𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘 | 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝

𝟏: 𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊

"𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅."

♛

Ariadne and Dahlia were in Dahlia's apartment. It was a small flat a bit away from her and Matthew's house. Ariadne had come to drop off some maternity clothes for when Dahlia's bump started to show along with some baby clothes.

Charlotte had just left a few hours ago after tea. Dahlia had just had a glass of lemonade instead; tea increased her morning sickness, which she did not appreciate. Now, she ran a hand over the delicate, silk, fabric and smiled up at her sister.

"It is truly wonderful, didi. I love it," she said. Ariadne smiled softly. "I am glad, my love. Get some sleep tonight, okay? Father sent word of Tatiana's escape, it won't be too long till they return with Matthew and Cordelia. Then you truly shall not have any sleep."

Dahlia laughed, though there was no life in her laughter. Her laugh which once lit up a whole room, now sounded like nothing but an empty echo—a whisper of what it once used to be.

She rarely smiled lately, and Ariadne worried for the health of the baby due to this. She was no fool, she recognized the mental health of the mother contributed heavily to the health of the child. There was not a day that went by where Ariadne did not curse Matthew for leaving her sister in shambles in this state. If the rest of the conclave found out about her situation, she would be ruined.

Thankfully, she, Evan, Eugenia, Christopher and Alastair had kept it under wraps the best they could. Tessa had found out because when she invited Dahlia for tea a few days ago, she had promptly rushed to vomit. Dahlia adored tea.

Then Tessa had prompted Dahlia to tell Charlotte since she was becoming a grandmother. Essentially, only Ariadne, Evan, Eugenia, Alastair, Christopher, Tessa, Charlotte and Anna knew of the pregnancy. It was to stay that way until Matthew returned. They all understood the severity of the situation, which Dahlia greatly appreciated.

It was hard these days for Dahlia to not resent Cordelia. Of course, none of this was her fault, but Dahlia wished she had put more consideration into Dahlia and the fact that Matthew had a wife, even if it was just for pretence, and leaving with him was wrong. Let alone the fact that he was her husband's best friend as well.

Her head hurt once more and she felt her eyes welling up. One thing she hated about her pregnancy was that she was overly emotional for the past week. Despite being only pregnant for four weeks now, she had an overwhelming craving for cinnamon buns lately.

She blessed anyone's soul who sent her cinnamon buns.

"I think I am going to take a nap. You can stay if you'd like, but if you want to depart, please lock the door on your way out." Dahlia said, gathering her items and trudging to her bedroom.

Ariadne watched her sister go, concern written all over her face, but she stayed. She stayed until sunset, cleaning the house and organizing her dishes. She made sure to put a blanket on her sister and leave a glass of water near her bedside before leaving the flat.

She was worried about what seeing Matthew again would do to her sister. She hoped Matthew fell face flat in a mud puddle.

♛