CHAPTER 414
Pregnant.
Her mind froze.
Arianna was pregnant? She was having Xander’s child?
Her breathing quickened, shallow gasps clawing at her throat as her hand gripped the wall for balance. A dizzy wave of fury crashed over her, and her vision tunnelled into the red.
They were going to have a baby. That truth still echoed in her skull like a gunshot.
“No. No. No.” The word tore out of her lips like a curse, her voice cracking under the weight of hysteria.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Arianna wasn’t supposed to get everything.
But now… now came the aftershocks—the sweet nothings, the laughter, the soft rustle of sheets as Xander pulled Arianna closer.
“You’re glowing already,” he murmured inside, his voice thick with affection.
“I swear I’ve never seen you more beautiful.”
Arianna laughed, low and breathless.
“That’s because I’m carrying a little piece of you.”
Harmony’s vision tunnelled, black around the edges.
Her jaw clenched so tight it ached. She pressed her palm to the wall to steady herself, to keep from collapsing under the weight of rage and heartbreak.
It should’ve been me.
They were tangled up in warmth and promises while she stood cold and invisible on the other side of the wall—watching her future slip further away.
She wanted to burst through the door, claw her way between them, scream until Xander saw her—really saw her—not as a friend, not as some afterthought, but as the only woman who had ever truly loved him. She’d burn the whole damn world down if it meant he’d look at her the way he looked at Arianna.
And Arianna… oh, Arianna. Her very name curdled in Harmony’s mouth like poison.
She didn’t want her gone—she wanted her erased.
Torn out of the picture like a page ripped from a book, shredded and stomped on until nothing remained but a bloodstained memory.
Her fingers twitched at her sides, curling into fists as she imagined her nails dragging down Arianna’s perfect, smug face—tearing through that undeserved serenity, that fragile illusion of being loved.
“She stole my life,” Harmony whispered to herself, lips trembling with rage.
“Mine.”
She didn’t just want to hurt her.
She wanted Arianna to suffer—to beg. To feel every ounce of the pain that lived in Harmony’s chest, screaming day and night. She wanted her broken, humiliated, abandoned. Dead, even. That thought didn’t scare her anymore. It excited her.
Because if Arianna was out of the way… Xander would finally remember.
Who had loved him first?
Who had always been there?
Who was willing to do anything for him.
Not Arianna
No ..
She stole our future.
She stole him.
And now she’s carrying his child…
And then she heard it.
“I love you, Ari, so much...I can't believe I'm going to be a dad.”
She stepped back from the door, her eyes burning.
Then more laughter. Arianna’s. Xander’s. And Harmony’s heart cracked.
Tears spilt freely down her cheeks as she pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. She took a shaky step back, then another, until she turned and bolted down the hallway like a shadow chasing the night.
She threw herself into the guest room and slammed the door shut behind her.
“No... no... no!” she sobbed, stumbling to the bed.
She collapsed face-first into the pillows, muffling a guttural scream. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, her body shaking violently as she hissed through gritted teeth,
“I hate her ... I hate her....”
One way or another, that baby would never be born.
Not if Harmony had anything to do with it.
Her eyes were wild now, red-rimmed and frantic.
She rolled onto her back, hair tangled, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
She could never have a child. Not after the accident. Not after the hell she went through. And now—
Now Arianna got to carry his child?
Live her life?
Take the one man who was supposed to be hers?
That baby should’ve been mine. I should’ve been the one glowing and loved and twirled around in his arms. Not her. Never her.
A bitter sob escaped her throat.
“I’m not letting her win.” Harmony’s voice trembled with rage, her eyes glinting in the dim light.
“She thinks she’s won him—just because she’s carrying his child?”
A dark laugh escaped her lips, cracked and bitter. “Never. I won’t let her have him. Not while I’m still breathing.”
Her fingers dug into the pillow, nails tearing through the fabric as she sat up, hair wild, face streaked with tears and smeared mascara. Her chest rose and fell in ragged, furious breaths.
“She thinks a baby is enough to tie him to her? Please. He was mine before she ever existed to him."
She swung her legs off the bed and paced the room like a predator in a cage, eyes gleaming with unhinged obsession.
Let her laugh for now.
Let her wrap herself in that fragile illusion, thinking she’s safe, thinking she’s loved. Harmony’s lips curled into a twisted grin, one that didn’t reach her eyes—eyes swimming with fury and despair.
“She thinks a baby gives her a crown?” Her voice cracked into a whisper, brittle and jagged. “As if carrying his child makes her untouchable... permanent. It doesn’t.”
A sharp, broken laugh burst from her throat, wild and too loud in the silence. She clutched the pillow tighter, rocking, her fingernails digging deep into the fabric like it could anchor her.
“She doesn’t even know him,” Harmony muttered, eyes darting toward nothing.
“Not like I do. Not the way he flinches when he's overwhelmed. The way he clenches his jaw when he's trying not to cry. She sees the surface—I saw the soul.”
Her breathing quickened as she shook her head, strands of hair falling over her face.
“She walked into the middle of a story that didn’t belong to her. My story. And now she’s parading around like the heroine?”
Her voice dropped, low and shaking.
“No. No, no, no. She’s just a placeholder. A temporary distraction.”
She lifted her head slowly, a chilling calm washing over her expression.
“I’ll remind him who he loved first. Who does he need? And if she gets in the way…”
Harmony smiled again, vacant and unhinged.
“Accidents happen. Right”
She rose to her feet in one slow, deliberate motion, the pillow slipping from her arms and landing on the floor with a soft thud. Her eyes were distant now, unfocused like she was watching something only she could see—something playing on a loop behind her pupils.
Her hands moved to smooth the wrinkles from her dress, mechanical and precise as if preparing for a performance.
“They all think I’m weak,” she whispered, almost gently, almost amused.
Her gaze lifted to the mirror across the room, and she tilted her head at her own reflection.
She leaned closer, her breath fogging the mirror as she traced a fingertip across the surface, eyes never leaving her own.
“Arianna thinks she’s untouchable because she's having a baby... Because she’s playing family.”
“Let her pretend she’s special. Let her cling to that ring and her swollen stomach. It doesn’t mean a thing. He cares for me. He trusted me.”
Her expression soured, twisting as her voice grew sharper, more erratic.
“Babies are fragile. Marriages fall apart. All it takes is one mistake. One moment. One push.”
She turned away from the mirror, her movements fluid now—focused, eerily calm.
“I’m done waiting. He’s confused, that’s all. She’s clouded his mind with fake smiles and a womb full of lies.”
Harmony opened the drawer beside her bed and pulled out the small, worn photograph of her and Xander from years ago—smiling, young before she came into their lives. Her fingers trembled as she held it up to the light.
“I was there at the beginning,” she whispered.
“And I’ll be there at the end.”
Then, with the photo pressed to her heart, she turned toward the door. Her mind already spinning with plans, scenarios, consequences she no longer cared about.
After all, what did she have to lose?
She stopped dead in the centre of the room, her voice dropping to a whisper that chilled the air. “And if I can’t have him… then neither will she.”
Harmony’s eyes gleamed as she stared into the shadows.
“I’ll burn everything down. Her peace. Her love. Her perfect little dream world. I’ll tear it apart until there’s nothing left but ash—and then we’ll see who he runs to.”
She reached for her phone on the nightstand, the weight of it suddenly feeling like power in her palm. Her thumb hovered just a moment, then slid across the screen. One ring. Two. Then a click.
Raising the phone to her ear, her lips curled into a poisonous smile.
“Plans have changed,” she said, her voice low and chillingly serene.
“It’s happening sooner than we thought.”
A pause.
“No… I don’t care what it costs. I want her gone.”
She ended the call without waiting for a reply and stood in the silence that followed, her eyes glassy with obsession, her heart pounding like a war drum in her chest.
Let Arianna laugh now.
Soon, she’d have nothing left to smile about.
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