The silence after my words was thick and suffocating. Like smoke filling every corner of the hospital room. I saw the shocked expressions and the way every pair of eyes widened and locked on me. That was the power of truth. Especially the kind of truth nobody wanted to hear but could never un-hear once it left your lips. "I am still legally married to your precious daughter." I repeated again. And the old man’s face nearly cracked apart. His knuckles whitened against the cane, his lips trembling as if he had been slapped across the face. The mighty patriarch of the Black family suddenly looked like a weak, brittle skeleton of a man staring at his worst nightmare. After all these years of bowing, scraping and pretending to be grateful for scraps while he lorded over me like a god, I finally had him cornered. Finally, I wasn’t the beggar at the table, I was the man with the blade at his throat. "Y...You..." he stammered, his voice breaking as his eyes turned bloodshot. He wanted to hit me. I could see it. He wanted to raise that cane and break it across my skull. Not when I had just reminded him of the one truth he could never erase. His daughter, my wife and Kendrick’s mother. As long as we were still legally married, I was untouchable. "You think you can cast me out?" I let out a sharp laugh, the kind that made Raina flinch where she stood clutching her chest. "You think you can write me out of this family like a bad investment? No, Father. That isn’t how the law works. That isn’t how marriage works" I said with a smirk. "Shut your damn mouth!" the old man roared, the veins in his neck bulging as his cane shook violently. "You dare use my daughter’s name and honor after everything you’ve done?!" he asked me aggressively. I leaned forward, my smirk widening. "Her honor? Don’t make me laugh. You speak of honor when you’ve been keeping me here all these years like a trained dog, throwing scraps while I watched your precious grandson take everything that should have been mine? You speak of honor when your daughter never had the courage to divorce me after her return? No, old man, I am still here. Still tied to this family and if you dare throw me out, the world will know. Every newspaper and every gossip column will know the truth about your daughter. Do you want to see the Black name dragged through filth? Do you want your precious empire reduced to ashes under scandal?" I asked him. I could see his rage faltering, giving way to fear. Fear of scandal and shame. Fear of headlines that would shred the carefully built legacy he worshiped more than anything else. "You bastard," he spat, his voice hoarse now. "You think you can threaten me?" he asked me, his momentum was clearly reduced. "I don’t think, Father," I said coolly, straightening my back, letting my voice drip with calm authority. "I know. You can scream, you can curse and strike me with that cane until your frail old body collapses. But it won’t change the fact that I am your son-in-law legally, unless your daughter herself decides otherwise." I responded to him. His hand trembled so hard on the cane I thought he would collapse and for a moment, I almost wished he would. Then his eyes snapped to Kendrick and I knew what he was thinking. The most update n0vels are published on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝕟𝕖𝕥 "She will divorce you," he hissed, his words low and dangerous. "I will drag her myself if I must. But I swear to you, Raymond, she will sign those papers. Your last hold on this family will end. You hear me? End!" he roared angrily. I chuckled, a dark rumble deep in my chest. "We’ll see, won’t we?" I said calmly while smiling at him. The old man’s breathing grew heavier and for a second, I thought he might keel over from a heart attack right there. Kendrick stepped forward quickly, his voice calm but sharp. "Grandfather, that’s enough.You need to rest before you collapse." he said calmly while supporting him. The old man’s glare tore at me one last time before he turned away, his cane striking the floor in furious cracks as he stormed out of the room. The air shifted with his absence, but the tension didn’t lift. Kendrick just stared at me with his cold eyes His eyes met mine across the room, cold and steady. Those eyes were his mother’s, but sharper and colder. "You told him, didn’t you?" I said, my lips twisting into a mocking smile. "You told Grandfather about me and Celeste. Don’t bother denying it. You’re the only one who knew enough to destroy me." I said without beating around the bush. Kendrick’s jaw clenched, but his voice was calm. "Someone had to tell him the truth." "The truth?" I sneered. "The truth is that I am your father. Nothing you do, nothing you say, can change that fact." I replied him, For a heartbeat, silence stretched between us and then Kendrick’s lips curved into the faintest smirk, one that chilled me. "I wish I could," he said coldly. "I wish I could erase the fact that you’re my father... There is no day I don’t wish for it." he said with a disgusted expression. My fists clenched, my jaw tightening as he turned and walked out of the room without looking back. My chest burned with fury, but before I could chase after him, a soft voice trembled from the bed. Her tear-streaked face tilted toward me, her hands pressed protectively over her stomach. "What about me?" she whispered, her voice fragile, cracking. "What happens to me now? To us? You said you would take care of me. You said I was different. But if you’re still married to Kendrick’s mother... what does that make me?" she asked with a trembling voice. I turned toward her slowly, forcing the anger off my face and softening my expression. She needed reassurance now, not the truth. "Celeste, you will be taken care of. The child in your stomach will be taken care of as well. I won’t abandon you... I’ll handle this." I said to her softly. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but desperation hardened her tone. "Handle it? No... I don’t want to be hidden, Raymond. I don’t want to be your dirty secret. I want you to divorce her now and marry me. Make me the true wife, the true mother of your heir. Do it now." Her words grated against me, though I kept my face calm. She didn’t understand the game. She didn’t understand the timing, the danger, the scandal. She thought it was as simple as tearing one paper and signing another. If I didn’t need her family’s resources, I would have discarded her as well. "Celeste..." I said gently, placing a hand over hers. "You must trust me. Divorce isn’t done in a day, these things take time. You will have your place by my side, but for now, you must be patient." "Patient?" she snapped suddenly, her eyes flashing with wild anger. "Watching you with that old hag, Sameen, pretending to be the loyal husband when you were with me all along! Don’t you dare tell me to wait, what will happen to my family name?!" she questioned me angrily. The voice came from Raina. Before I could react, she stormed across the room and slapped Celeste so hard the sound cracked through the air. Celeste gasped, her head snapping to the side as tears streamed down her face again. "How dare you?" Raina’s voice shook with rage, her entire body trembling. "You destroy my family, you betray me as my so-called best friend, and now you dare demand to replace my mother?!" She turned to me then, her eyes blazing through her tears. "And you! What about her? What about my mother? What do you plan to do with her if you marry this snake? Throw her away like trash after everything she sacrificed for you?!" she asked me angrily. Her words stung sharper than I expected. Memories flashed in my mind, the young woman who trapped me with pregnancy, the woman who clung to me like a lifeline, the woman I tolerated because I thought she was my safety. But safety grows old and turns bitter. My lips curled as I stepped forward, my hand shoving Raina hard across the chest. She stumbled back, her body crashing to the floor with a sharp cry. "Your mother is nothing but a greedy bitch who trapped me with pregnancy to keep me tied to her. Do you think I ever truly loved her? No...I tolerated her. I pitied her. I kept her because I was a little fond of her once, but now? Now she’s old and a burden"I spat angrily. Raina’s sob cracked through the air as she clutched at her chest, staring up at me with betrayal and hurt written all over her face. "And Celeste?" I turned, my eyes softening again as I looked down at the girl still clutching her stomach. "She is my type, young and beautiful. Worthy of carrying my child and worthy of being my future wife." I said with a slight smile. Raina’s body shook with fury. She dragged herself to her feet, her face streaked with tears. "I won’t let you," she spat, her voice breaking but fierce. "I won’t let you two get away with this, I swear it! ." she yelled angrily. She spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, her sobs echoing down the corridor. For a long moment, silence settled again. Only the beeping machine beside Celeste’s bed filled the air. My heart pounded with fury, with triumph and something dark I couldn’t name. Finally, I turned back to Celeste, who was still crying, but she leaned into me as I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping my arms around her trembling body. "Don’t cry," I whispered, pressing my lips against her hair. "I will protect you and our child" Her arms wrapped around me weakly and as I held her, my mind was filled with thoughts and schemes. That old man thought he could cast me out, Kendrick thought he could destroy me and Raina thinks she can defy me. Then there is Curtis, who I have never been able to see through or guess his moves. And I still had something that would make them all submit to me.