Forced to marry the enemy prince in her sister's place

The girls had decided to set up a meeting with Niko at the theatre. They’d booked a private room and were waiting for him to show up.

"How do you think he’s going to react to the news?" Hera asked as she paced around the room, restless.

"I don’t know," Iris replied. Her frown deepened at the question. "Could you stop walking around, Hera? You’re making yourself much more nervous for no reason."

She rushed to sit down beside Iris. "I know." Unease flickered through her eyes, and she held a hand to her chest. "But I can’t help it. Look at me, I’m a mess. What if..."

"Give us a break with the endless prattle, Hera," Penelope groaned. "You already have your options. You’re the one carrying the baby. Whatever he chooses should not dictate how the rest of your life goes. I beg you, calm down."

An overwhelming sense of dread gripped Hera, but she remained quiet.

"This is it, my lord, they’re just inside, someone heard someone say.

"Thank you."

Niko opened the door to the private room and tried to rein in his surprise. "What’s the occasion?" He asked as he shut the door behind him. "Is there some sort of part I don’t know about?"

"Hera has a few things to discuss with you, Niko." Penelope rolled her eyes and said abruptly.

Niko gave her an odd look. "And when did you become her spokesperson?"

Penelope remained silent.

"Hera," Iris said, "out with it." His voice was dangerously calm.

Niko glanced at the girls, "What is this about? You’re making me a bit anxious."

"I’m pregnant," Hera replied in a whisper.

Niko looked at the person in front of him, rubbed his face, and gave her a hard look. "I don’t think I heard you correctly. You said you’re what?" He asked slowly.

Hera’s gaze was focused on him now, and her lips quivered. "I said I’m pregnant." She tried to twitch her lips into a smile.

"For who? Me?"

Penelope glanced at Iris from the corner of her eye. The veins in her head bulged; it looked like they would burst at any moment.

Hera blinked a few times. "Who else?"

Niko stood and brushed a hand over his face. "Don’t play these types of games with me, Hera." He brought a hand to his waist and grabbed a fist of his hair as he paced the room restlessly. "Pregnant?" He scoffed. "After we’d been intimate once? I wouldn’t like to believe you’ve turned into a liar."

Penelope laughed so loud that the whole theatre would have heard. Hera sat limply on her chair, her eyes wide with shock as she stared back at him.

Iris could hold it back no longer; she rushed towards him and slapped him hard across the face. "You imbecile," she shouted. "I knew you were a lousy excuse of a man, but I refused to interfere because Hera believed there was some good in you, and now... What? She’s a liar?"

Penelope got up immediately and held Iris still. "Calm down, Iris, calm down."

Niko stood, stunned, with a hand on his cheek. He looked from Iris to Penelope, then Hera. As if a bell had sounded in his head, his eyes lit up, and he smiled.

"My love," he said sweetly, ignoring the girls in front of him and kneeling in front of Hera, "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all of that. I’m so sorry." He pleaded.

Iris and Penelope looked at each other, confused. While Hera sat staring at him as she held her breath, hanging onto each word that came out of his mouth.

"Look, I promise you, when the time is right, we’ll have a big family, a proper one that suits a princess, but for now, I’m not ready. I can’t take care of you or this child. My father will never approve."

Hera cupped his face in her hands, "We could try and persuade..."

"NO," he thundered. "My parents can never learn of this Hera, do you not understand. They would disown me, cut me off from the family."

It felt to Hera that the life had been sucked out of her. As she looked upon Niko rage and whine, her chest tightened. She’d defied everyone for him.

She’d defied reason to prove that the affections they had for each other were real. Yet, here they were, finally laid bare to each other in their truest form. She’d trusted a fool and, in the process, became a fool herself.

She broke into a fit of laughter as the realizations hit her. She laughed so hard the tears began to fall, and they didn’t stop.

"Leave," Penelope said. "You’ve done what you do best, act like the bastard that you are. Leave from here," she warned.

"My love," Niko said, reaching for Hera, "please listen to..." Another slap landed across his face. Niko looked at Hera as his mouth hung.

"I promise you, Nikolas Aetos," Hera said through the tears, "I’ll make sure you regret the day they came into my life. I’ll make you pay for this, even if it’s the last thing I do on this earth."

Iris dragged him by his girdle and threw him out of the room. "I better not see you anywhere near her, do you hear me?" Iris said fiercely. "Get lost!"

She banged the door in his face and went back to Hera.

"Forget him," she said as she pulled her into her arms. "He is not worth a single drop of your tear."

"I’ll make sure he regrets this." Hera’s voice was muffled as she wailed.

"You never trust a man like that, never." Penelope mused as she shook her head. "They’ll only disappoint you."

"Penelope, please, this is not the time," Iris warned.

"Loosen up, she’s not the first woman a man has ever betrayed, and she won’t be last. You’ll need to learn to..."

"Quiet already," Iris shouted. "Enough."

Penelope shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said and rolled her eyes.