Chapter 1My Baby Told Me to Marry a Villain

I was Elara, the false heiress of the Montgomery family.

To clear the path for their real daughter to marry her true love, my adoptive family forced me into an arranged marriage.

My groom was her infamous, ruthless fiancé, Dominic Thorne.

On my wedding day, everyone pitied me. But my only concern was the secret life growing inside me.

Just as Father Michael asked if I would take him as my husband, I heard a voice from within my womb.

"Mom, say yes! Do it now, or your self-righteous sister wins!"

"You think you are entering hell. But Dominic has loved you in secret for ten years!"

"Your sweet, caring true love is a fraud. He is marrying Seraphina Montgomery only to steal the family fortune."

"Say yes. Or tonight, both of us will be staged as an accident and drowned in the river."

I snapped my head up and stared at the man everyone called ruthless and cold.

I stood beneath the harsh glare of the spotlights. Father Michael's solemn vows hummed in my ears.

"Miss Elara, do you take Mr. Dominic Thorne to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward..."

Did I? My hand moved instinctively to my stomach, where a three-month-old life pulsed softly. My baby. Jasper's and mine.

For him, I had to refuse. I couldn't chain myself to that tyrant, Dominic, and drag us both into ruin.

Below the stage, my gentle Jasper Hayes watched me with a look that carved through my heart. Beside him, my so-called sister Seraphina held his arm with quiet possession, a smile of pure victory already curving her lips.

I drew a slow breath, poised to voice that single, defiant word: No.

"Mom! Have you lost your mind?! Just say 'I do'!"

A tiny, urgent voice detonated inside my skull.

My body stiffened. I instinctively scanned my surroundings.

Who was speaking?

"Stop searching! It's me, the best kid you'll ever have, right here in your belly!"

"Oh my God, you're not seriously thinking of backing out for that scumbag down there, are you? He was with Seraphina in the green room this morning. He said once you marry Dominic, that living nightmare, you'll be driven insane within three months. Then he'd sweep in like a hero, 'rescue' you, and 'deal with' you and your baby for good."

What?

My mind went blank. An icy hand seemed to clamp around my heart, choking off my air.

Jasper...wants to 'deal with' us? No. That's impossible. He loves me. He promised to wait, to find a way to save me from this.

"Love-struck idiot, you're unbelievable! Mom, open your eyes! If he loved you, would he have knocked up Seraphina? Would he have shoved you into this marriage with Dominic?"

"Oh, wait. My bad. Seraphina's baby...isn't even his."

My head jerked up. My gaze locked onto the 'perfect couple' in the front row.

Seraphina was pregnant too. With that child, she had finally secured her engagement to Jasper. And I, the false heiress who had stolen her place for eighteen years, was nothing but a peace offering from the Montgomerys to the Thornes, neatly packaged and delivered.

"Her baby? It belongs to your dear brother, Arthur Montgomery. Tsk, what a mess. A sister pregnant by her own brother, then marrying some outside fling? Your family certainly knows how to have a good time."

The sheer volume of revelations stunned me.

How could this be? It was utterly absurd!

"And there's more! You think you're marrying hell, but this is heaven. The man before you, Dominic, has loved you secretly for ten years. Since high school. Every gift you ever gave Jasper, he threw in the trash. And every time, that poor fool Dominic would retrieve them and cherish each one like a treasure."

"Say yes, now. If you hesitate any longer, Jasper will activate his backup plan. He has already arranged everything. Tonight, he will stage an accident to ensure both of us end up dead at the bottom of the river. Then he will not only claim compensation from the Thornes but also smoothly take over the Montgomery family. He plans to kill three birds with one stone."

An icy dread shot from my feet to the crown of my head. I felt all the blood in my veins turn to ice.

My supposed great love was nothing but a carefully laid trap. And the abyss I feared was, in fact, my only path to survival.

Father Michael, seeing my prolonged silence, repeated. "Miss Elara, will you-"

"Wait." A clear, cold voice cut through his words.

It was Dominic. The man who had not spoken a single word since the ceremony began finally turned his head to look at me.

His features were carved from ice, devoid of all warmth. Yet in those unfathomably dark eyes, I thought I caught a flicker of something... nervousness?

"If you don't want this, you can leave right now," he said.

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Jasper's fists clenched instantly, and Seraphina's smile froze on her face.

I saw Jasper's lips form the silent command: Elara, refuse him.

"Mom! Don't buy his act! Walk out today, and they'll fish us out of the river tomorrow. He's banking on you being too afraid of a public scene to actually do it!"

I closed my eyes. When I opened them, all the despair and grief had been forged into icy hatred.

I met Dominic's gaze, then, under the shocked stares of everyone present, I spoke each word, clear as a bell.

"I do."