The Unwanted Wife's Spectacular Ballet Comeback

The bathroom mirror was fogged, but Helena didn't need to see her reflection to know she looked like hell. She leaned against the marble vanity, the cold stone doing little to soothe the ache in her lower back. Translating legal documents from home for Velasquez Corp for eight hours straight was a special kind of torture, but doing it while married to the CEO made it infinitely worse.

She reached for the drawer, her fingers finding the familiar cardboard box. It was routine. A sterile, loveless routine that defined the last two years of her life. She pulled out a foil wrapper, ready to toss it into the trash, when her thumb caught on something rough.

She frowned, bringing the packet closer to her face. Under the bright vanity lights, the silver foil looked wrong. Right in the center, almost invisible unless you were looking for it, was a tiny, perfect puncture.

Her breath hitched. She grabbed another one. And another. Her hands moved faster, pulling out the entire contents of the box. Every single wrapper had the same microscopic hole.

A cold sweat broke out across the back of her neck. This wasn't an accident. You don't accidentally poke holes in an entire box of condoms. Someone had done this. Someone wanted her pregnant.

Debora. The name flashed in her mind like a neon sign. Her mother-in-law had been dropping hints for months, complaining about the lack of an heir, glaring at Helena's flat stomach across the dinner table like it was a personal insult.

The bathroom door swung open.

Dante stood in the doorway, his chest heaving slightly from his workout, a towel draped around his neck. His dark hair was damp, and the smell of sweat and expensive body wash hit her like a wall.

His eyes dropped to her hands, to the torn-apart box and the scattered foil wrappers. His expression, which had been blank, instantly hardened into something cold and sharp.

"What is this?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

Helena's throat went dry. "I found them like this, Dante. Look at them. Someone put holes-"

He crossed the distance between them in two strides and snatched the box from her hands. He examined one of the wrappers, his jaw clenching so tight she could see the muscle tick.

He let out a short, bitter laugh. It was a sound completely devoid of humor. "Two years, Helena. Two years, and you're still pulling this trash?"

The words slapped her. "What? No, I didn't do this! Why would I-"

"To trap me," he said, cutting her off. He threw the box onto the floor, the remaining wrappers scattering across the white marble tiles. "You think I'm stupid? You think I don't know exactly what kind of person you are?"

"I'm not trying to trap you!" Her voice shook, but not from fear. From sheer frustration. "I just got home! I was about to-"

His phone rang.

The sharp, melodic chime of Debussy's "Clair de Lune" cut