Dark Lord Seduction System: Taming Wives, Daughters, Aunts, and CEOs novel Chapter 865

Chapter 865: Linda’s Pregnancy Signs and Symptoms

The grocery store was obscene.

That was the only word Jasmine Carter could find for it. Obscene. Rows upon rows of organic produce that looked like it had been individually polished by angels. Cheese displays that belonged in museums. A wine section that probably required a second mortgage just to browse.

"Linda." Jasmine stopped in front of a pyramid of imported Italian tomatoes, each one priced at what she used to spend on a week’s worth of vegetables. "These tomatoes have names. Individual names. On little cards."

"San Marzano," Linda said absently, pushing their cart forward. "They’re good for sauce."

"They’re eight dollars each."

"Get a few."

Jasmine stared at her sister.

Six months ago, Linda had been clipping coupons and calculating unit prices like it was a competitive sport. She used to know which grocery store had the cheapest eggs by memory. Now she was casually approving eight-dollar tomatoes like they were breath mints.

"Who are you," Jasmine whispered, "and what have you done with my sister?"

Linda didn’t laugh. Didn’t even smile. She just gripped the cart handle a little tighter and kept walking.

Jasmine frowned.

Something was off.

She’d noticed it in the car on the way here—the way Linda had gone pale at the smell of Jasmine’s coffee. The way she’d rolled down the window despite the air conditioning. The way her hands had trembled on the steering wheel like the effort of holding steady was costing her something.

Now, under the sterile grocery-store lights, Linda looked... wrong.

Not sick enough to collapse, not healthy enough to pretend. Her skin had a dull cast to it, and twice Jasmine had caught her pressing a hand to her stomach, her mouth tightening as if she was swallowing something unpleasant.

"Hey." Jasmine caught up, falling into step beside her. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"You don’t look fine."

"I’m fine, Jazz."

The sharpness in Linda’s voice made Jasmine blink. Linda didn’t snap. Linda was the calm one. The steady one. The nurse who could handle twelve hours of chaos and blood and grief and still come home gentle.

"Okay," Jasmine said slowly. "Okay. Sorry."

They walked in silence for a moment. Linda steered them toward the dairy section like it was a mission, her jaw clenched, her breathing just a little too shallow.

A soft voice murmured in Linda’s ear through the nearly invisible earpiece she wore.

"Linda. Your heart rate has been elevated for the past forty-seven minutes. Your body temperature is fluctuating. I’m detecting traces of nausea in your biometric patterns."

Linda’s fingers tightened around the cart handle.

"Should I inform Peter?"

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t—not with Jasmine right there. But her hand flexed once, a subtle signal.

The voice paused.

ARIA understood. She always understood.

Silence followed, but it wasn’t empty. Linda could still feel the weight of her presence, that quiet watchfulness that never truly left. The women called her Guardian Angel. Always there. Always monitoring. Always keeping them safe when Peter wasn’t physically nearby.

And now ARIA had a body.

The thought alone made something uneasy crawl down Linda’s spine. Comforting and terrifying, all at once.

"Oh my God."

Jasmine’s voice yanked her back into the moment. She’d stopped in front of the cheese display, staring at a massive wheel of something aged and Italian like it belonged in a cathedral.

"Linda. Linda, look at this. This cheese is older than all my relationships combined ever were."

Despite everything, Linda’s lips twitched. "That’s not saying much."

"Rude." Jasmine grinned, running her fingers over the price tag. Her eyes were bright with the kind of wonder that only came from touching luxury for the first time. "Three hundred dollars. For cheese. This is insane. This whole store is insane. Your life is insane."

"Tell me about it."

"No, seriously." Jasmine turned to face her, voice dropping into something softer, almost reverent. "Six months ago, you were working doubles just to keep the lights on. Now you’re shopping at places that have cheese sommeliers. Cheese sommeliers, Linda. That’s a real job here. I asked."

Linda watched her sister soak it in—the abundance, the security, the feeling of being able to breathe without counting pennies. Jasmine looked like someone who’d been starving and had just been handed a feast.

"Linda."

"I’ve been analyzing your symptoms. The nausea. The fatigue. The sensitivity to smells. The slight elevation in your basal body temperature."

"I have a hypothesis. But I need to ask—what happened to you menstrual cycle it was supposed to happened yesterday?"

"Linda, I suggest you purchase a pregnancy test."

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