Leah’s face twisted, the last vestiges of restraint slipping away like a mask that had grown too heavy to wear.
“If you know what’s best for you,” she said coldly, every word sharpened with spite, “you will leave my son. Take your bastard with you and disappear.”
The word sliced through the air.
Bastard.
It hung there, ugly and deliberate.
Eve didn’t flinch.
Instead, she laughed.
Not nervously.
Not defensively.
She laughed with a quiet, almost amused calm that made Leah’s eyes narrow in confusion.
“What,” Leah snapped, “is funny?”
Eve’s fingers spread a little more over her bump, thumb stroking absently. “My child,” she said evenly, “only needs their father’s acceptance.”
Leah scoffed, folding her arms. “And you think you have that?”
Eve’s smile softened, not with weakness, bu
