Chapter 31 The unexpected offer

The hallway felt impossibly small as Tina stalked towards me. Her disdainful smirk sent a fresh wave of fear slithering down my spine. "Oh, it's you again," she drawled with mockery, "Noel's so-called fiancée."

I flinched, backing away instinctively.

"I don't know what Noel ever saw in you," she continued. "You're nothing but a weak, pathetic human."

I stepped back further. Each step back felt heavy, laden with the fear for myself and the tiny life nestled within me. My hands instinctively found my stomach, a small shield against whatever hostility Tina might unleash.

"Why are you here anyway?" Tina's question snapped me back to the present. She closed in on me, her movements fluid and calculated. Her emerald eyes gleamed with an unnerving intensity, zeroing in on my trembling hands, which were still protectively cradling my abdomen. The disdain on her face morphed into something else entirely. Surprise.

"You're pregnant!" The words burst out of her, her eyebrows shooting up in astoni