a beast. I crossed it first. By 0.7 seconds. I slammed the brakes and spun the car halfway into a drift before it stopped. My breath came in ragged bursts, and for a moment, I didn’t move. I let it sink in. I had just beaten Jules. The motherfucking undefeated legend. And I’d done it in his city. I stepped out slowly. Cameras swarmed. Fans screamed. But I didn’t take off my helmet. I raised one gloved hand to the crowd and walked away. Jules looked at me. He raised two fingers to his helmet and gave me a slow, almost amused salute. Then he turned and disappeared into the crowd. He was gone before I could look again. No confrontation. No handshake. Typical, but I didn’t care. I’d done what no one else could do. And I needed a drink. The bar was tucked away in the kind of luxury hotel that only old money could afford—one of those places with marble floors, glass elevators, and cocktails that cost more than a pair of shoes. I sat at the corner table in my small black dress. My street clothes and helmet locked in the car, eyes hidden behind designer shades. I ordered something strong and didn’t care what it was. Halfway through my second drink, they approached—two guys. Mid-twenties or late twenties, suits undone, confidence turned up too high. Rich, clearly. One had a dark smirk that didn’t quite match his relaxed posture. The other looked like the kind of guy who didn’t need to try to be charming; it just happened. “Mind if we sit?” one of them asked. I shrugged. “Vegas, isn’t it?” They slid into the booth and started talking. I wasn’t listening to the words. I just needed noise. Something to drown the thoughts. We drank. More than we should have. I didn’t ask for names. They didn’t either. Somewhere between laughing too hard and the floor tilting beneath me, I felt a hand brush mine. Warm. Gentle. Not urgent. Just there. I didn’t pull away. Instead, I grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor. We danced, but I didn't know what came over me; maybe it was the drink, but I was pressing my ass on his dick as I danced. Maybe it has to do with "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." He was hard, and I turned and laughed at him. "Trouble," he said and grabbed my hand and led me outside. We went on top of the building, and there was a chopper waiting for us. He led me inside the chopper. The pilot didn't even bother looking at us. The man kissed me; I took off his shirt first. He looked at me as though pitying me. But I kept rubbing on his dick while we kissed. "Fuck! I think my friend spiked our drinks; I just want to fuck right now." "Then fuck me." I couldn't believe my voice, but then I wanted him to fuck me. He crawls over me, using his knee to separate my legs, and his hand runs up my thigh and over the papery fabric of my black dress. He rubbed his finger on one of my nipples. I writhed under him, and that seemed to encourage him, and I felt his hardness stab against my pelvis. His warm breath formed a trail along my neck. "I want to be gentle, but I can't. The drug was too much." He whispers. "Just fuck me," I begged. "I'm going to cum inside you; you make me so hard, princess." He says, and all I want is him inside me. Wet softness grips one of my nipples in his mouth, and I moan. His fingers make their way between my legs and gently slip them between my lips, fondling me. then pressed the head against my slick lips. I gasped as he slid it up and down, lubricating himself with my wetness. Then he was done being gentle. He pushed against my tight nervous muscles to penetrate me. I screamed, and his free hand flew to my mouth. He looked at me but didn't continue. We arrived at a hotel; he was holding me like I was a prize. "Wanna get married." He asked, and I nodded. We bought a ring for men. "Where is mine?" I asked, and he laughed. "My hotel room, yours is special," he says, and a man arrived with some documents, and we both signed. I don't know what I was signing, but I just signed. I will cum inside you ~Katia~ "Do you know how hard I've been holding myself?" I didn't answer because all I wanted was to get laid. I could still feel the ache between my legs. He carried my bridal style and led me to his hotel room. "Now, I can fuck you however I want because you are now my wife, princess." The room was dark, and I was feeling all sorts of things; I doubt I even remember my name at this point. He sent me launching onto a bed. His finger ran along my lips. His lips traced along my neck. It tickles, and it feels so fucking good. My mind zigzags in pleasure and confusion. "I love your fucking body, wifey." He pulls up my dress, and now I am exposed. "I couldn't wait to get you here so I can taste your cunt from the chopper. I want to make it memorable for you." His words shocked me like a live wire. "You are so fucking soft," he gritted as he started sucking on my nipples. I can feel the blood rushing between my legs. "You are so ready for me." Before I could answer, he took my breath away as he slid his fingers inside my pussy, and I moaned. "Beg for it, wifey," he says, and I opened my mouth, but the only thing that came out was a moan, and he kept rubbing, his palm pressing against my clit. I feel that buildup I felt early on the chopper when he was sucking on my nipple. His fingers meet my lips again; I can smell myself on his fingers. "Lick it with the tip of your tongue." He wanted me to taste myself, so I sheepishly darted my tongue to taste a hint of saltiness. He removes my dress and then removes his clothes too. He presses a hand against my folds, and I gasp as he lubricates himself with my wetness. Then he thrust inside me, and I sucked in a breath; my mind raced with thoughts in that brief moment. He then captured my lips and started to move. When he threw another thrust, I gasped into the kiss. "So fucking perfect." He says, pulling in and out, in and out, fucking me, stretching me. I moaned through tears as his free hand roved along my body, squeezing and rubbing. His teeth tug on my nipples. Then he pressed his lips on mine and kissed me. He then wrapped his arm around me and pulled me up so that he was kneeling on the bed and I was sitting on him. He rocked me up and down. I tightened around his dick. I was no longer in pain; I was enjoying everything he was doing with me and to me. My moans got louder; I didn't care if there was anyone listening to us fucking. "I'm going to fill you up, Princess." He says, and I mewl, and he goes on, "I can feel you clenching on my dick, princess," he says as he squeezed my ass and pulled me tightly towards him so that I was full. He lowers himself along my body and starts grazing his teeth against my skin. He sucked on my breast, and my hips swiveled. He gripped his cock in one hand and thrust inside me again; I let out a deep moan, and pleasure started spraying onto every inch of me. Each thrust was just another little wave colliding against me. He grunts and plunges deeply into me, taking himself to the climax he couldn't achieve the time we were in the chopper. He pulled out and watched my pussy, then spread my legs and thrust back in. His thrusts were now violent, and he increased his pace. I started to shake beneath him. I screamed and came, and I dragged him along with me. I felt his cum filling me, and we stayed like that for some time, and after a while his dick started to twitch inside me, and he started to thrust again. He fucked me the whole night, and I don't remember what time we slept. Morning slammed into me with cruel sunlight and a splitting headache. I woke up in a room I didn’t recognize. The room screamed money, and the scent of sex and something expensive—cologne, maybe. My head throbbed. My body... ached. I was naked under the sheets, tangled in them like I’d been tossed there, and beside me, a man lay asleep. A stranger, panic hit me like a punch to the chest. I couldn’t even look at him. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to know what kind of face went with the body that had touched mine, claimed mine. I sat up too fast, and pain shot between my legs like a warning. I gasped and clutched the sheets tighter. Everything down there was sore and swollen. The ache in my thighs was sharp, deep, and humiliating. I scanned the floor, found my dress—crumpled and reeking of bar smoke and sweat—and yanked it on, wincing with every movement. My heels were on their sides by the door. I hobbled toward them like I was learning to walk again, forcing myself to stand tall even when I wanted to curl into myself and disappear. What the hell happened last night? I remembered the race. The victory. The roar of the crowd. I remembered heading to the bar to celebrate. I ordered one drink, then another, then… then two guys approached me. Their faces were blurry. Everything after that? Blank, like someone hit the erase button on my memory. There was laughter, I think. Maybe a game of pool. A joke. Something about tequila. And then—nothing. Just soreness. Just this stranger. Just a room I didn’t know. I found my purse by the couch, slung it over my shoulder, and didn’t look back. I didn’t want to wake him. I didn’t want him to speak. I didn’t want him to remember me, either. I made my way to the parking garage, ignoring the way my legs trembled with every step, found my car, and drove back to my hotel like a ghost at the wheel. When I finally made it to my suite, I didn’t even stop to breathe. I stripped the dress off again, went straight into the bathroom, and turned on the shower like I could rinse off the confusion clinging to me. The water hit my skin, and I almost jumped. I smelled like sex and sweat, like someone else’s body had touched every inch of mine, and I didn’t even get the decency of a name. My chest was tight, my eyes burned, and when I splashed water on my face, something cold clicked against my cheek. I froze and looked down at my left hand, and my stomach dropped into my feet. I was wearing a ring. Not costume jewelry. Not something cheap from a souvenir shop. This thing sparkled. It shone. It looked like commitment, permanence, and possibly a felony. “What the fuck?” I whispered. I yanked the shower curtain open and stepped out, dripping, breath shallow. My fingers trembled as I turned the ring around, trying to figure out if it was real. It looked expensive. Too expensive. But I didn’t remember anything. Not a proposal. Not a chapel. Not even a kiss. I threw clothes on, barely drying off, and rushed out of my room to find the guy. Any guy. But I remembered I don't remember anything; there was no trail to follow, no clue, not even a room number. I hadn't even checked what floor I was on this morning. Even if I passed him in the lobby… I wouldn’t recognize his face. “Fuck me,” I whispered again, gripping my temple. I remembered nothing. Pregnant ~Katia~ I woke up to the sour taste of bile creeping up my throat, and my legs threw me out of bed before my brain could even catch up. The morning light seared into my eyes like punishment, and I stumbled across the cold floor, my feet slapping against the wood, straight into the bathroom. My knees hit the tile, and my head dipped into the toilet as I heaved, every muscle in my stomach wrenching like it was trying to pull itself inside out. It was the third morning in a row. No, the fifth. Hell, I’d stopped counting. I could hear my mother's footsteps behind me, the sharp, impatient kind that clicked like a metronome of judgment. I knew she would follow me. My mom never misses a chance to remind me that I’m a fuck-up. She stood in the doorway like a sentry, arms folded, her expression already set to that self-righteous scowl she reserved just for me. “It’s been two weeks since you came back from Las Vegas,” she muttered, her voice hard, like she’d been rehearsing that line for maximum guilt. I didn’t respond; my face was still half inside the toilet, and I wasn’t in the mood to explain how morning sickness works to the woman who had raised me with more slaps than hugs. “David!” she yelled suddenly, like her voice alone wasn’t enough of a siren. From somewhere in the house, I heard the crash of the remote hitting the floor, followed by heavy footsteps. Dad appeared a few seconds later, still wearing his worn-out robe, his hair a mess, and his face confused like someone had just told him his truck was pregnant. “What is it, woman?” he grunted. “Your daughter is pregnant,” my mother said with the kind of dramatic flair that should’ve come with a stage spotlight. “I’ve been watching her for some time now, and today is the day I've confirmed it. Katia is pregnant.” I wished the toilet would just suck me down. Swirl me into the pipes, and flush me away from all of this. “Martha, what do you mean? Our daughter is only twenty! How can she be pregnant?” Gee, Dad. Should I draw you a diagram? I thought it, but I didn’t have the strength to say it. My hands were shaking, my forehead pressed to the cool toilet seat, and my stomach felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper. Mom was already shoving the bathroom door open wider. “Katia, get out here!” she snapped. I wiped my mouth with shaking fingers and pulled myself up, grabbing the edge of the sink. My reflection looked like a ghost with a hangover. I had pale skin, sunken eyes, and lips that were cracked and raw. I stumbled out of the bathroom just in time to turn around and vomit again. My dad’s face turned to panic. “Katia, why? Baby, tell me you ate something bad. Maybe it's food poisoning, an allergy, or something like that, right?” Hope bloomed in his voice like he actually believed it. Poor man, my dad is the only person who has shown me love, not the woman who pushed me out to this world with her pussy and acted like it didn't matter. Mom only cared about my younger sister. To her, everything I have should be given to my sister Delia. “Stop it, David,” Mom snapped. “Katia is pregnant.” She reached into her bathrobe pocket and pulled out a small white box like it was a weapon. “I actually bought this yesterday. Just in case.” She shoved it into my hand. The box was light but felt like it weighed fifty pounds. “Go inside and pee. I’ll do it myself.” “Of course you will,” I muttered under my breath. She didn’t care what I thought. Never did. This was never about me, not really. It was about what I’d done to her life, her reputation, and her delusions of having a perfect daughter. I walked back into the bathroom with the test in my hand, my fingers clutching it like it might explode. The plastic felt foreign and wrong. My heart thumped behind my ribs like it was trying to escape. I peed on the stick. My mother barged in before I could even stand up properly and snatched the test out of my hands like a jailer collecting contraband. She marched out of the bathroom, her mouth twisted into that grim line that meant she was going to pretend she was the victim in all of this. She stood there in the hallway, tapping one foot on the tile like she was counting the seconds until the results confirmed how much she hated me. Two minutes later, she screamed. “I TOLD YOU!” she bellowed, holding the test like it was bloody evidence. “She’s pregnant!” My dad sat down slowly on the couch like his knees had given up. “Jesus Christ…” “WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?” Mom yelled. I didn’t say a word. My throat was dry and cracked, and no sound wanted to come out. Besides, she wasn’t asking. Not really. She was performing. She stepped forward and slapped me so hard that my head jerked sideways, and for a second, the room spun. “I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, YOU FUCKING SLUT!” she screamed. The slap wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was how easy it was for her. Like it was second nature. I started crying, my hands up but not really protecting anything. She didn’t care. She never did. Her love came with strings, with rules, with conditions I never managed to meet. Her eyes narrowed, scanning me, like she was looking for more sins to accuse me of. That’s when she saw it. The ring on my finger and her whole body went still. “What’s this?” she asked, her voice low now and dangerously calm. She stepped forward and grabbed my hand. The ring wasn’t small; it was unmistakably bold. The silver band was smooth and heavy, sculpted like something out of another era. Set into it was a large, deep red gem that was so rich in color it looked like it had been plucked from the heart of a fire. It didn’t sparkle like cheap jewelry; it burned, slow and low, like it was alive with its own light. The design was intricate and elegant in a way that made you stop and stare, the kind of craftsmanship that whispered money without ever saying a word. You could feel the weight of it. The importance of it. Like it had a story. The ring wasn't from any mall jewelry store, and it sure as hell didn’t belong on the hand of a girl like me. I searched for the ring online, but nothing. Because your girl didn't just get pregnant in Vegas; well, she also got married. My mom started laughing. Not a normal laugh. Not the kind people do when something’s funny. It was manic, broken, and high-pitched, like something cracked inside her and spilled out in the shape of madness. “WHO GAVE YOU THIS RING?” she shrieked, her voice ricocheting off the walls. I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My voice felt like it had been locked inside me. I looked at her, and then I looked past her to the blank TV, the broken remote, the wilted houseplant in the corner, and the chipped mug my dad always used, and I knew this wasn’t the end of the beginning. This was the beginning of the end. She shook the test in front of me like it was my death certificate. “You want to play grown-up?” she hissed. “Well, welcome to grown-up consequences. Who. Gave. You. That. Ring?” I clenched my jaw. Her voice dropped lower, venom wrapped in velvet. “Are you ashamed of him, or is he just long gone?” Dad finally spoke, voice thin. “Martha, stop.” She didn’t even look at him. “Don’t defend her. She has no idea what she’s done.” “I know exactly what I’ve done,” I said suddenly. My voice didn’t sound like mine; it was harder, raw, and scraped down to the bone. “It was a mistake.” Her face twisted in disgust. “And now you’re going to ruin your life. You’ve thrown it all away.” I looked at her for a long moment, and something cold settled in my chest. “You act like my life was ever mine to begin with.” That shut her up for a second. Just a second. “You’re not staying here,” she said, final and sharp. “Martha—” Dad started again. “No,” she snapped. “She made her choice. Let her figure it out.” Thrown into the Streets ~Katia~ “Get out!” my mom screamed, her voice tearing through the hallway like a bomb going off in a small room. The sound hit the walls and bounced back so violently, like the house itself was flinching. Even the air felt startled, buzzing with the kind of tension that makes your skin crawl. My heart slammed against my ribs, not from surprise, but from inevitability. This was the moment I’d been bracing for since the pregnancy test turned positive, since the ring had caught her eye, since her fantasy version of my life collapsed like a cheap stage prop. I didn’t even flinch because I knew it would come to this. I just knew it. The second she saw the ring, the second her fantasy of me being some corporate bride-to-be shattered, I could feel the sentence forming behind her teeth. I could practically hear the gears turning in her head, grinding down whatever affection she pretended to have left for me and replacing it with raw rage. And there it was. A weapon wrapped in spite and fury. “Martha, stop it!” my dad barked, stepping toward her like he might physically block the words from coming out of her mouth. “She needs to tell us who got her pregnant. That’s what we need to focus on!” That was cute. He thought logic was still on the table. He thought this was still a conversation and not a public execution. “I don’t care!” she snapped. “She was supposed to marry Julian Windsor! And now, now she’s pregnant for some crazy man!” She spat the word like it tasted poisonous. Her eyes dragged over my face, scanning for shame, for tears, for something she could grab onto and weaponize. Her mouth twisted like she’d already decided I disgusted her more than usual, which honestly felt like a competitive sport in this house. “Do you even know who got you pregnant?” she hissed. Did it matter? I stayed quiet. My silence only made her louder and more unhinged. It always did. Silence terrified her. It meant she didn’t have control. But let’s be real: she didn’t care about the truth. She didn’t care about my body or my decisions or even the baby growing inside me. She cared about Julian Windsor. Julian fucking Windsor. The man I was apparently betrothed to, like I was livestock in some Victorian tragedy. A man I’d never met. Never spoken to. Never even seen in real life or on a screen or on a grainy news clip. He existed in theory and in contracts and in whispered business conversations behind closed doors. Not that I didn’t try. Delia and I had searched him online once late at night, half curious, half bored, scrolling through search results like teenagers hunting for gossip, but we found nothing. No photos, no online interviews, no social media presence. Not even a blurry LinkedIn profile or a suspicious Wikipedia stub. Julian Windsor didn’t exist, not in the way normal people exist. All we knew was that he was ridiculously rich. Like old-money, owns-an-island, probably-has-a-butler-named-Cedric rich. The kind of rich that doesn’t need publicity because money itself is already power. And for some reason, my parents thought tossing me at him like a bargaining chip would fix everything wrong with their company, their reputation, and their fragile egos. My pregnancy ruined that plan. And no, I couldn’t tell them I didn’t know who the father was. Not because I was ashamed; shame was a luxury emotion in this house, but because I didn’t have an answer. Vegas was a blur of neon lights, alcohol-soaked memories, half-remembered laughter, a ring, a promise made in chaos, and a reality I hadn’t fully unpacked yet. I couldn’t hand them a name even if my life depended on it. “Oh my God, Kat, you’re pregnant?” Delia’s voice sliced through the tension like an excited knife. Great. Just what I needed. The audience had arrived. She appeared at the top of the stairs, barefoot, wearing one of those silky little nightgowns she always saved for dramatic moments, like she was auditioning for some spoiled heiress role in her own fantasy movie. Her hair was twisted into that perfectly messy updo that probably took thirty minutes and three hair products to achieve. She leaned against the railing, eyes sparkling like she was about to witness something deliciously scandalous. She looked down at me like I was a soap opera she’d been waiting to binge. “Does that mean…” she gasped, pressing a hand to her chest theatrically, “I’ll be the one marrying Julian Windsor?” She said it like she just won a billion-dollar lottery. I scoffed, dryly and bitterly. “Glad to see someone’s living the dream.” Delia didn’t even pretend to be offended. Her smile widened like Christmas had come early. I turned toward my mom, hoping maybe this was the moment she’d shut Delia down. That she’d say no, that she’d insist I was still the daughter promised, that she wouldn’t trade me in like defective merchandise. But she didn’t. She looked at my dad. And she smiled. “David,” she said softly, with that tone that always meant a scheme was sharpening its claws. My dad hesitated. His eyes met mine for a split second. Dark. Tired. Worn down by years of surrender. I saw the exact moment he folded, the exact moment he decided peace was more important than protecting me. “They… insisted on our eldest daughter,” he said quietly, and the words sank into my chest like ice water. I was the contract. The pawn. The deal. And now I was broken merchandise. “Well,” my mom snapped, “she’s pregnant! David, you know we can't give them a pregnant daughter." My father nodded. "Okay, we give them Dalia." She turned back to Delia, something wild lighting up her face. “Yes,” she said, her voice climbing with excitement. “YES.” She actually leapt in place, clapping her hands once like a child who’d just been told they were going to Disneyland. “I always said you were the beautiful one,” she gushed, grabbing Delia’s face and kissing her forehead like she’d just been crowned queen. “You’re going to marry old money, baby.” Delia beamed, soaking it in like sunlight. Then my mom turned to me. The warmth evaporated instantly. “David, the city is going to laugh at us if she stays,” she said sharply. “Katia needs to leave this house.” My dad’s mouth opened but then closed. His jaw clenched like he was chewing a broken glass. He didn’t say no. He didn’t say anything. And just like that, it was happening. She stepped toward me with that clipped, decisive pace she always used when she’d already made up her mind. Every step felt like a countdown. “Get out!” she barked. “You do not take anything that your father and I bought for you. You are a woman now. Go to whoever got you pregnant.” Her voice cracked at the end, not from pain, but from pure disgust. Like I was something spoiled sitting on her counter that needed to be thrown away before it contaminated the rest of the house. I looked at my dad again, and he looked aside. He turned his head away from me like I wasn’t there anymore. That hurt worse than the slap. Worse than the screaming. Worse than being treated like disposable trash. He was supposed to love me. He was supposed to be the one who didn’t fold. I waited a beat. Just one fragile, stupid second hoping he’d change his mind, but he didn’t. So I turned. I didn’t speak. Didn’t cry. Didn’t scream. That would’ve given them too much satisfaction, too much power over what was left of my dignity. I walked down the hallway like a ghost, the bathrobe around me suddenly feeling thinner than it had a moment ago. The air felt colder with every step, like the house itself was already rejecting me. I passed the family photos, forced smiles, staged vacations, and framed lies pretending to be memories. A younger version of me stared back from one picture, eyes hopeful and unaware of how conditional love could be. My chest felt hollow. I reached the door. Opened it. The outside air hit me like a slap. It was colder than I expected. The kind of cold that cuts through fabric and pride in one blow. I stepped outside in nothing but my robe, with no shoes. The only thing I had was my phone. And it was because they didn't see it on me; if they did, they could have taken it from me. And the door closed behind me.