Chapter 86

Lila’s POV

The first thing I noticed was the light.

It wasn’t the soft golden hue of Drew’s hotel launch, or the faint glow of city headlights streaking through glass, it was harsh, clinical, almost too bright. My eyelids fluttered against it, heavy as though someone had anchored weights to them.

Then came the smell. Sterile.

Bleach and antiseptic clung to the air, burning my nose with every shallow inhale. Beneath it was something mechanical, the faint beep, beep, beep that seemed to echo in the stillness.

I was alive.

That thought should have comforted me, but instead it struck like ice water. My chest tightened, panic clawing up my throat as memories slammed back, one by one.

The cloth, the burning chemical sting, Max’s voice, the car, my desperate struggle as I escaped and then Drew, his face, fierce and desperate, before everything collapsed into black again.

My lashes lifted slowly, the world coming into focus in blurred pieces. White walls. A pale blue curtain half drawn. The slow drip of an IV line attached to the back of my hand. I was lying in a hospital bed, my body stiff and aching in ways I didn’t want to count.

I turned my head and froze as I saw Drew.

He sat by the window, the city lights behind him spilling shadows across his frame. His suit jacket was discarded, his white shirt rolled up at the sleeves, but his posture was rigid, coiled tight like a spring. One hand rested on the arm of the chair, fingers drumming soundlessly, the other pressed against his mouth as if keeping words from slipping through.

My heart twisted at the sight. At first I felt relieved because he was here which means I was safe and not alone. But also dread followed, sharp and unexpected, because the air between us didn’t feel like safety. It felt like storm clouds gathering, heavy and electric.

I tried to speak, but my throat betrayed me. It was croaked, dry and raw. He turned instantly, eyes locking on mine.

And for the first time since I had known him, I couldn’t read what was there.

Not relief.

Not anger.

Not the icy indifference he sometimes wore like armour.

It was everything and nothing all at once.

“You’re awake,” he said finally. His voice was low, steady, but it carried a weight that pressed into my chest.

I swallowed, forcing words past the burn. “Drew…” My lips parted, trembling with everything I wanted to say like; thank you, I’m sorry, he took me or it was Max but only one thing came out. “You saved me.”

His jaw tightened. A muscle jumped near his temple. “I should have stopped him before he touched you.”

I shook my head weakly, panic rising at the guilt in his tone. “You couldn’t have known. He… had it all planned out. He has been watching ”

“Don’t.” His interruption was soft but sharp, slicing through my explanation. His gaze didn’t leave me, dark and unyielding. “Don’t waste your strength making excuses for him.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. I shifted slightly, wincing as pain flared across my shoulder and palm. He noticed instantly, his eyes flicking to the bruise on my temple, the scrape across my skin. His hands curled into fists.

“He hurt you.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a fact laced with venom.

I wanted to reach for him. To tell him I was fine, that I was alive because of him. But before I could, his voice changed, calmer, colder.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

The words caught me off guard. I blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his eyes boring into me. “I’m asking you, Lila. Is there something you have been hiding from me?”

My lips parted and my heart stuttered. Did he know? About Max’s threats? About the secrets I had tucked away, waiting for the right moment to tell him?

I swallowed hard. “Drew, I was going to tell you everything after the launch. I swear. I just”

“Stop.” The word cracked in the air like thunder. He rose from the chair, pacing once before coming to stand at the edge of my bed. His shadow loomed over me, his presence filling every corner of the room. “The doctor already told me.”

The air thinned. My pulse raced. “Told you… what?”

His eyes, usually so controlled, flared with something raw. “That you’re pregnant.”

The world stilled.

Pregnant.

The word slammed into me with the same force it had when I first saw the test strip months ago. My throat closed, heat rushing to my face, shame and fear twisting together until I could barely breathe.

He knew.

I didn't want him to find out like this. Not in a hospital room, not with fury carved into every line of his face.

“I…” My voice cracked, my chest heaving. “Drew, I can explain.”

“Explain?” His laugh was humorless, bitter. He leaned closer, his palms braced on either side of the bed, caging me in. His voice dropped, dangerously quiet. “Tell me, Lila. Do I even want to hear your explanation?”

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I was going to tell you”

“When?” His voice snapped like a whip. “After tonight? After I had bared out my heart to you about losing my child?” His hand raked through his hair, frustration bleeding into every movement. “Or were you waiting until it was too late to lie?”

The words cut deep, but I forced myself to meet his gaze. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then tell me the truth.” His eyes searched mine, desperate and furious all at once. “Tell me right now, Lila…”

He paused, his voice breaking for the first time, the question trembling on his lips.

“Is the child mine?”

The silence after was unbearable. The monitors beeped steadily, my shallow breaths loud in the space between us.

My heart pounded, my throat too tight to speak, because the truth wasn’t simple. It was tangled, messy, stained by one night we both tried to forget, and another man who had stolen too much from me already.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came. Just a choked inhale, tears spilling as I stared at the man who had saved me, the man I didn't want to hurt but ended up hurting.

And Drew’s face hardened at my silence, the weight of betrayal settling between us like a wall neither of us could climb.