Nobela ni Mariah_Maverick

DARCYThe second her voice cracked, I knew I fucked up."You had a baby?"Zoey Vandemere stood in the doorway like she'd walked into a nightmare. Tall, athletic, hair pulled into one of her characteristic, effortless high puffs that framed her sharp cheekbones. She was wearing black joggers, a grey cropped hoodie, and a pair of sneakers. Like always, she smelled rich, like vanilla bean and something warm, something expensive, and undeniably Zoey.But her face?Her face looked like I'd just slapped her."No…I mean—" I adjusted Vi in my arms, the blanket still half-tucked over her cheek, my heart pounding like it was trying to climb out of my chest. "Zoey, wait—""You had a baby?!" she repeated, louder this time, voice cracking completely.Vi startled in my arms, unlatching with a sharp wail that cut straight through my gut. I pressed her to my shoulder, rocking instinctively, shushing softly, but my hands were trembling."Please," I said quickly, clutching Vi closer. "Please just calm

DARCYIt had been a week since we got discharged.Seven days since they wheeled me out of that hospital in a chair that squeaked with every turn. Seven days since I'd stepped through our front door with stitches that still burned, a car seat too small in one hand, and a baby I hadn't known existed a minute before she was born in the other.Everything had changed.And somehow, nothing had.The house was still the same. Cracked tiles in the hallway. The same faint creak in the kitchen floorboard. The same sun-bleached walls that always made everything feel warmer than it was. Except now, it smelled like baby wipes. Like milk. Like formula. And somehow like us.And it was quiet. Or well, at least, quieter.Mom had taken the old study and converted it into a nursery overnight. Levi said it was her idea. Said she'd been organizing it all while I was still in recovery. I hadn't believed him until I saw it. There was a Bassinet, a Changing table, and a rocking chair that looked even older th

ELIASThe Mercer estate was a different kind of hell.Not the loud, chaotic kind. Not the one with fire and torment. No. This hell was polished marble floors, a chandelier that cost more than most houses, and silence so thick it could suffocate you.I hadn’t lived here in almost three years. Not since I turned eighteen and convinced the board (who apparently made all the major decisions of my life) it was better for appearances if I had my own place, my own image. So I built a mansion across town. Clean, modern and completely fit to my tastes. That’s where I held the parties. That’s where I wore the crown they gave me.But this? This was the kingdom.Dinner was at seven sharp. Not 6:59. Not 7:01.Late meant disrespect. And in the Mercer house, disrespect was basically treason. And I’m not even kidding.I parked the car exactly where I always did…the lower driveway, passenger side closest to the door. The valet had long since stopped offering to park for me. He knew I preferred the con

DARCYThe beeping.God, it never stopped.The soft chime of the monitors. The low hum of hospital machines. The sharp click of shoes on the linoleum outside my door. The voices. The whispers. The baby.Everything was way too loud.And yet somehow still not loud enough to drown out the spiral in my head.I was three days post-surgery, and my body felt like it had been cracked open and stitched back wrong. My skin didn't fit right. My bones ached. My breasts were swollen, burning, leaking just enough milk to stain every one of Levi's oversized shirts I'd been living in, but somehow never enough to satisfy her.The baby. Still unnamed. Still loud. And of course still mine.The nurses stationed around kept calling her "Baby Girl Seville," their voices bright and excited like it wasn't driving me insane every time I heard it. As though it wasn't a frequent shitty reminder that I hadn't been able to name her. Like I didn't just stare at the blank line on her birth certificate every night, w

ELIAS Marnie disappeared back inside, leaving Cassian and me standing there, bags of baby supplies weighing heavily in our hands. We didn’t speak, and neither of us moved, we were just stood there in the same position. Because neither of us knew what the fuck to do next. Cassian was still staring at the trunk like it held all the damn answers he needed. Like if he just focused hard enough, the truth would magically spell itself out in between the formula cans and tiny clothes. His jaw clenched, his breathing uneven, the muscle in his temple ticking like it always did when he was about five seconds from losing his shit. He wouldn’t say it. Not out loud. He didn’t even have to. But I could see it written all over his face. He thought the baby was his. And was already panicking at the thought of his broke ass trying to deal with that mess. Anyways, if Cassian was thinking the baby was his because of that night, then of course, so was I. Because what were the fucking odds? Ni

CASSIANThe hospital’s automatic doors slid open, and the cold air hit me like a slap.I barely felt it.Marnie was leading the way toward her car, talking as she walked. I could hear her voice, but the words blurred together, muffled beneath the sheer panic coursing through me, aggravated by the pounding in my skull.Just ahead of me, Elias moved like nothing was wrong.As though the last five minutes hadn’t flipped our entire fucking world upside down, as though it was just a nightmare I forgot to wake up from.As though he wasn’t standing in the middle of this mess with me. To think, randomly deciding to follow Elias Mercer would’ve led to such an outcome. But I was still glad I fucking did. He hadn’t said a word since we left Darcy’s room. Not even a glance my way.Because he didn’t have to. I knew him too well. Knew that he was already thinking, analyzing, calculating his next move while I was barely holding myself together. It was always like that with us.Marnie’s trunk was al