The Bride Ordered Security to Drag the Woman in Green Out — Until Her Husband Read the Text on the Shattered Floor

Vanessa looked up from the floor, her eyes bloodshot, her face streaked with sweat and tears. Seeing that her father was silent, that Julian was cornered, and that Adrian's face had turned to solid granite, she scrambled for the only weapon she had left.

She placed both trembling hands over her stomach.

"Adrian..." she sobbed, her voice breaking into a ragged, gut-wrenching wail. "You can hate me. You can destroy my family. You can throw me in prison. But please... think about our baby."

A shocked murmur rippled through the front rows. Adrian’s mother, seated in the second row, gasped, clutching her chest.

"Our baby?" Adrian repeated, his voice cracking with sudden, agonizing pain.

"I'm eight weeks pregnant," Vanessa wept, looking around at the guests as if begging for their mercy. "I found out on Tuesday. That's why I was so terrified! That's why Julian had leverage over me! He said if I didn't cooperate, he would hurt our child! Adrian, I swear to God, I did it to keep our baby safe!"

Vanessa’s mother immediately jumped up from her seat, shouting at Elena. "You heartless, vindictive monster! You're trying to destroy a mother and her unborn child over business jealousy! Adrian, she is carrying the Mercer heir! Look at what this woman is doing to your family!"

Adrian stood paralyzed. The fire in his eyes flickered, replaced by a deep, tormenting anguish. He had lost his own father when he was just a boy. The idea of abandoning his own flesh and blood tore through his conscience like jagged iron.

Vanessa saw the hesitation in his eyes and pressed harder.

"Feel it, Adrian," she begged, reaching for his hand, trying to pull it down to her stomach. "It’s your child. Don't let this jealous woman ruin our family's future. Forgive me... please, for our baby."

Elena didn't look angry. She looked at Vanessa with a mixture of pity and absolute disgust.

"You really have no bottom, do you, Vanessa?" Elena said softly.

Elena opened her gold clutch one final time and pulled out a sealed white envelope bearing the logo of Manhattan Women’s Medical Center.