Elena’s POV

For days, I had been watching Stella closely, trying to find a pattern, a slip, anything that might reveal the truth.

My suspicions had grown stronger with each passing hour. The child she claimed to have lost—was it truly Damien’s? Something about her behavior told me otherwise.

I had even asked Mom, hoping she might know more about the men who had been around Stella in the past months.

But her information had been frustratingly vague. She had mentioned names, ...