ANMELDENThat night I couldn’t sleep, not only because of the tension but the twins were moving around too much. It started as a slow roll beneath my ribs, then a sharp little jab, then something that felt a lot like both of them deciding to practice somersaults at once. I opened my eyes to gray morning light and pressed my palm against my stomach, wincing. "Easy," I whispered. "I'm up. I'm up." I sighed tiredly One of them kicked again, harder, and a dull, stretching ache pulled low across my belly. Not sharp, not the tight, unfamiliar pressure from the other day. Just uncomfortable, like my skin had grown a size too small overnight. I shifted onto my side, tried a deep breath, and felt the whole bed dip as Dorian sat up beside me. We slept together more often now "What is it?" He was awake all at once, his hand already on my shoulder, his voice scraped raw with sleep. "Noelle." "I'm okay." I smiled through it, thinking the babies were just being playful "You're holding your stomach
My body stretched out sluggish as I tried to fully wake up, my eyes were still heavy from sleeping and the room quiet. It took me about ten more minutes to fully wake up and sit up in bed, I rubbed my underbelly to get my body moving, before standing up. After using the toilet, I went to the study to look for Dorian. The study was empty. His chair was pushed back from the desk, his laptop open, a half-drunk cup of coffee gone cold beside it. For a second the empty room made my stomach dip, the way it had that morning in the hospital, until I heard a clatter drift up from the kitchen, followed by Marta's voice, low and amused. I followed the sound down the hall. The smell of garlic and butter and something warm and savory that made my mouth water before I'd even reached the kitchen. I stopped in the doorway, the table was already set and covered Dorian stood at the stove with his back to me, sleeves rolled to the elbow, a dish towel slung over one shoulder. A pan sizzled in fro
I waited until her breathing evened out before I let myself leave. Noelle slept the way she did everything else, fiercely and a little crooked, one hand curled protectively over her stomach, her hair fanned across the pillow like she'd lost an argument with it. I stood at the door longer than I should have. Long enough to watch her chest rise and fall twice. Long enough to remember the sound of her voice saying I love you, small and steady, like it had cost her everything. It had cost me something, too. I just hadn't realized how much until she said it. I closed the door with the quiet click she liked, and went down to my study. Camille had never said it. I'd told myself that was the arrangement, the honest part, the part we never lied about. We'd agreed on the facade and the terms, and love hadn't been on either list. But sitting behind my desk now, staring at the dark screen of my phone, I understood something I'd been avoiding for years: I hadn't missed it with her because I'
The voice note started off cracking. Josie's voice came out thin and strained, like she'd been crying or something “Hey…erm.” She sighs as if struggling to get the words out “I know this…unnecessary but I was just…erm checking on you.” A pause “people make mistakes Noelle. And I know you probably…I mean you do hate me but I just wanted to get it off my chest. I wanted to meet up personally but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see my face” My hands fisted listening to her, old wounds reopening but I tried to keep my cool “yeah…hope you’re okay though. You might never listen to this but I hope you do” I was getting tired of the sympathies and wanted to end it but the voice note cracked and the tone changed “now that, that’s off my chest” she sighs as if smiling “you have your own faults too you know? I mean…aiming for a rich guy? Well I guess I’m happy for you…but does he know it’s not his? I honestly didn’t think you would stoop so low, and to think you were innocent when you were
Dorian made sure I finished my meal, promising me everything would be fine and honestly I didn’t have the energy to argue. Most of my energy was already going towards the twins. By the time we were done with lunch, Dorian was already on his phone. He set the phone on the table between us. A calm, dry voice came through, the kind that had probably talked down a lot of panicked clients. "Mrs. Reyes, I'm sorry we're meeting this way. Dorian, I've read the piece twice. It's sloppy, but it was timed. Someone wanted it out before you could issue a statement." "Margaret," Dorian said again. "Likely. But likely isn't proof." Elias's tone sharpened. "The article gets the details wrong. It says embryos. Your records say a sample. That matters, because it means whoever leaked this had access to the clinic's file but not the whole file. I'd like to know who." I stared at the phone, my pulse unsteady. “Wait, does that mean she had a spy or something in the hospital?” “That is plausible” E
Dorian had fallen asleep with one arm draped over my waist, his face turned toward my shoulder, the lines that usually sat between his brows finally smoothed away. In sleep he looked younger, and less guarded. Like a man who'd set down something heavy. I stared at the ceiling and tried to make sense of what had just happened to me. Months ago, I would have laughed if someone told me I'd end up here. Not in this house, not with his hand resting on my stomach as if the babies were the most precious thing he'd ever been trusted with, not with my skin still warm from his touch. I'd walked into this marriage thinking it was an arrangement, a way to keep my children safe and my name out of the headlines. I had never planned on wanting him. But I did. God, I did. And it wasn't only the way he'd touched me, though my cheeks heated just thinking about it. It was how careful he'd been, asking at every step, stopping when he thought I might be afraid. Trent had never once asked me what I







