Two more weeks passed in Willow Bay.
My belly had grown noticeably rounder. I could no longer hide it under loose hoodies — I had to buy maternity clothes online and wear them under oversized cardigans. The baby was active now, little flutters and kicks that made me cry happy and terrified tears at the same time.
I talked to the baby every day.
"Your daddy is the best man I've ever known," I whispered one night, lying in bed with both hands on my stomach. "He's kind, and protective, and he loves so deeply it scares him sometimes. But his ex… she's always going to be there. Elena Gilbert. The girl who looks like a ghost from his past. The girl everyone thinks he belongs with."
The hatred I felt toward Elena had become a living thing inside me, twisting sharper with every passing day.
I knew it was irrational. I knew she hadn't done anything wrong. But pregnancy hormones, isolation, and the constant fear that Stefan would eventually choose the "easier" path with her made it impossible to stop. Every text from her, every concerned message, every "I miss my sister" felt like a knife.
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Stefan hadn't given up.
He came back three times.
The first time, I watched him from the window as he stood in the rain for hours, refusing to leave until I finally cracked the door open just enough to tell him I was safe and to go home.
The second time, he left flowers and a letter on my doorstep. I read it through tears:
Myra,
Every day without you kills me. I dream about you every night — about the way you feel in my arms, the way you moan my name, the way you look at me like I'm worth loving. Come back to me. Let me take care of you and our baby. I don't want a life without you in it.
Forever yours,
Stefan
I kept the letter under my pillow.
The third time, he showed up while I was closing the bookstore. The bell rang, and there he was — looking thinner, exhausted, but so heartbreakingly beautiful it hurt.
"Myra…" His eyes dropped immediately to my rounded belly. The look on his face — awe, love, pain — nearly broke me.
"You're showing," he whispered, voice thick.
I crossed my arms over my stomach protectively. "Don't."
He took a careful step forward. "Please. Let me be there for you. For both of you."
"I saw the way you held her, Stefan," I said, voice trembling. "Elena. Again. Even now, when I'm pregnant with your child, she's still the one you comfort first."
"It wasn't like that," he pleaded. "She was breaking down about your dad. He attacked her, Myra. I was just trying to calm her down so she wouldn't do something reckless. You are the only woman I love. The only one I want to build a life with."
I wanted so badly to believe him. But the poison had sunk too deep.
"Go home, Stefan," I said coldly, even as my heart screamed at me to run into his arms. "Tell Elena she can stop playing the worried sister. I don't need her fake concern."
Pain flashed across his face, raw and devastating. He looked like I'd stabbed him.
"I'll wait," he said quietly. "As long as it takes. I'm not leaving you. Not again."
He left a small bag on the counter before walking out. Inside were prenatal vitamins, a soft baby blanket, and a sonogram photo frame that said "Our Little Miracle."
I cried for hours after he left.
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That night, the loneliness became unbearable.
I lay naked in bed, skin flushed, hand between my thighs as I chased release with memories of Stefan.
Flashback
Stefan had me on my hands and knees in his bed, pounding into me from behind with deep, powerful strokes. One hand fisted in my hair, the other rubbing my clit relentlessly.
"Fuck, Myra — you're so wet for me," he groaned, slamming into me harder. "Come on, baby. Let me feel you."
I came with a loud cry, walls pulsing around him. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep and filling me as he moaned my name like a prayer.
End of Flashback
I came hard on my fingers, sobbing Stefan's name into the pillow. It wasn't enough. My body ached for him. My heart ached worse.
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The next morning, I woke up to a text from Bonnie.
Bonnie:Your dad found out you're pregnant. He's losing it. He's talking about "fixing" the baby. Stefan is barely holding it together. Please, Myra. Come home.
My blood ran cold.
I placed both hands on my belly, feeling a strong kick in response.
"No one is touching you," I whispered fiercely. "Not my dad. Not Klaus. Not anyone."
But staying away was becoming harder.
Stefan's love, my growing baby, and the fear of what my father might do were pulling me in opposite directions.
And through it all, the bitter hatred toward Elena continued to fester — a dark shadow that made me question everything.
How much longer could I keep running from the people I loved most?