Bella Jones heard a familiar voice near the hospital stairs: "Get an abortion!" Dominic Miller? Was he back after three years? Bella stopped, holding her breath. She felt guilty eavesdropping as she heard a woman sobbing, pleading, "I don't want to abort my baby Please"

The man's cold reply was devoid of comfort: "You can always have another one in the future." The decision was final. Dominic had returned, and he was with a pregnant woman. Uneasy, Bella fled.

Later, in the clinic, Bella stared at Dominic's number. She couldn't call. He hadn't contacted her. A nurse asked, "Dr. Jones, aren't you getting off work?"

"You can go first. I still have some work to do," Bella replied, staying until midnight to avoid him. They were "strangers"—not related by blood, family, friends, or romance—who'd lived together for nineteen years in Miller Manor.

Bella was eighteen when Dominic discovered her secret portrait and diary entries detailing her crush on him. His disgust and hatred—the way he threw the drawings and diaries on the floor and stomped on them—were unforgettable. He'd hated her since she arrived at Miller Manor at age five. Her unrequited love was humiliating.

That night, Bella entered the darkened manor, knowing every detail of the house after nineteen years. Reaching her bedroom door, she sensed a presence. Dominic, smelling of alcohol, kissed and hugged her. His kisses were icy, yet irresistible after three years apart. She almost gave in, but the image of him with the pregnant woman stopped her.

Bella pushed him away. "You're drunk," she said, straightening her clothes.

Dominic held her chin. "I wouldn't sleep with you if I weren't drunk," he sneered. "That's how we slept together last time, isn't it? Three years, and suddenly you're virtuous?"

Bella bit her lip, used to his insults. His grip tightened. "How dare you come home so late knowing I'm back!"

"You didn't tell me," she whispered, her voice shaky.

"How could you not know when everyone else did?" he retorted. He was right; she'd seen them at the hospital and on the news. She was the last to know, and the discovery was devastating. She felt certain he didn't want to see her.

Dominic, impatient, carried her to the bedroom, pinning her to the bed and forcing himself on her without foreplay. Frantic, Bella pushed against his chest. "Dominic!"

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