Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 2 - Defiance

Almost two months had passed since the incident. During this time, Eleanor had not stepped outside the house.

She spent most of her days locked away in her room, avoiding the hushed whispers of the household staff

whenever they caught sight of her. Their stolen glances and murmured gossip felt like invisible daggers, piercing

her already shattered spirit.

Her family, though busy with their own affairs, checked on her from tto time. James, her fiancé, called her

almost every day, his voice the only familiar comfort in the silence that surrounded her.

That afternoon, as the maid placed a salmon salad before her, an unexpected wave of nausea crashed over her.

The smell alone was unbearable. She barely made it to the sink before she vomited, her body trembling as she

emptied the contents of her stomach. Weakened and drained, she staggered back to her room without touching

her food.

An hour later, her stepmother, Jeanne, insisted on taking her to the hospital for a check-up. Eleanor wasn't

particularly worried; aside from the occasional nausea, she felt mostly fine. Just a lingering discomfort, an odd

aversion to certain smells.

But when the doctor handed her the report, the weight of the world collapsed upon her. Her knees buckled, and

she sank to the cold floor, her hands clutching the paper with trembling fingers.

She was pregnant.

Her mind reeled, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. No. No, this couldn't be happening. She wanted to

scream, to tear the results apart as if that would erase the truth. Her stepmother, to her surprise, caught her

before she could hit the ground and guided her back hwithout a word.

Once inside, Eleanor locked herself in her room, curling into a ball on her bed. Tears streamed down her face,

silent sobs shaking her frame. She was lost. Alone. Trapped in a nightmare that refused to end.

Then, her phone rang. It was James.

She picked up on the first ring, his familiar voice flooding through the speaker—but it wasn't the warm,

reassuring tone she had hoped for.

"Why did you hide it from me?" His voice was sharp, laced with anger. "How could you be so careless? Pregnant

with swild man's child?"

Her blood turned to ice. "How did you know?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

James scoffed. "How did | know? You're all over the news, Eleanor. | thought, maybe, after what happened, |

could convince my family to accept you. But now?" His voice cracked with disdain. "There is no us. We're done.

Don't callagain."

The call ended with a sharp beep.

Eleanor stared at her screen, disbelief paralyzing her. She dialed his number again. Again. And again. Each time,

the line was dead.

Her last tether to normalcy had snapped.

She curled up in the darkest corner of her room and sobbed until her throat ached and her body felt hollow. Her

stepmother knocked, calling her for dinner, but she ignored it. The world outside her door no longer felt real.

Hunger gnawed at her, but the pain in her heart outweighed it.

ok

Late into the night, unable to bear the emptiness any longer, she decided to sneak downstairs for something to

eat. Moving quietly, she stepped out of her room, her bare feet cool against the wooden floor.

But just as she reached the staircase, a familiar voice made her freeze. "James!"

She barely breathed as she turned her head towards her father's study. Though faint, she would never mistake

his voice. Ten years together... she knew it better than her own.

A hopeful thought flickered in her mind. "Maybe he had cback, regretted his words, wanted to see her."

But as she took a few steps forward, her world cracked apart.

"You did well, James," cJeanne's voice. "She believes you're still abroad while you're actively helping us. As

expected of my nephew. Now, we just have to kill her, and you can marry Jennifer without any obstacles."

Eleanor's heart stopped.

"Don't be hasty," her father's voice cut in. "So far, everything has gone according to plan. We can't make a

mistake at this final stage. We have to make it look like a suicide. Kidnapped, raped, and now pregnant... the

perfect reason to take her own life."

Jennifer laughed darkly. "I wanted to kill that bitch long ago. Do you know how exhausting it was to pretend to be

a sweet sister?"

Eleanor clamped a hand over her mouth, her breath shaking.

"You think it was easy for me?" her father continued. "Her mother left everything to her. If she had died before

twenty, her inheritance would have gone to the church. | had to wait. But once she turned twenty, | tricked her

into signing everything over. She thought she was just filling out company paperwork. Now, if she dies, as her

mother's legal husband, | inherit it all."

"Dad, enough history," Jennifer snapped. "We need to discuss how to kill her."

"I plan to serve her fish tomorrow," Jeanne said. "She already can't stomach it. If she weakens further and James

ignores her calls, she'll lock herself in her room again. Tomorrow night, we'll enter, bind her with soft cloth to

avoid bruises, and cut her wrists. It will look like a suicide."

Eleanor's body trembled violently.

James scoffed. "There are too many loopholes. What about the maids..."

Eleanor didn't wait to hear the rest. Drenched in cold sweat, she turned and fled back to her room, locking the

door behind her. Her heart pounded so loudly she feared they would hear it.

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