Chapter 7 - The Confrontation in the Snow
For two months, Sarah’s farmhouse became Evelyn’s fortress.
The midwife hid her in a small room above the barn, feeding her warm soups, iron supplements, and keeping her away from local towns.
By late March, Evelyn’s belly was huge. She moved slowly, holding her back, her face drawn and pale, but her eyes held an iron light that had never been there during her life in the Vale mansion.
She was no longer the frightened wife who ran into the rain. She was a mother protecting her young.
On a clear, blindingly bright Sunday morning, the peace shattered.
The sound of tires crunching over heavy gravel echoed from the driveway. Evelyn stood at the second-story window of the barn, looking down.
A single luxury sedan had pulled up beside Sarah’s truck.
The driver’s door opened, and a man stepped out into the bright sunlight.
Marcus.
He wore a dark cashmere coat, his dark hair streaked with fresh gray at the temples. He looked thinner, his sharp jawline more pronounced, his dark eyes hollow and bloodshot.
He stood in the snow, looking up directly at the barn window.
Evelyn didn't hide. She stepped up to the glass, resting both hands on her swollen stomach, meeting her husband’s gaze across thirty feet of freezing air.
Marcus froze when he saw her. His eyes dropped to her heavy belly, and for the first time in the six years she had known him, Evelyn saw genuine, unscripted shock shatter his cold mask.
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He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
He hadn't known she was pregnant.
