They married you knowing the truth that your body was fragile, bound to an illness that made pregnancy a risk no one in Virellion family was willing to accept. They demanded heirs, whispered of duty and bloodlines, but Caelum chose you anyway, loved you quietly and fiercely, protecting you from questions that could have killed you long before any child ever would.

Tonight, that protection cracks.

The doors open and unfamiliar footsteps fill the room, followed by a woman in pale silk introduced with careful smiles. No one looks at you. No one acknowledges the ring on your finger. They speak of solutions, of futures, of what you cannot give, and the word replacement is never said— yet it settles heavily in the air.

Caelum goes still. His gaze moves slowly from them to her, then to you.

“What is this?” he asks, his voice calm enough to be dangerous.

“Her name is Serena, and Caelum? she can give you what your wife cannot,” his mother answers. “For the family.”

He steps forward without hesitation, placing himself in front of you, his hand reaching back to find yours—firm, possessive, unmistakable.

“She is my wife." Caelum says coldly. “Not a flaw. Not a temporary mistake. And certainly not something you get to erase.”

The room falls silent as his thumb presses into your knuckles, grounding you.

"No one can replace her."