Elena’s POV

The announcement did not merely ripple through the dining hall—it detonated.

For a moment after Old Master Hayes declared that Stella was pregnant, the room seemed suspended in stunned delight. Congratulations overlapped. Laughter rose. Glasses were lifted. Stella stood beside Damien like a woman already crowned.

And I...

I did not remember deciding to move.

My hand tightened around my porcelain bowl, and before I realized it, I had slammed it back onto the table. The force ...