로그인Arabella Lucas was watching us this whole time, wasn’t he?It had to be him.The thought slammed into me like a second accident. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. The phantom hand behind our perfect new life."We need to go. We need to leave right now!" My voice cracked, sharp and frantic, echoing off the sterile hospital walls."Miss Stevens, please, you haven't been discharged yet," a nurse said, stepping into my path.I ignored her, my hands shaking violently as I tore at the medical tape on my wrist, ripping the IV drip out of my skin. A drop of dark blood welled where the needle had been, but I didn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything but the blinding, icy spike of adrenaline. I lunged toward the bassinet, scooping Amal up and clutching him against my ribs like a shield.“Monica!” A hand grabbed my arm.“What?!” I yelled, spinning around and clutching Amal so tightly he whimpered.Amy had just walked back into the room. They both froze at the sight of me wild
Lucas had never been so frightened in his life. It was a different kind of fear seeing his whole world in such situation. A breath away from hurt. His whole body trembled, his chest heaving as if he were still sprinting, still fighting for air. The adrenaline was beginning to ebb, leaving behind a cold, paralyzing terror that turned his knees to water."Who could have done this?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a rare, jagged vulnerability. "Is it happening again? Is someone trying to reach them because of me? Because I’m too close?"He looked down at his hands, the same hands that had just held the two most precious things in his existence and felt a wave of visceral self-loathing. "Maybe they’re better off without me. Maybe my very presence is the curse.""Lucas," Alex said firmly, though his own body was vibrating with the aftershocks of the event. "It was an accident. The vehicle rolled off a slope; the parking brake failed. There was no intent.""What would have happened
Lucas had been watching them from the shadows for nearly an hour, a rare, ghost-like smile softening his jagged features. He hadn't intended to stalk them, but he found he couldn't look away. There was a quiet, satisfied light in Arabella’s eyes. He watched, transfixed, as she leaned over the stroller to stroke Amal’s cheek a simple, motherly gesture that felt more sacred than any prayer.Lucas’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp dread that spiked through his veins. The vehicle was swerving, a runaway beast of steel barreling uncontrollably toward the sidewalk.Toward them.His heart didn't just skip; it stopped.Lucas was moving before his brain could even process the terror. He sprinted, his boots striking the pavement with a desperate rhythm. He saw the exact moment Arabella realized what was happening—the way she froze, the way she tried to shove the stroller with trembling hands, and then, the final, selfless act of throwing her own body over the carriage to shield th
"Boss, she wants a house," Alex reported, his voice low. He didn't really need to say it. Lucas didn’t answer immediately. He was hunched over a sturdy oak workbench, the air around him thick with the scent of sawdust and beeswax. He was meticulously assembling a handcrafted wooden crib, his large, scarred hands hands that had once moved with lethal precision to break men now moving with a delicacy that would have shocked his enemies."I know, Alex," Lucas murmured, not looking up from the joinery."She wants a nursery connected to her room," Alex added, stepping closer.A faint, knowing smirk touched Lucas’s lips. "I know."He finally straightened, wiping his hands on a rag before gesturing for Alex to look at the display boards leaning against the far wall. Alex’s jaw dropped. It wasn't just a sketch or a vague floor plan. It was a masterpiece of domestic architecture."You've been working on this? Already?" Alex scanned the progress photos pinned to the board. The dates were sta
" I miss him,” Lucas admitted with an aching chuckle. “Toothless. I miss the both of them so much.” "I miss them both so much it feels like I’m breathing glass. I can see her I can watch her walk to work and back. But Amal? He’s always tucked away against her chest, hidden in that carrier like a chick under a protective hen. I can’t even get a glimpse of his chubby cheeks."He let out a heavy sigh. “Maybe I’m being greedy. I already get to see her.”His hand unconsciously stroked the small photo he kept in his pocket — the only image he had of his son, taken right after birth. A tiny, red, wrinkled newborn with a tuft of dark hair.“His only picture is him as a half-baked bean,” Lucas whispered with a sad chuckle. “Soft and red. Right from inside of her.”Alex watched his boss carefully, saying nothing. He had already started forming quiet plans — ways to let Lucas see his son without disrupting the fragile peace Arabella had built.For now, Lucas was content to love them from the s
Arabella Life with Amal was a series of small, quiet miracles. He was such a good baby, almost as if he knew his mommy had been through a war and he didn't want to add to her burden. He slept through most of the night, and as I administered his medication punctually, I could see him getting stronger, his tiny cheeks filling out.But reality was never far behind. Money was a constant, gnawing shadow.“Mommy still has to get a job, snuggles,” I whispered one morning, strapping him into his baby bag for the day's walk. “And we’ll get a bigger house soon. I promise."One morning, I woke up to the sound of construction outside. The stairs and the entire building were suddenly being renovated. Workers were everywhere, replacing old railings, fixing cracks in the walls, and painting fresh coats. I was surprised the building had been neglected for years. The landlord had barely done anything before.But they were serious. Everything inside the apartment was preserved with care. Nothing wa
Arabella. True to his words, Lucas was right there when I woke up.My eyes blinked open slowly, the blur of sleep clearing until his face came into focus—handsome in a way that made my chest tighten. His jaw was sharp, lips pressed into a faint line, eyes steady even in the quiet of morning. For a
Her body twisted against the sheets, small whimpers slipping from her throat, fragile and broken. The dream had her caught in its cruel grip, dragging her back into that night. Her hands clawed at the blanket, nails scraping, as though fighting shadows only she could see.“No… stop…” her voice crac
“You said I’m exclusively meant for you,” she whispered, her voice breaking on the words.“It hurt when you did that, Lucas.” Her tone was small, fragile, the kind that slipped through the cracks of his defenses. The horror of what she’d endured seemed to have stripped everything else away, leaving
Arabella was still sitting in her dark room when Lucas found her.She hadn’t moved. Not for hours.Her hands kept brushing absently against the bruises on her knee as though the motion alone could soothe her.With Don Antonio, she had experienced what true hatred was.Hatred so sharp, so cold, it s







