ANMELDENJosie’s POVI woke up the next morning with my hand still resting on my stomach like it had been all night. The babies were moving again in small flutters that felt like butterflies trying to remind me they were there. I lay there for a long time staring at the ceiling while Alexander slept beside me. His arm was thrown across my waist the way it always was, heavy and protective, like even in his dreams he was afraid I might slip away. Last night’s fight still hung in the air between us, the DNA report, the half-brother he had erased, lies he had kept for fifteen years, I had gone to bed without saying another word and he hadn’t pushed me, he just held me tighter than usual like he knew the silence was louder than any shouting.I slipped out of bed careful not to wake him and went to check on Lily, she was already up drawing at the kitchen table with her favorite crayons scattered everywhere. When she saw me she held up the picture she had made. Three stick figures again but this ti
Josie’s POVThe next morning I woke up before Alexander and went straight to the office. The USB drive from Victor was still plugged in. I opened the last file I hadn’t looked at yet. A single PDF labeled “DNA Confirmation – Hart Lineage.” My hands shook as I clicked it open, the report was dated fourteen years ago, two samples. One from Alexander’s father, one from Victor, the results were clear in black and white, Victor Elias Hart was the biological son of Elias Hart Senior, half-brother to Alexander, the real first-born heir.I sat there staring at the paper until the words blurred. Alexander had known, he had known the whole time, he had erased his own half-brother not because Victor was dangerous but because Victor was the one who should have inherited everything, the throne, empire, name. Alexander had taken it all and then spent twenty years making sure no one ever found out.I printed the report and folded it into my pocket. My stomach felt tight and the babies fluttered like
Josie’s POVThe next morning I woke up before the sun and sneaked out of bed. Alexander was still asleep, one arm stretched out like he was reaching for me even in his dreams.I stood in the doorway for a second and just watched him, my husband who had fucked me against the wall last night like he was terrified I would disappear was now sleeping peacefully. I touched my stomach and felt the tiny flutter again, two babies, our babies, I couldn’t keep hiding things forever, but I also couldn’t tell him until I knew the truth about that hunting trip fifteen years ago.I went straight to the office and locked the door behind me. The USB drive felt heavy in my hand when I plugged it in. I opened the files one by one. The coroner report looked real. The witness statement had a signature that could have been Alexander’s. The bank transfer showed money moving from one of his private accounts to a fixer who specialized in making problems disappear. Everything lined up exactly the way Victor
Josie’s POV“Hart-Alexander Twins on the Way.” Some headlines called it a fairytale. Others called it a calculated move to lock in the empire. I sat at the kitchen island with my coffee going cold while Lily colored beside me and Alexander read the papers with a tight jaw. The secret was out. Victor had made sure of that. But the pregnancy was real. Two babies. Our babies. I touched my stomach under the table and felt the flutter again, tiny and real, like they were already reminding me what I was fighting for.“We’re still doing the wedding,” I said quietly. “The real one,no more waiting.”Alexander looked up from the paper and his eyes softened the second they met mine. “Tomorrow if you want. I don’t care about the press or the timing. I just want you as my wife for real.”Lily’s head popped up. “A wedding? With flowers and cake and me in a pretty dress?”I laughed and pulled her into my lap. “Yes baby. With flowers and cake and you in the prettiest dress ever.”We spent the mornin
Josie’s POVI woke up the next morning with Alexander’s arm still locked around my waist and the faint taste of last night’s wine on my tongue, for one quiet second everything felt right. Lily was humming in the kitchen with the nanny, the city glowed soft and gold beyond the windows, and the stock ticker on my phone showed Hart-Alexander Holdings up three percent before the market even opened, Victor’s last desperate push had failed, we had held the line.Then my phone started buzzing.Not one message. Not two. A flood. Notifications from every news app, every gossip site, every society account we had ever been tagged in. I sat up slowly, careful not to wake Alexander, and opened the first headline.HART WIDOW PREGNANT WITH UNCLE’S TWINS—REVENGE BABY OR TRUE LOVE?My stomach dropped so fast I thought I might be sick, the article had photos, blurry paparazzi shots of me leaving the pharmacy two weeks ago. Security footage from the penthouse elevator showing me touching my stomach when
Josie’s POVWe stepped off the jet into the New York night with the city lights stretching out like they were welcoming us home.Lily was waiting at the penthouse when we walked in, already in her pajamas with her bear tucked under one arm. She ran straight to us and threw herself into our arms like we had been gone for weeks instead of hours. I held her tight breathing in the smell of her shampoo and crayons while Alexander wrapped both of us up in one big hug, but the war wasn’t over.The next morning the market opened and Victor hit harder, he flooded every financial site with carefully timed leaks about “hidden liabilities” in the new Hart-Alexander Holdings, the stock dipped again, board members started calling me directly asking if the rumors were true. I sat at the desk with my hand resting on my stomach without thinking and felt the panic rise, my little babies, my tiny creatures depending on me to keep this empire standing so they would have something safe to come into, I







