The woman — Mark’s mother — stopped in front of us, her expensive perfume filling the air. Her gaze swept over me with pure disgust, then moved to the room where Lily was sleeping.
“So this is the woman,” she said icily, not even looking at Mark. “And the child… she really is your blood?”
Mark stepped protectively in front of me. “Yes, Mother. And I’m not leaving them again.”
She laughed bitterly. “You think you can just bring this trash back into our family? After everything we sacrificed to keep our name clean?”
My blood ran cold. I wanted to scream, to run, but Lily was still inside depending on me. Mark turned to me, his eyes burning with a mix of love and desperation.
“Sarah, say yes right now. Marry me. Let me protect you both from her and from your own family’s lies.”
His mother stepped closer, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. “If you agree, girl, you’ll live like a queen. But if you refuse… I will destroy you. I have evidence of what your father did years ago — the real reason we forced Mark to abandon you. One word from me and you’ll lose everything, including that sick little girl.”
Tears streamed down my face as I looked from Mark to his mother. My heart was torn between fear and a strange, desperate hope. After five years of suffering alone, the man I once loved was offering me everything… but at what price?
In the end, with Lily’s peaceful breathing echoing from the room, I whispered the words that would change our lives forever:
“…Yes. I’ll do it.”
But as Mark pulled me into his arms, I couldn’t shake the terrifying feeling that I had just stepped into a much darker cage than the one I was trying to escape.
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