LOGINIsabella’s POVThe everyone in the room went completely still. The machines beside me suddenly sounded too loud.Lucas stared at the phone in his hand, his face switching to a frown instantly. Marcus straightened near the door. Claire looked up sharply from where she had just stepped back into the room with my mother behind her.And me— My blood turned cold so fast my fingers started shaking again.Camilla.My throat went dry. For a second nobody spoke. Then Lucas’s voice cut through the silence. “Where the hell are you?”A soft laugh came through the speaker.“I missed that temper,” Camilla said smoothly. “Still protective, I see.”“Don’t play games,” Lucas snapped. “How did you get this number?”“Oh, Lucas,” she replied lazily. “You’re asking the wrong question.”My stomach twisted hard.Claire stepped closer immediately. “Take it off speaker.”“No,” I whispered before Lucas could move. “Leave it.”Everyone looked at me. I swallowed hard and pushed myself up slightly despite the wea
Isabella’s POVNobody moved at first, everyone stayed frozen around me.Lucas.Marcus.Claire.My mother.All staring at the blood on my shaking hand like their brains refused to understand it.Then the pain hit me again, harder this time. A sharp twisting low in my stomach that stole the air from my lungs.I bent forward with a gasp.“Isabella!” Claire rushed toward me.Lucas got there first.His hands caught my arms before my knees fully gave out. “Hey…hey, look at me.” His voice had changed completely. The anger was gone. Panic replaced it too fast. “Talk to me. Where does it hurt?”I couldn’t answer properly. Another cramp tore through me and I grabbed his shirt instinctively.“Lucas…” My voice broke.His face drained of color.“Call the doctor,” my mother snapped at someone.Marcus was already moving, fumbling for his phone with blood still smeared at the corner of his mouth.Claire crouched beside me, eyes wide with fear. “How much blood?”“I—I don’t know…” The room blurred agai
Isabella’s POVThe room went completely silent.Marcus stood there like he’d just lit a match and was waiting to see what caught fire first.Lucas froze beside me. Claire’s face lost all colour. My mother sucked in a sharp breath behind Marcus.My heart slammed against my ribs.“Marcus,” I said, my voice shaking. “What the hell are you doing?”Lucas turned toward him slowly. Too slowly. The kind of slow that made my stomach twist.“She told you that?” he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.Marcus didn’t flinch. “Yeah. She did.”Lucas looked straight at me.Not at Marcus.Me.The hurt in his eyes cut deeper this time. It wasn’t just shock anymore. It was betrayal.“You told him,” he said softly. “Again.”“I was going to tell you...” I sighed.“You already said that before.”“Lucas—”“No,” he cut in, his voice rising. “Don’t do that thing where you try to soften it after it explodes. Did you or did you not tell him before me?”“She already answered that,” Marcus said.“Stay out of it,”
Isabella’s POVThe question hit me so fast my mouth went dry.Lucas stood across from me, eyes locked on mine in a way that made lying feel impossible. The silence stretched on, and that alone seemed to answer half of what he wanted to know.His jaw tightened. “You did,” he said quietly.I swallowed hard. “Lucas...”“You told him before me.”“It wasn’t planned like that.”A tired, humorless laugh slipped out of him. “But it still happened.”I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Nothing I could say felt right. The conversation with Marcus replayed in my head — his face, his voice, the shock in his eyes when I admitted I wanted to end the pregnancy.Lucas looked away for a second and rubbed a hand over his mouth. When he turned back, the look on his face wasn’t anger. It was something quieter. Deeper.Hurt.“I came to you first after the results,” he said. “I stayed right beside you when everything blew up. I told you I wanted this baby even when you were panicking. And somehow Marcu
Isabella’s POVThe hallway air pressed against my skin, thick and unmoving. I stood there, pulse beating steady in my throat, then turned away from the direction Marcus had gone. My feet carried me forward before my thoughts could catch up.Their voices drifted out before I reached the doorway.“…she’s not avoiding you,” Claire said.“It damn well feels like it,” Lucas answered, voice low and edged. “Every time we get close, she slips away. I’m tired of half-truths.”I stepped into the room.Both heads snapped toward me. Claire’s shoulders eased. Lucas’s posture locked tight, jaw flexing once as his eyes met mine.“I’m not giving half-answers anymore,” I said.Claire glanced between us, then offered a small nod. “I’ll give you two some space.” She brushed past, her fingers grazing my arm lightly before she disappeared down the hall.The door clicked shut. The silence that followed sat heavy between us.Lucas straightened, arms loose at his sides but hands half-curled. “You look like y
Isabella’s POVMarcus didn’t move closer, and for once I was grateful. The distance felt necessary, like the only thing keeping the moment from slipping into something else again. His eyes stayed on my face, searching, patient, but there was something restless underneath it.“You look like you didn’t sleep,” he said.“I didn’t.”He nodded slowly. “I figured.”Silence sat between us for a second, not awkward, just heavy with everything from yesterday still hanging in the air.“You said we’d talk,” he added.“We will.”“Okay,” he said, shifting his weight slightly. “Then talk to me.”I drew in a breath, but it didn’t settle anything. My thoughts felt sharp, like they’d been circling all night and still hadn’t found a place to land.“I meant what I said,” I started. “About not doing this the same way anymore.”His brows pulled together a little. “Meaning?”“Meaning I can’t keep letting things… overlap,” I said carefully. “With you. With Lucas. With everything.”Marcus held my gaze. “So w







