Chapter 2
Celeste’s POV
As I looked at her, my gaze drifted past her shoulder to the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her.
Beyond the glass lay the garden, where lavender swayed gently in the morning light—a sea of purple, beautiful as a painting.
But it used to be hyacinths.
Five years ago, Kieran had planted that entire bed of hyacinths himself. He said they were my favorite flower, that he wanted every corner of this estate to bloom in colors I loved. When I came back from my mother's funeral a few months ago, they were gone.
"The lavender is blooming," Juniper said, following my gaze. Her lips curved upward. "Beautiful, isn't it? Kieran remembered that I love lavender. He filled the whole garden with it for me."
She drifted into the kitchen, each step landing like a blow.
"Five years, Celeste." She leaned against the counter, tilting her head to study me. "You've been with him for five years, and you still haven't married him."
Her eyes swept to my left hand. "No wedding. No ring. Not even—"
Her hand slid to her belly. "—his child."
My nails dug into my palm.
"I've only been back six months." She stroked the small curve there, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "Look at what I have."
Outside, the lavender rippled in the breeze. The purple was so bright it made my eyes sting.
"He's going to marry me, you know," she continued, her tone light as if discussing the weather. "Before I die. He promised."
My heart clenched. "He wouldn't."
"He wouldn't?" She laughed. "He moved me into the master bedroom. He tore out your flowers and planted mine. He brought me to stand beside him in front of everyone."
She stepped closer, her gaze sharp. "What makes you think he'll stop?"
My hands curled into fists. "You—"
In that instant, Juniper's expression transformed. Her eyes went wide, her body lurched backward, one hand clutching her chest while the other flailed wildly.
"What are you—don't—don't come near me!"
I froze. "I didn't—"
"No!" Her foot caught on a chair leg and she tumbled backward, crashing to the floor.
"Help!" she screamed, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. "Kieran! Help! She pushed me—"
Footsteps thundered down from upstairs. Seconds later, Kieran burst into the kitchen, his face white. He saw Juniper on the ground, and in three strides he was kneeling beside her.
"What happened? Are you hurt? The baby—"
"She pushed me..." Juniper collapsed against him, shaking violently, tears streaming down her face. "I just wanted to talk to her... she got so angry... she pushed me... I fell..."
Kieran's head snapped toward me. Those gray-blue eyes held a coldness I'd never seen before.
"Celeste. What did you do?"
"I didn't touch her." My voice shook. "She's lying, Kieran. I never—"
"She's pregnant!" He rose to his feet, positioning himself between us like a shield. His words cut like poisoned blades. "How could you do something like this?"
"I didn't! She—"
"You're the only one here!" His chest heaved. "If you didn't push her, why is she on the ground?"
"I don't know! She tripped! Kieran, you've known me for five years. You know I would never—"
"Enough."
One word, cold as frost.
He bent to lift Juniper into his arms and strode toward the door without looking back. "Marco. Call the doctor."
Juniper's face was buried in his chest, her shoulders still shaking. But as they passed through the doorway, she glanced back at me over his shoulder. Tear tracks still glistened on her cheeks—but her lips curved into the faintest smile.
Then she pressed her face back into his chest with a pitiful whimper.
I stood alone in the kitchen. Outside, the lavender swayed in the morning breeze, beautiful enough to hurt.
An hour later, the doctor left. I heard Kieran's footsteps approaching down the hall, heavy with exhaustion.
The door swung open. He stood in the frame, backlit, his expression hidden in shadow.
"The doctor says she needs rest. She can't handle any more stress." His voice was flat.
"Kieran, I really didn't—"
"I don't want to hear it." He rubbed his temples as if fighting to control himself. "Just stay away from her, Celeste. Please."
He didn't wait for an answer. The door closed, and his footsteps faded down the corridor.
I sat on the edge of the bed, numb. Five years of trust, shattered in a single morning.
That afternoon, I found her in the garden. Juniper sat on a bench among the lavender, bathed in sunlight like a saint in a Renaissance painting.
When she saw me approach, she didn't flinch or feign fear. She smiled.
"Back to hurt me and my baby?"
"We both know what really happened."
"Do we?" She tilted her head. "Kieran doesn't seem to agree."
I stepped closer. "It doesn't matter. You'll be dead soon anyway. Heart failure—you said it yourself. You won't survive the delivery."
Something flickered across her face. Then she laughed.
"Oh, Celeste." She rose slowly, brushing flower petals from her skirt. "You really do believe everything people tell you."
My heart stuttered. "What do you mean?"
"Heart failure." She rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with contempt. "Do I look like I'm dying to you?"
The world stopped. "You... you're not sick?"
"Those doctors said exactly what I paid them to say." She examined her nails with casual disinterest. "Rare cardiac condition. Terminal. Months to live..."
She looked up, her gaze ice-cold. "Kieran believed every word. Men are so predictable—the harder something is to keep, the more desperate they become to hold onto it."
"You've been lying to him this whole time?"
"So what are you going to do about it?" She moved toward me, all pretense of fragility gone, replaced by naked malice. "Tell him? Expose me?"
She stopped inches away, her smile widening. "Right after what happened this morning?"
My blood ran cold.
"You pushed a pregnant woman, Celeste. A pregnant woman who could drop dead at any moment." She enunciated each word with precision. "Do you really think Kieran will believe a single thing you say now?"
The sickly-sweet scent of lavender flooded my senses, cloying and nauseating.
"Go ahead." She stepped back, slipping that pitiful mask back into place. "Go tell him everything. Let's see who he believes."
