Chapter 2
Zoe moved in first thing in the morning.
I was in the darkroom developing film.
I love analog photography. In this cold, loveless house, these images are the only traces of myself I can leave behind.
They don’t need responses–just light and time to quietly come to life.
Zoe walked over, one hand cradling her belly, the other covering her nose.
‘God, what’s that chemical smell?” She wrinkled her face in fake coughing. “I can’t handle this right now. Why don’t we just throw all this stuff out? It’s so harsh.”
I pulled off my gloves and looked at her quietly.
Film is extremely light–sensitive–once exposed to regular light, it gets completely ruined. That’s why developing has
to happen in a room that only allows specific safe lighting.
The darkroom is located in an abandoned basement on the lower level of the villa, and hardly anyone ever sets foot
here.
She squinted at me, then seemed to realize something.
‘Oh–Charlotte? Sorry, I didn’t recognize you.”
‘I thought you were some maintenance guy fixing equipment down here.”
Zoe’s gaze wandered around the darkroom. “But if those photos are yours, I guess you can’t just rip them up, right?”
‘I’ll handle it,” I said flatly.
Mason stood beside her, one hand on her waist, already frowning.
‘You’re pregnant. If there’s something you don’t like, you don’t need to deal with it yourself.”
‘Charlotte, they’re just photos–no point keeping them around. Throw them all out and clean up this basement.”
I glanced down at the photo paper I’d just finished fixing, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly.
He expected me to hesitate, argue back, or at least go silent.
But I just nodded. “Fine. I’ll have someone shut down the darkroom later.”
Mason looked stunned. My calm response caught him completely off guard.
13:45
Hie Dival’s Rabuin Mu Rellu whil
Chapter 2
In that moment, I saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
“I’ll have the darkroom equipment moved to the Sonoma house,” his voice softened. “I know this is your hobby. You’ve put a lot of time into it.”
I really did love those photographs.
They were an outlet for my soul, a way to express all the emotions I kept buried in this house through different images.
But now, none of that mattered anymore.
“Whatever you think is best,” I said.
I checked my phone–thirty minutes until my meeting with the private investigator.
I nodded politely.
“Excuse me.”
As I walked past Mason, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.
Zoe stared at him, clearly startled and a little annoyed.
He quickly let go.
“Come back early,” he said. “I need to talk to you about something.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
The moment I left the Anderson estate, I could finally breathe again.
Even if just for a little while.
We met at a downtown café–a place I used to frequent in college.
The owner saw me and froze for a few seconds.
I guess I no longer looked like the girl she remembered.
Ever since marrying Mason, I’d stopped truly “living.”
His parents would never deign to visit such an “ordinary” place.
The private investigator slid a file across to me.
The ultrasound showed–Zoe was about four months pregnant.
13:43
His Rival’s Baby in My Belly While He’s Babysitting His Pregnant Ext
1.19%
Chapter 2
“This… doesn’t line up with Mr. Mason’s timeline.”
Which meant the child in Zoe’s belly–wasn’t his at all.
If he knew, would he be disgusted?
Or would he accept any child of Zoe’s, biological or not?
I looked up at the private investigator.
“If I don’t divorce him, the child in my womb still has inheritance rights, right?”
“Of course,” he answered without hesitation.
I gently placed my hand on my lower abdomen.
“What if… this child isn’t his either?”
He blinked, clearly not processing.
“Uh… legally speaking, as long as you’re still married, he’d have parental obligations. But-”
I waved him off, cutting him short.
If Mason expected me to help him raise Zoe’s child….
Then why couldn’t he raise a child that wasn’t biologically his either?
13:45
