When he looked at Lana, he finally noticed it.
Her eyes.
They were swollen. Red. The faint traces of dried tears still clung to the corners.
His chest tightened.
She wasn't just drunk.
She was grieving.
She was mourning their unborn child.
The realization hit him like a punch.
How foolish of you, Marcus! You should be apologizing, yet you accused her instead? Didn't you wait for her to apologize before?
His jaw clenched as guilt flooded his veins. He almost wanted to punch himself.
"I… I'm so sorry, Lana." he said.
The words came out rough. Unpracticed. Fragile.
But Lana didn't respond.
She just stared at him.
There was no softness left in her gaze.
Only hatred.
The alcohol stripped away the mask she had worn all day. The polite smiles. The controlled tone. The indifference.
Now—
Everything was exposed.
All her anger.
All her resentment.
All her pain.
Marcus felt a chill run down his spine.
Her eyes were piercing.
Sharp enough to cut.
He had never seen her like this before.
In his memories, Lana was always warm. Someone who searched for positivity even in the darkest situations. Someone who smiled even when she was hurting. A girl who embodied sunshine itself.
She used to look at him like he was her entire world.
And that warmth—
That warmth had once melted his cold heart without him even realizing it.
But now?
Now her heart looked colder than his had ever been.
And for the first time—
Marcus was afraid.
There was no point pretending anymore.
The air between them was already shattered.
Marcus suddenly dropped to his knees in front of her.
The proud, untouchable Marcus Delacuesta—kneeling.
"I… I'm so sorry… I didn't know you were pregnant, Lana…" he muttered, his voice shaking.
But even as the words left his mouth, his thoughts were in chaos.
You idiot! What are you saying? Just apologize! Why would you say that instead? You sound like you'd do it again if she wasn't pregnant that time…
His fingers dug into his own palms.
He wasn't used to apologizing. He had never needed to. People apologized to him. The world adjusted for him.
But now—
He was failing even at this.
Lana's body trembled.
Her mind froze on one sentence.
I didn't know you were pregnant.
Her eyes widened.
What?
Her breathing became uneven.
He… also remembers?
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
The strong facade she had been holding onto cracked instantly.
"You knew?" Her voice came out broken. Fragile. "You knew?"
Marcus kept bowing his head.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
That was all he said.
Over and over.
But it sounded empty.
Forced.
Like a man trying to fix a collapsing building with bare hands.
Lana's lips began to shake.
Then—
She laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The sound was sharp. Wild. Echoing against the high ceiling of the mansion.
"You knew?" she repeated between laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA! And you still acted like you didn't?! You didn't even plan on apologizing?!"
Her eyes were red, bloodshot, filled with fury and disbelief.
"MARCUS! YOU KILLED OUR BABY!"
Her scream tore through the silence.
It wasn't just anger.
It was grief.
Raw. Unfiltered. Devastating.
Her knees gave out beneath her.
She collapsed onto the floor, her hands clutching her hair as hysterical laughter poured out of her.
It wasn't normal laughter.
It was the kind that comes when a heart completely breaks.
The laugh of a mother who lost her child before she could even hold it.
Before she could feel tiny fingers wrap around hers.
Before she could hear a single cry.
And the one who caused it—
Was the father of that child.
The man she loved.
The man she sacrificed everything for.
The man she devoted her entire life to.
Marcus stared at her, frozen.
He had never seen pain take shape like this before.
Who would even dare speak about her pain?
Who could measure it?
Who could possibly understand what it feels like to lose your child—
Because of the person you trusted most?
Marcus watched her fall apart in front of him, and something inside his chest shattered.
The image he had always known—Lana, the strong woman who loved him unconditionally—crumbled before his eyes.
There was no warmth left.
No patience.
No gentle smile.
All that remained was pain.
Raw. Ugly. Unbearable.
"I'm sorry."
It was the only thing he could say.
The only words his broken mind could form.
Lana slowly lifted her head and looked at him.
Her eyes were hollow.
"You're sorry?" she whispered.
Then her voice rose, trembling.
"For what? For choosing to stay with me and treating me coldly when you could've just filed for divorce and ended it all?"
Each word was sharp.
"For giving me hope and pretending that you loved me too?"
Her fingers pressed against her chest.
"For betraying my loyalty? For five years of hellish torture when you could've ended it by simply making me sign the divorce papers?"
Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop.
"Or is it for driving me into my deepest hell?"
She laughed again—broken, unstable.
"HAHAHAHA… or perhaps…"
Her gaze darkened.
"For killing me?"
The room felt suffocating.
"For killing our child?"
Tears streamed down her face, but her eyes never left his.
"What?" she demanded, her voice barely holding together. "What are you sorry for?"
The question echoed between them.
Marcus stayed silent.
Because there was no answer.
No explanation.
No excuse that could ever make this make sense.
Every choice he made.
Every hesitation.
Every selfish decision.
It all led here.
To this woman kneeling on the floor.
To this unbearable truth.
And for the first time in his life—
Marcus Delacuesta had nothing to say.
"WHYYYY?!!! IF YOU TRULY LOVE SERENA, WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DIVORCE ME?!" she screamed.
Her voice echoed violently through the mansion, shaking the silence that had been suffocating them.
"You know it!" she continued, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "I only needed money for our company! If you divorced me, I could've left with half of your assets… Isn't that a cheap price to pay if you truly loved her?!"
Her laughter cracked into a sob.
"Then WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?!"
Her fingers trembled as she pointed at him.
"All I did was love you! I didn't ask for anything in return! I didn't even question you! I didn't blame you—even though I was also a victim in this arranged marriage!"
Her voice broke completely now, but the words kept coming.
"I didn't even want to marry anyone! I just wanted to be a fashion designer! I wanted to chase my dreams!"
Her shoulders shook.
"But I threw all of that away for you! I threw my future away for my father—and for you!"
Her glare pierced him, filled with years of buried pain.
"And when I asked you to send me abroad so I could study—so you and Serena could be happy together while I kept a blind eye to everything—what did you say?"
Her lips trembled.
"You rejected it."
Silence.
"So… why?" she whispered, her voice losing its strength.
"Why are you acting like all of this is my fault?"
Her tears streamed endlessly down her face.
"I could've raised our child alone if you had just let me go… I didn't need you! I would've endured it! So why? Why did you kill me? Why did you kill the happiness I finally found?"
Her words weren't accusations anymore.
They were questions.
Genuine.
Desperate.
She truly wanted to understand.
Why?
Marcus stood there, his entire body frozen.
His throat tightened.
There were a thousand thoughts in his head—but none of them could undo what he had done.
None of them could bring their child back.
None of them could erase the blood on the floor.
"I love you, Lana."
It was the only truth he had left.
The only thing that felt real.
But to Lana—
Hearing those words for the first time felt disgusting.
Cruel.
Twisted.
Now you say that?
Now?
Her stomach churned.
Without another word, she turned and ran.
Out of the mansion.
Out of that suffocating place filled with memories.
She grabbed her car keys with shaking hands and drove.
She didn't know where she was going.
The road blurred before her tear-filled eyes as the engine roared into the night.
She just needed to get away.
Away from him.
Away from those words.
Away from a love that came far too late.