"Serene..." Damien called my name, his eyes red, "Do not ever say that word abort before me. You and your child is equally important to me. I'll not let you do anything foolish, okay?"

Equally important?

How come?

The child I was carrying was his, his own blood while the child Lia was carrying belonged to a vampire hunter, yet in his eyes they both were equal.

Did he expect me to be happier for considering my child as important as to some bastard child who was not even his?

However, before I could react or say something in my child's defense, Damien's mother, Emily walked out of her mansion.

A smirk appeared on her face as soon as her gaze landed at me. Her lips twisted as she barked, "What the hell is this slut doing at home?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Damien. Do not bring your bitches at our house."

"Mom please..." Damien protested, "I love Serene. So, be polite when talking to her."

"Lia is pregnant with your child. Bearing the hier to our lineage and you dare speak for your slut?"

"I feel so sorry for Lia who has to tolerate this woman throughout this time." Emily said, looking pitifuly at Lia who quickly made a pitiful face, saying, "It's okay, Emily. For the sake of my child's happiness and my love for Damien, I can bear anything."

"You shameless filthy!" Emily turned to me, "If there was another woman, she would have walked away already. But, you have to be the third wheel in my son and daughter-in-law's life."

Daughter-in-law? Lia?

They hadn't taken the eternal vow yet and I was Damien's blood bound. Everyone in our clan knew it.

"And what is that you are holding in your hands so tightly?" She narrowed her eyes looking down at my hands.

Damien and Lia's face instantly turned pale as she walked up to me.

I put my hands behind, instinctively protecting the paternity test reports. But, Emily twisted my elbow and snatched the report from my hand.

I saw her eyes frowning and her face turning pale as she finally read the report.

"Y-You are pregnant?"

Though the question was directed at me. But, she turned to look at Damien who was already frozen at his place.

"You got both Lia and Serene pregnant?" She asked, this time her fury was at her own son.

Damien remained silent. He seemed panicking. Just then a voice echoed from behind.

"Serene got laid with one of the servant and got pregnant. The child in her womb is not Damien's." Lia said, "She is carrying a bastard."

Blood ran cold in my head. I watched Lia pointing her finger at my womb, calling my precious baby a bastard.

I could not hold myself anymore. I walked forward. I gave a short glance to Damien who didn't seem affected by Lia's words. Then, I turned to Lia and a voice echoed very loud.

THWACK!

I slapped Lia.

I slapped her for calling my child a bastard.

I slapped her for snatching my child's right.

I slapped her for framing me, calling me slut.

However, my hands were immediately grabbed by Emily.

"You slut!" She barked, "How dare you hurt my daughter-in-law? She is pregnant with our heir."

"You dare cheat on my son and now stand here hurting his child's mother?" She yelled before gesturing to her guards.

"Hold her tight and keep slapping her until she realises what she has done right now." She commanded and soon two of her guards held my hands from either side and one came in front.

I saw Damien hastening himself to come to my side. But, a scream tore from Lia's throat.

"Damien..." She screamed, "My stomach is aching. My baby... My baby?"

Damien frowned. He immediately turned to Lia's side. Grabbing her in his hands, he picked her up.

He looked at me, his eyes laced with guilt and pity. He then turned to Emily as he said, "Mom, please don't do anything to Serene. Let me come back and explain everything to you. Serene is innocent. Please don't hurt her."

With that meaningless explanation, he turned to leave with Lia, leaving me at the mercy of Emily and her three strong guards.

Before walking past me, he had stopped for a second and said, "Don't be scared, Serene. I'll come back for you."

Neither did I expect him to actually come back for me, not after he betrayed me so bad, but he really didn't return.

Not for me. Not for his unborn child.

I was beaten, abused and spit on by the three guards by my so called mother-in-law.

In the end, she stepped on my fingers, crushing them with her heels, she said, "You should feel lucky that my son still feel pity on you or else I would have these men sleep with you the way you slept with the servant and shame our family."

Her words cutting deep through my heart. But, before I could defend myself the world turned dark to me. I fainted.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in the ward of a recovery vault of our clan. Damien stood by my side, pouring fresh blood in a glass.

"You are awake?" He said excitedly. "You must be thirsty. Come take this."

He pushed the glass towards me. But, I brushed it off.

"I don't need your help, Damien." I said, my voice cold, "Go back to Lia. She needs you more."

"Serene..." He whispered my name, his words carried pain and regret. But, I did not care.

"Are you still upset with me?" He stroked my hair. "I'm sorry, I got a little late."

"But, I have punished those guards. They will soon be banished from the Clan and my mom, well, she can't hurt you anymore. I can vouch my life for that." He quickly explained.

"You let them call our child a bastard!" I spat, "Never did once you tried to explain your mother when Lia accused me of... incest."

"You know I can't do this, Serene." He protested, "If the High Court knows, I got two women pregnant, I have to step down from the race of becoming High Lord. Do you want me to step down?"

"Then ask Lia to find someone else to call him her child's Dad." I muttered.

"That's enough, Serene." He shut me down, "We have already talked about it. It can't be changed."

"Then there is no need of discussion. You can leave now." I said, tossing my head on other side.

But, he did not leave. Instead, he held my hands softly and said, "It's just the matter of a few months, Serene. Once Lia gives birth to the child, she will take the child and leave the House to go live with one of her human friend."

"And the Eternal Vow, I'm just going to announce it with Lia. But, I won't take a vow with her. Once she gives birth and leaves the Clan, I'll announce you my blood-bound and accept our child. Then, I'll take the Eternal Vow with you, not Lia."

"Till then you will let everyone call our baby a bastard? Me... a slut?" I asked, looking straight into his eyes, trying to see if he still had the love for me in them as he claimed.

"I also have a plan for this." He said while pulling me in his embrace. "I'll not let anyone hurt you, Serene. Not anymore."

And the plan he had thought of was– was locking me up in a room not spacious than a washroom of our master bedroom.

He imprisoned me in the room that he called my safe place, forbidden everyone to go near that room.

He did not want anyone to see my baby bump when it appears. It was as if he was hiding my whole existence in the Clan.

He was right when he said no one could hurt me anymore, not even his Mom.

But, he did not say he was caging me up like a bird.

The "safe place" Damien promised became a tomb of silence. The room was a windowless box at the end of the north wing, smelling of damp stone and the metallic tang of the blood bags he left for me every three days.

In the beginning, he visited every night. He would stroke my swollen belly and whisper about the future—about the day he would become High Lord and finally bring me out into the light. But as the months bled into one another, his visits grew shorter, then rarer, until they ceased altogether.

The clan’s bells chimed frequently, echoing through the vents. Each ring signaled a celebration I wasn’t invited to. Through the thin walls, I heard the servants gossiping in the hallway.

"Lord Damien took Lady Lia to the Whispering Woods today," one giggled. "He carried her over the stream so she wouldn't tire her feet. He’s so devoted to her and the heir."

"The heir," I whispered to the dark walls, clutching my stomach. My baby kicked, a sharp, rhythmic reminder of the life Damien was hiding like a shameful secret.

To the world, Lia was the glowing mother-to-be of the next High Lord. I was just a ghost in the masonry.

One night as Damien walked in my room, he whispered a few comforting words like always, I remained silent.

After a few more words, he looked into my eyes and asked, "Serene, are you still upset with me?"

My nails dug in the bedsheet listening to his complain that felt like another mockery. But, I did not cry or argue to him. Instead, I simply replied,

"No, the arrangements you have made for me is more than enough I could ever expect."

He sensed the sarcasm in my tone and immediately pulled me in his arms.

"Serene, I'm sorry. My life is Lia's debt. I could not ignore her." He said. "I promise, everything will be fine in next few weeks."

"Our Clan's alchemist, they will know Lia's child is hybrid. We can't let her deliver her child in our vault."

"So, I'm taking her to somewhere else. A safe place where she can deliver her child safely. After, I come back, I'll take you to the High Court and announce you my blood bound."

"Everything will be okay then, Serene. Just hang in a few more weeks." He said, his eyes shining brightly in hope. However, I could not feel the same excitement as him.

"So, you are leaving?" I asked, my lips trembled despite trying to suppress it so hard.

A moment of hesitation flickered through his eyes. His gaze shifted down to fix at my belly and guilt consumed him instantly.

"You are also in the third trimester." He stated, "If you want... I'll not go."

"I'll stay by your side, Serene. I'll send someone else on my behalf. I can't leave you in this situation."

"It's okay, Damien." I said, "You should go. I don't want you to stay with me and worry about Lia."

The truth was I no longer care whether he stayed beside me or not. His existence... it didn't matter to me anymore.

He had been almost invisible for seven months of pregnancy that I was accustomed to not see him around me.

A smile appeared on his lips.

"You are always so understanding and brave, Serene. That's why I love you so much."

He leaned closer to me. While stroking my hair, he leaned his lips close to my cheeks to place a kiss. But, I turned my face away. His kiss landed on my hair instead.

His eyebrows tilted. But, he said nothing. He stood up and walked up to the door. He paused at the door way, turned back and said,

"After I come back, I'll make up for everything, Serene. Just wait for me."

After declaring these words, he left.

But, what he didn't know was that it was going to be our last farewell. That, I had other plans in my mind.

He wasn't going to see me when he returned.

After he left, I grabbed my phone and saw the text from my brother. "We are coming to find you, sister."

"Come fast."

I typed the words and send the reply.

Damien didn't know that a few men reached out to me through social media. They claimed to be sirened by the same vampire who birthed me. Though half, but they were my brothers and want me in their family.

For the first time in my life, I was going to have a family. A family that would not be shameful of accepting me in public.