Violet's POV
I sat alone on the edge of my bed long after the door had closed behind Mateo, the silence of the solar pressing down on me like a physical weight. My hands were still trembling slightly as I stared at the floor, the faint red lines on my arm from Mark's claws already beginning to fade. But the fear he had planted in me refused to fade with them.
Pregnant. The word kept echoing in my mind, louder with every passing second.
How had Mark found out?
I had been so careful. The only people who knew besides myself were the old healer and the young maid. No one else had been in the room when the diagnosis was made. I had sworn the maid to secrecy on the Moon Goddess herself. The healer had been discreet, professional, bound by her oath.
And yet Mark knew. Someone had sold me out.
