Chapter 2 - The Soldier's Departure
The news of Logan’s deployment came like a sudden, violent thunderclap. He was
being sent to a highly volatile combat zone in the Middle East for a nine-month
tour of duty. The night before he was scheduled to leave, they met at their secret
cabin. Under the soft glow of a single lamp, Logan held Elena tightly.
"I don't want you to go," Elena sobbed, clutching his jacket. "I'm terrified, Logan.
What if you don't come back?"
Logan gently lifted her chin, staring into her eyes. He took off his silver dog tags
and placed them around her neck. "I will always come back to you, Elena. Keep these.
As long as you wear them, my heart is right here with you. No matter how far away I
am, this isn't goodbye. It's just 'see you later'."
"I'll wear them every single day," she promised, kissing him with a desperate
intensity.
Only days after Logan’s departure, Elena began feeling sick. A trip to a clinic in a
neighboring town confirmed her deepest hope and greatest fear: she was pregnant with
Logan’s child. Her heart swelled with a fierce, protective love, but she knew the danger
she now faced. When she returned to the Vance Estate, her parents were waiting for
her in the grand library. Spread out on the mahogany desk were photos of her and
Logan.
"You have disgraced this family!" Richard Vance hissed, his voice echoing off the
high ceilings. "We have worked too hard to let a penniless soldier ruin our legacy with
his bastard!"
"He is not a bastard, and Logan is a hero!" Elena yelled back, tears streaming down
her face. "I love him, and I am keeping this baby!"
Victoria stepped forward, her eyes as cold as the winter frost outside. "Listen to me
very carefully, Elena. You have two options. Either you undergo a quiet, immediate
medical procedure to terminate this... mistake, or you marry Julian Croft next month
and raise this child as a Croft. Logan Carter will never know."
"No!" Elena screamed, clutching the silver dog tags tightly against her chest. "I will
never kill my baby, and I will never marry Julian! I'd rather die!"
Richard’s face contorted with rage. "You think you have a choice? In this house,
you do as you are told!" He turned to the security guards standing at the door. "Take her
phone. Lock her in her room. No internet, no contact. She doesn't leave until she
cooperates."
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"Father, please! You can't do this!" Elena cried as the guards grabbed her arms,
dragging her away from the library.
