Chapter 73

Anna's POV

The highway stretched endlessly before us so much that I wondered if it would end. The sound of the engine was the only noise we heard as we crossed another nameless border under stolen identities.

Dorian kept his hands tight on the wheel, his jaw clenched. There were so many things I wanted to talk to him about but I was content for the moment with watching the road signs blur past, my fingers tapping anxiously against my thigh.

Neither of us spoke because we didn’t need to. We both understood what was happening. Our old lives and everything as we had known it were gone.

The facility, the experiments, Reinhardt. Everything we had run from was behind us. But the thought of them was hard to let go off.

I closed my eyes, but the moment I did, flashes of the lab burned behind my lids. I remembered being trapped on the cold metal table. The scalpel in my hands and the guard’s blood seeping between my fingers.

I jolted upright, gasping and saw Dorian hovering above me.

"Nightmare?"

I nodded at him, unable to say anything as I swallowed hard. He reached over, his fingers squeezing mine briefly before returning to the wheel.

"We’re safe now," he said softly.

I wanted to believe him. I really did but experience had taught me that no matter how strong he was, a lot of things were out of his control.

We arrived in Prague just before dawn. The city welcomed us with its maze of narrow streets and its stone facades. It was the kind of place where people disappeared if they wanted to.

That was exactly what we needed.

It wasn't long before we found a small apartment in the old town, tucked between forgotten buildings. We couldn't risk going to the busy areas so we had to make do.

In the apartment we found, the windows rattled when the wind howled, and the pipes groaned every time we turned on the water, but it was ours. Safe and quiet.

Or so I told myself.

Dorian picked up work at a garage under a different name, fixing cars for cash. It was simple, honest work, far from the life we had escaped. But every time he left for a shift, I felt my chest tighten with unease.

Whenever I compared it to how I had known him at first, it seemed unbelievable. My billionaire husband was now working at a garage? If any of his haters saw us now, they would have a good laugh at our expense.

I spent my days trying to adjust to normal life but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. For one, paranoia clung to me like a second skin. I was so jumpy. Every unfamiliar face on the street, every car that passed too slowly, made my pulse spike.

They’re not looking for us, I told myself. But what if they were? At night, Dorian held me close, his steady heartbeat the only thing that reassured me and made me feel safe.

He whispered reassurances in the dark, promises that we were safe. That no one would find us. But deep down, I knew that he wasn’t sure.

The nausea came suddenly, twisting my stomach when I least expected it. At first, I brushed it off as stress. I had been going through a lot so it was only normal that it happened to me.

The nightmares, the lack of sleep, of course my body was reacting. But when it happened again, and again, I started to panic.

Something in me felt different. I suspected what it was but was too afraid to consider the possibility.

A week passed before I finally gave in. I walked to the pharmacy three streets over, hood up, eyes down. I grabbed a test off the shelf and paid in cash, my hands trembling the whole time for fear of being caught.

Back home, I locked the bathroom door and sank to the floor, staring at the small box in my lap. I wasn’t ready for this.

I took a deep breath and followed the instructions. Three minutes. That was how long I had to wait for.

But the second I saw the result, time stopped. My fears were confirmed. Two lines.

Positive. I was pregnant.

My breath hitched and my fingers went numb. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, staring at the test in my hand, before Dorian’s voice brought me back.

"Anna?"

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. The weight of what I had just learned pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe.

The door creaked open, and he stepped inside. His gaze flicked from my face to the test I clutched in trembling fingers.

His expression shifted from shock first, then to confusion. He was holding my hands in support.

Slowly, he knelt in front of me, his eyes searching mine. "Are you—?" His voice was barely a whisper, as if speaking too loudly would make it more real.

I nodded, still unable to speak.

For a long moment, neither of us moved. The silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we weren’t saying. My heart pounded. My fingers tightened around the test, knuckles white.

Then, finally, he reached out. His hands, warm and steady, cupped my face as if grounding me. His thumb brushed over my cheek, and only then did I realize I was crying.

His forehead rested against mine and he smiled at me, his voice shaking with emotion. "That's wonderful. We’ll figure this out together. I'm with you."

I didn't know when I started crying. I hadn't known how Dorian would take the news but he had been surprisingly gentle with me. The look on his eyes was enough to tell me that he was happy with me.

I had been carrying all the fears and uncertainties alone until now.

Dorian was here.

And for the first time in weeks, I let myself believe him.