Money Power 4

Emery’s POV

If you had to live with people like my in-laws, you’d probably feel sick every single day too. Trust me, I know.

It’s like they attract bad energy on purpose. Just being around them is enough to make me nauseous. Some days, I swear I could throw up just looking at them.

This morning, I actually did. When I walked into the kitchen, the smell of coffee hit me, and before I could even sit down, Portia spoke without looking up.

“If you’ve caught some hazard, Emery, keep yourself away from others, for God’s sake.”

I didn’t respond. I was focused on the avocado toast sitting on the counter. I suddenly craved it, badly. My mouth watered just looking at it, and for a moment, it felt like the only thing that made sense in the room.

Portia kept going, clearly not needing a reply. “You really should take better care of yourself and think about the people around you as well.”

Then came Lily, breezing in with her phone already in hand. Her eyes barely left the screen as she said, “No wonder Landon never looks twice. You don’t even try anymore.”

I almost laughed, or cried. Maybe both. Instead, I pushed my chair back and stood up.

“I’m not hungry,” I muttered, though my appetite had only vanished the moment they opened their mouths.

“You never are,” Lily said behind me. “Maybe that’s your problem.”

I didn’t look back. I climbed the stairs and walked straight into the bathroom, locking the door behind me before leaning hard against the sink. My hands were shaking again, the same way they had been for days now.

This wasn’t just stress, not anymore. The dizziness, the nausea, the way the smell of Portia’s perfume made me gag yesterday, none of it felt normal.

I opened the drawer under the sink and pulled out the small box I’d been hiding for a week. A digital pregnancy test. I’d stared at it at least a dozen times, but I’d never been brave enough to use it.

Until now.

I tore it open and followed the instructions, though my hands trembled the entire time. Then came the wait. Three minutes had never felt so long.

Pacing across the tile, I stared at the floor, sat on the edge of the tub, then stood again. My stomach twisted in knots as the seconds crawled by. When I finally looked down, the word was there.

Pregnant.

I didn’t breathe at first, just stared at the screen, frozen. Then I sank to the floor, not because I was scared, but because something deep inside me cracked wide open. My hands found my stomach without thinking, my heart already thudding against my ribs.

“I’m not barren,” I whispered. And then again, louder, as if the truth had to be spoken twice to be believed. “I’m not barren.”

A laugh escaped me, short and strange, like it didn’t belong to me. I choked on it halfway through, but it still came.

For so long, I believed I was broken. I believed them when they said I was just a placeholder, a quiet, obedient wife who hadn’t embarrassed them yet. Someone to be tolerated.

But now I had proof they were wrong.

I stood slowly, the test still in my hand.

Portia’s voice echoed in my mind like an old recording. “Some women just weren’t built to carry legacy.”

That line had haunted me for months. Screw that. Screw her.

I looked in the mirror. I was pale, yes, and my hair stuck out at odd angles. But beneath the mess, something in my expression had changed. I looked… awake.

Like someone who had just stepped out of a long, dark tunnel and realized they were still standing.

I wasn’t sure what came next. I didn’t know how to face Landon or what he’d say, or if he’d even care. But for the first time in a long time, that didn’t matter. I had something of my own now.

And this time, I was going to protect it, with or without the Remington name.