'I Do' For Revenge-Chapter 250: Pregnant

~LAYLA~

I hadn’t slept properly in three days.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Axel’s face. The moment he realised I’d found the property deed. The guilt and shame that flashed across his features before he tried to explain.

And before that? Every moment we’d shared played on repeat in my mind, but now through a different lens.

I sat on the edge of the bed in the Duke’s guest room, staring at the wall. My phone buzzed with another message from Axel. I didn’t read it. Couldn’t. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A soft knock on the door broke through my thoughts. "Come in," I called out.

Helena entered with two cups of tea. "Thought you could use this."

"Thanks." I took the cup, wrapping my hands around its warmth.

She sat beside me. "Have you talked to him yet?"

"No."

"Ma’am..."

"I can’t, Helena," I interrupted. "Every time I think about facing him, I just... I can’t."

"Can I ask you something?" Helena’s voice was gentle. "What hurts more? The fact that he manipulated your first meeting, or something else?"

I looked at her, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I’ve been thinking about it," she said. "You’re not stupid. You knew from the beginning that your marriage started as a contract. You knew Axel had his own reasons for marrying you. So why does this revelation hurt so much more?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. She was right. I had known. So why did this feel like such a devastating betrayal?

"Because of the trust," I whispered finally. "When things started getting real between us, we opened up to each other and promised no more secrets. No more lies. After everything with Cassandra, we agreed to be completely honest with each other."

"And he broke that promise," Helena finished quietly.

"Yes." Tears burned my eyes. "Helena, I asked him directly if there was anything else I should know. Anything he hadn’t told me. And he looked me straight in the eyes and said no. He said there was nothing."

"Oh...."

"He had the chance," I continued, my voice breaking. "He had the perfect opportunity to come clean, to tell me about the hotel before I found out on my own. But he chose to lie. Again."

Helena set her tea down and pulled me into a hug. "I understand now. It’s not about how you started. It’s about him choosing to keep lying even after everything you’d been through."

"Exactly." I wiped my eyes. "How am I supposed to trust him now? How do I know there aren’t more secrets? More lies he’s keeping from me?"

"I don’t know," Helena admitted. "But I do know he loves you. I’ve never seen anyone look at another person the way Axel looks at you."

"Love isn’t enough if there’s no trust."

"No," she agreed. "It’s not."

We sat in silence for a moment, then Helena asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I don’t know," I said honestly. "The Memorial Tea is tomorrow. After that... I haven’t decided yet."

—

The Duke found me later that evening on the terrace, staring out at the city lights. "You look troubled, my dear," he said, settling into the chair beside me.

"I am."

"Want to talk about it?"

I hesitated, then the whole story poured out. The property deed, the manipulation, the broken trust. He listened without interrupting, his expression thoughtful. "May I offer some perspective?" he asked when I finished.

"Please."

"Your grandmother and I, we weren’t always the best of friends," the Duke began. "In fact, when we first met, she despised me. Thought I was arrogant and entitled. And she was right, I was. But over time, we built something genuine."

"What’s your point?"

"My point is that sometimes relationships begin in darkness but grow toward light," he said gently. "The question isn’t how you started. The question is where you’re going."

"But he lied to me."

"Yes, he did. And that’s a betrayal you have every right to be angry about." The Duke looked at me seriously. "But ask yourself this: was it a lie to hurt you, or a lie because he was afraid of losing you?"

I didn’t have an answer.

"I’m not saying you should forgive him immediately," the Duke continued. "Trust, once broken, takes time to rebuild. But don’t throw away something real because of that. Evaluate the man he is now, not the man he was when you met."

"And if I can’t trust him again?"

"Then you walk away with your head held high," the Duke said simply. "But at least give yourself time to decide. Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions."

I nodded slowly. "Thank you."

"Anytime, my dear." He patted my hand. "Now, have you eaten? You look pale."

"I’m not hungry."

"Layla..."

"I’m fine," I insisted. "Just stressed."

But I wasn’t fine. I’d been feeling nauseous for days now, barely able to keep anything down. I’d attributed it to the emotional turmoil, the stress of everything that had happened.

The next morning, I woke up feeling worse than ever. The moment I sat up, my stomach rolled violently. I barely made it to the bathroom before I was sick.

When I came out shaky and pale, Helena was waiting in the hallway.

"That’s the third morning in a row," she said quietly.

"It’s just stress..."

"Layla." Helena’s voice was gentle but firm. "When was your last period?"

I froze. "I... I don’t..."

When was it? Two weeks ago? Three? I tried to remember, but everything had been such chaos lately. The confrontation with Charles, the shooting, Axel’s revelation...

"Oh God," I whispered.

"I’m not saying you definitely are," Helena said carefully. "But maybe you should take a test. Just to be sure."

"I can’t be pregnant," I said, but even as the words left my mouth, I was doing the math. We hadn’t been careful, not once in the past month. We’d been so caught up in everything else...

"I’ll go get a test," Helena offered. "You stay here and rest."

"Helena—"

"Just sit tight. I’ll be back in twenty minutes."

She left before I could protest.

I sat on the bathroom floor, my back against the cold tile wall, trying to process this possibility. Pregnant. With Axel’s child. Right when our entire relationship was falling apart.

Helena returned faster than I expected, handing me a small pharmacy bag. "There are three tests in there. Take all of them. Just to be sure."

"Will you..." I swallowed hard. "Will you stay?"

"Of course."

I went into the bathroom alone, my hands shaking as I opened the first box. The instructions seemed impossibly complicated: pee on the stick, wait three minutes, look for the lines.

Two lines meant pregnant. One line meant not pregnant.

It was simple and terrifying.

I did what the instructions said, then set the test on the counter and washed my hands. Three minutes. I could wait three minutes.

I counted the seconds in my head. One. Two. Three. My breath hitched in my throat, and a knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach.

At thirty seconds, I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. I had to look. There was nothing yet.

At sixty seconds, my chest tightened again... still nothing but the single line. The silence of the bathroom seemed to roar in my ears.

At ninety seconds, my heart skipped as I noticed a faint line begin to appear right next to the control line.

"No," I whispered. My hands flew to my mouth. "This can’t be... Not now."

I forced myself to wait out the full three minutes.

At one hundred and eighty seconds, there was no denying the impossible truth. The faint line had darkened, solidifying into a definite mark.

I stared at the test, my hands trembling, my entire world tilting on its axis at the unexpected reality... I was pregnant.