Gabriel's Obsession

Concealed Burdens

The days stretched on in a hollow blur, each one bleeding into the next as Amelia wandered the vast corridors of the mansion, yearning for a presence that never came. It had been three weeks since she had last seen Gabriel. Three weeks of silence, of aching solitude, of waiting for a man who seemed to have all but vanished from her world.

At first, she had clung to her resentment, using it as a shield against the sting of his absence. His public humiliation of her still echoed in her mind, and she had sworn she wouldn't forgive him so easily. But as the days turned into weeks, anger gave way to longing.

She missed him.

She missed his embrace, the warmth of his body beside hers, the way he held her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Even after everything—the hurt, the betrayal—she still craved him.

But Gabriel, it seemed, had far more pressing concerns than making amends. His absence was blamed on business, on the never-ending demands of his work, but Amelia couldn't help but wonder—was it really work that kept him away? Or had he simply lost interest?

The thought gnawed at her, poisoning whatever hope she had left.

Trapped within the mansion's suffocating walls, she felt more isolated than ever. The family treated her like an outsider, watching her every move, waiting for her to slip. She could feel it—that quiet, simmering hostility that lingered in their glances, the unspoken judgment that followed her like a shadow.

So she smiled. She forced herself to pretend. But it was becoming exhausting, wearing this mask of quiet endurance when all she wanted to do was scream.

This wasn't the marriage she had imagined.

Gabriel was no longer the man she had fallen in love with. That realization cut deeper than anything else, leaving her grappling with a truth she wasn't ready to face.

She longed to talk to her mother, to hear the comforting voice that had always been her anchor. But that lifeline felt impossibly far away, severed by the choices she had made.

And then, there was Adrian.

Since their last encounter, she had done everything in her power to avoid him. The weight of his gaze unsettled her, and the knowledge of his unsettling interest in her made her skin crawl. His wife, Jessica, had taken notice too—her eyes burned with open hostility, her presence a constant reminder that Amelia was unwelcome.

The walls were closing in, and Amelia wasn't sure how much longer she could endure it.

Amelia lay in bed, lost in thought, when a sudden wave of nausea crashed over her. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she bolted from the bed and rushed to the bathroom, barely making it before she emptied the contents of her stomach. The violent retching left her gasping for breath, her arms trembling as she clung to the porcelain rim.

At first, she dismissed it as food poisoning—perhaps something from dinner hadn't agreed with her. But as she wiped her mouth and sat back against the cool bathroom tiles, another thought seized her. A far more unsettling possibility.

Pregnancy.

Her breath hitched. Her mind raced, trying to recall the last time she'd had her period. But her cycle had always been erratic, unpredictable. It was something she had never paid much attention to before. Now, she cursed herself for not keeping track.

A shiver ran down her spine. What if...?

A new kind of fear settled in her chest—heavier, more suffocating than anything she had ever felt before. She wasn't ready for this. Not now. Not under these circumstances. And what about Gabriel? Would he even want this child? Would he see it as a blessing... or a burden?