Unease stirred in my chest, but I got up and followed her toward the side wing. I had just rounded the corner of the corridor when a familiar voice rang out behind me, dripping with satisfaction.
"So you're pregnant? Looks like I underestimated you, Lois Simmons."
I turned. Selene's eyes gleamed with the certainty of someone holding every card. She sauntered closer, her voice so thick with mockery it practically dripped from her lips. "Do you know why you never had a child these past five years?"
I looked at her. Said nothing. She didn't need me to respond. She kept going, and every word was a poisoned blade driven straight into my heart.
"Because I told Samuel that your child would compromise his position in Sicily's jewelry world. That it would become his weakness, cost him his best opportunities for expansion."
"Those herbal supplements he handed you every single day, the ones he made sure you took on schedule to 'nourish your blood'? They were contraceptives. He destroyed your chance at motherhood with his own hands. Tell me, isn't that hilarious?"