Chapter 329: A Visitor

Rebecca’s POV

​It had been a little over two weeks since I lost my baby, and for most of those two weeks, I had barely left my bed. There had been days when I slept for hours and woke up wishing I could go straight back to sleep. Other days, I couldn’t sleep at all. I would lie there staring at the ceiling until morning, listening to the clock beside my bed and wondering how something as stupid as time could keep moving when it felt like my entire life had stopped.

​There had even been a time when Mother and Stephanie had become genuinely worried about me. I had almost lost my sanity completely during the first few days. Sometimes I forgot the baby was gone, only to remember again minutes later. Sometimes I woke up searching for him. Once, I had sat on the floor beside my bed for so long with both hands over my stomach that Stephanie had found me there and called the healer because I wouldn’t answer her.

​The healer helped me sleep when my mind refused to stop, checked my body every day, and stayed close whenever the grief became too much for me to handle on my own. Slowly, the worst of it passed. I stopped waking up asking where my baby was. I stopped forgetting what had happened. And eventually, I accepted it.

​My baby was gone.

​For two weeks, my bedroom had become my entire world, shrinking down to those four walls. I moved between the bed, the couch, the bathroom, and the window. Sometimes I stood at that window for an hour without even realizing how much time had passed, staring blankly at the grounds outside and watching people live their lives. Pack members trained in the distance, guards changed shifts, maids walked through the courtyard carrying baskets, and cars entered and left the mansion. Life continued. I just didn’t feel like being part of it.

​Mother came every day, and Stephanie spent more time in my room than she did anywhere else. Lord Drake had sent word several times asking about me, but he respected my request not to visit. Callum had also left for his kingdom.

​And Kaden...

​I didn’t let myself finish that thought. I hadn’t seen him since the day I lost the baby.

​I was lying on my back staring at the ceiling when I finally turned my head toward the clock on the nightstand.

​12:00 PM.

​I let out a long sigh that vibrated through my chest. Another day. Another afternoon I was about to spend lying in this bed doing absolutely nothing. I turned onto my side, stayed there for a few seconds, then rolled onto my back again and returned to staring at the ceiling.

​Exhausted, I suddenly sat up and looked around the room with a sigh.

​My baby was gone, but I was still alive. Hiding in this room wasn’t going to bring him back. My life had changed, and the pain might stay with me for a long time, but I couldn’t stay here forever.

​Even if all I managed today was a ten-minute walk around the garden, it was a start.

​"Okay," I murmured, pushing the duvet away. "We’re going outside."

​Laura didn’t answer, but a faint movement came from her.

​I stood carefully. My body had healed considerably over the last two weeks, although I still felt weaker than normal. I slipped my feet into a pair of comfortable slippers, ran my fingers through my hair, then walked toward the bedroom door.

​My hand stopped on the handle for a moment before I finally forced myself to push it open into the quiet hallway.

​It shouldn’t have felt like such a big thing. It was a hallway, for goodness’ sake. But after spending more than two weeks inside one room, even the simple act of walking down it felt strange.

​I passed several closed doors and slowly made my way toward the staircase.

​Then I reached the top of the grand staircase and froze.

​Suddenly, the memories came rushing back. My hand gripped the railing as that terrible day replayed in my mind like a horror movie.

​Kaden and Callum fighting downstairs. People shouting. Me running toward them, yelling for them to stop. My foot landing badly, the railing slipping away from my fingers, and then falling. My shoulder hitting the stairs first, then my side, then my stomach. Hearing Kaden screaming my name. And then the blood. So much blood.

​I blinked hard, swallowing hard as hot tears gathered at the corners of my eyes, and the staircase slowly came back into focus. Nobody was fighting. Nobody was shouting. The living room below was quiet.

​My first instinct was to turn around, go back to my room, close the door, and maybe try again tomorrow.

​But my fingers tightened firmly around the railing instead.

​"No."

​Holding tightly onto the handrail, I began descending the stairs cautiously, taking every single step with extreme care. One foot on the first step, then the next, moving slowly while keeping one hand firmly around the railing. By the fifth step, my heart was beating too fast. By the tenth, I had to stop and take a breath.

​You’re okay, Laura whispered.

​Her voice was so unexpected that my eyes burned again.

​I continued, one careful step at a time. When I finally reached the last few stairs, an ugly, bitter thought entered my mind before I could stop it.

​If only I had walked like this that day. If only I had been this careful that day, maybe everything would be different right now. Maybe my baby would still be alive.

​I swallowed hard. There were too many if onlys, and not one of them could change what had happened.

​I wiped my cheeks and descended the final step.

​A few members of the mansion staff standing in the living room paused what they were doing the moment they noticed me. They looked at me with open shock, as if seeing a ghost walking through the mansion. Every head turned in my direction.

​Their shock was understandable, because most of them probably hadn’t seen me since the day I was teleported upstairs bleeding.

​They quickly recovered and bowed their heads respectfully. One of the maids lowered her head. "Lady Rebecca."

​The others followed, and I didn’t have the energy to tell them not to bow. I gave them a weak nod, acknowledging their greetings, and kept moving toward the entrance.

​The guard stationed at the front doors seemed just as surprised to see me, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything. He immediately opened the large doors for me.

​I stepped out onto the porch, descending the four shallow steps as the bright afternoon sun hit my face for the first time in two full weeks.

​I stopped as the warmth of the sun touched my skin. Closing my eyes briefly, I breathed in the fresh, cool air. I had forgotten how good it felt. I took another deep breath before opening my eyes and making my way toward the garden.

​Before I could take three steps, the sound of engines made me look toward the entrance. The gates of the estate opened, and two sleek black cars drove slowly up the long driveway, coming to a stop in front of the main entrance. One of the guards immediately stepped forward as the back door of the lead car opened.

​A tall figure stepped out into the sunlight.

​The exact moment I saw his sharp face and towering height, my heart plummeted directly into my stomach. Every muscle in my body locked. My entire body froze.

​Kaden?

​Panic flared in my chest, and for one stupid second, I couldn’t breathe. But as he took a step forward, my brain quickly caught up with my eyes. I blinked.

​It wasn’t Kaden. It was Kane, his twin brother.

​I let out a quiet sigh of relief, my shoulders slumping slightly as I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Same face, same height, different hair. They were identical twins, so mistaking one for the other from a distance wasn’t exactly evidence that I had missed Kaden.

​Kane spoke briefly to one of the guards before his eyes found me. He stopped, his expression immediately changing to cautious concern before he walked across the stone driveway toward me.

​"Hello, Rebecca."

​"Hi, Alpha Kane," I said, my voice sounding a little raspy from disuse.

​He stood a few feet away, staring at me with deep concern in his eyes. He didn’t rush toward me, but I could tell right away that he had come here for a reason and wanted to talk. His gaze moved over my face, and I could tell there were a hundred things he wanted to ask, all questions I didn’t know how to answer.

​"Let’s talk in the garden," I offered, wanting to get away from the driveway and the open view of the house.

​Alpha Kane nodded quietly. "Okay."

​I led the way down the stone pathway toward the wide green garden. The walk wasn’t long, but my legs were already reminding me that spending more than two weeks doing almost nothing probably wasn’t the best preparation for a stroll.

​When we reached a shaded wooden bench under one of the large trees, I sat down, and Kane sat beside me, keeping a respectful distance between us.

​Silence stretched over us for a moment. Neither of us seemed to know how to bridge the gap after everything that had happened. Birds moved between the trees, and somewhere farther away, I could hear the faint sounds of warriors training.

​Finally, Kane broke the silence, letting out a heavy sigh. "I am so sorry for your loss, Rebecca."

​I looked down at my hands resting in my lap and gave him a small nod. Even after two weeks, those words still hurt. "Thank you."

​"I would have come to see you earlier," Kane continued softly. "I called your mother several times, but she said you weren’t ready to see anyone. I didn’t want to show up and make things harder for you."

​"I know," I said gently. "It’s okay. I wasn’t ready."

​Kane fell silent again, looking out over the blooming rose bushes. It was obvious he was treading carefully and didn’t really know what else to say without crossing a line.

​I decided to ease the tension and rescue both of us. "Thank you for coming all this way, Alpha Kane. And... I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the nephew or niece I had promised you."

​Kane shook his head quickly, his expression immediately changing. "It’s okay, Rebecca. Don’t. You have absolutely nothing to apologize to me for. You are still young. You can still—"

​He cut himself off mid-sentence, catching his own words before they fully left his mouth. He looked away, a look of regret flashing across his face.

​I knew exactly what he had been about to say. He meant that I was still young and that Kaden and I could still have children in the future. But that was a future I had no intention of building. Rebuilding a family with Kaden was not on my map, and Kane clearly realized that mentioning it was a massive mistake.

​He sucked in a deep breath, quickly changing the subject to save us both from the awkwardness. "So, what’s next for you now? What are you going to do?"

​"Nothing much," I answered, answering fast to keep the conversation moving away from my womb. "I need to start training again. Mother wants me to start learning more about my teleporting abilities."

​Kane nodded.

​"I want to further my education too," I added, looking out across the garden. "Maybe travel a bit. I don’t know. There are places I’ve never seen and things I’ve never done. Just... anything to keep moving forward."

​For so much of my life, everything had been about surviving someone else’s decisions—my fake father, the accusations, Kaden, the choker, running, hiding. Then the baby had become part of every plan I made for my future. Now, for the first time, I had no idea what came next, but strangely, that didn’t feel terrifying anymore.

​"I just want to live," I said quietly. "That’s all I know right now."

​Kane nodded, an approving smile touching his lips. "That sounds like a good plan. That’s a good place to start."

​I looked at him for a moment, the silence surrounding us again. There was a burning question in the back of my mind—something I had been wondering about for days, but had been too isolated to ask anyone about.

​I turned slightly on the bench to face him. "Alpha Kane, can I ask you something?"

​"Of course."

​"What did Kaden do to you and Logan after he found out everything?"