CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:THE BURDEN OF UNWANTED TRUTH LEADING TO REUNION IN A HOUSE BUILT ON DECEPTION

Months had passed since the chaos that had once engulfed my life, but even in the silence that followed, I found no solace. Just when I thought I had escaped the past, reality struck me with an unexpected and unwelcome truth—I was pregnant.

The knowledge settled over me like a suffocating weight, a cruel reminder of the man who had both claimed and destroyed me. Chris was gone, but his presence lingered within me, growing with each passing day. The thought of carrying his child filled me with an unbearable mix of regret and sorrow. I wanted to reject this reality, to erase the memory of his touch, but my body had already betrayed me. I mourned for the life I had stolen, for the woman I had become, and for the child who would forever be a link to a past I wished to bury.

As I struggled with my emotions, a message arrived from Leon. It was an invitation—no, a summons—to meet him at a discreet hotel. Despite everything that had transpired between us, I felt compelled to go. Perhaps it was curiosity, or perhaps it was the remnants of an unfinished story that demanded closure.

When I arrived, I found Leon waiting, his demeanor troubled, his eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher. He didn't waste time with pleasantries. His voice was low, edged with exhaustion and something dangerously close to desperation.

"I'm sorry for everything—for the pain I've caused," he began, his gaze locked onto mine. "First, you impersonated Elena; then, you played a role in her mother's death; you orchestrated her imprisonment, and now she's vanished without a trace. What kind of torment is this?"

I met his accusation with a knowing smirk, my lips curving into something that wasn't quite a smile. "And let's not forget," I said, my voice laced with bitter amusement, "I deceived you into believing I was carrying your child." A hollow laugh escaped me, but it did little to fill the silence that followed.

Leon's expression darkened in an instant. Fury flashed across his face as he grabbed my arm with such force that pain shot through me, sharp and unforgiving. My vision blurred, and before I could react, darkness swallowed me whole.

When I awoke, the world around me smelled of antiseptic and sterility. A hospital. I blinked against the harsh light, my mind sluggish as reality settled back into place. A doctor stood beside my bed, his expression unreadable as he spoke the words that sealed my fate.

"You're pregnant."

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. I turned my head slowly, my gaze falling on Leon. His face, which had been clouded with anger before, now held something else entirely—joy. He exhaled sharply, as if he had been holding his breath, and his entire demeanor shifted.

He was happy. Truly happy.

He didn't know.

And in that moment, I made a choice.

I would not tell him the truth.

Chris was dead, buried beneath the weight of the river that had swallowed his sins. There was no need to resurrect him. Leon believed the child was his, and I saw no reason to shatter that illusion. This was my chance—my opportunity to escape the horrors of my past and forge a new path. I had clawed my way into Leon's world, into his wealth and security, and I would not let it slip through my fingers.

Upon my discharge, Leon took me into his care with an unwavering devotion that both comforted and unnerved me. He became more attentive than ever, catering to my every need with a tenderness that bordered on obsession. Whether it was out of love, guilt, or some twisted desire to keep me under his control, I did not know. And I did not care.

Our lives became a careful performance, a delicate dance of secrets and half-truths. To the outside world, we were a perfect couple, bound together by love and the promise of a future. But in the quiet moments, when the lights dimmed and the masks slipped, I felt the weight of my lies pressing down on me.

Beneath the surface, the shadows of our past still lurked, whispering warnings I refused to heed. The peace we had constructed was fragile, and I knew that one day, it would all come crumbling down. But until that day arrived, I would hold onto this life--This illusion--as long as I could.

Even If it meant living in a house built on deception.