Chapter 1

I was supposed to get married.

Everything was ready — the gown, the church, the dreams we had built together. I thought I was the luckiest woman alive.

Until one night shattered everything.

A night I wish I could erase forever.

A one-night stand.

A single mistake that tore my peaceful life apart.

I tried to hide it — the guilt, the shame, the secret growing inside me. But fate had a cruel way of unearthing truths. I was pregnant. And the father was a man whose name I didn’t even know — a stranger whose face haunted my dreams.

Tears streamed down my face as I confessed everything to my fiancé, Marco. I was ready for his anger, ready for him to walk away. But instead, he took me in his arms, his voice trembling as he whispered,

“I can accept this. Marry me anyway, Katya. I can’t live without you.”

“Marco…” My voice cracked. “I made a mistake. I don’t even know if we should still go through with this.”

“No, Katya. Don’t just leave me like this. Please, stay. I’ll take everything — the pain, the shame — just don’t walk away.”

I shook my head, sobbing. “I can’t. My baby isn’t yours, Marco! Don’t you see how filthy I am? Because of what I did, we’re already broken.”

I loved him — deeply, painfully — but I no longer felt worthy of him. So I ended it.

I left him there, kneeling, begging, the engagement ring trembling in his hand.

It was the only thing I could do for him. He deserved the world — not someone as ruined as me.

Months passed.

Now pregnant, I forced myself to keep working. Days blurred into nights at the law firm where I worked as a junior assistant. Every tick of the clock reminded me of what I had lost, and what I carried.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase his face — the man from that night.

It had been a company event, held in a luxury hotel. I barely drank. only a few glasses but somehow, the alcohol hit me harder than it should have. My vision spun as I tried to return to my room, but I made a mistake. I entered the wrong door.

Inside was a man. He is also drunk, his shirt half-open, his gaze dark and unfocused. Our eyes met. Something in the air shifted.

I should’ve turned and left. But my body refused to move. The next thing I knew, his hands were on my skin, his lips tracing fire down my neck.

I tried to push him away. I should have. But the warmth, the chaos, the desperate loneliness inside me. all blurred into one moment of weakness.

And then it happened.

A night I could never take back.

“Miss Katya?”

My co-worker’s voice snapped me back to reality. The pile of documents on my desk reminded me where I was a law firm owned by the Dawsons, one of the most powerful families in the city.

Mr. Dawson, my employer, was a stern man in his mid-sixties, known for his sharp mind and unshakable discipline. But lately, the firm had been buzzing with news — his son had returned from the States after years abroad. He was set to take over the company soon.

From what I had heard, the Dawsons owned more than just the law firm. They had their hands in finance, construction, and even international trade.

Everyone was curious about the heir — Ethan Dawson.

The man rumored to be cold, brilliant, and dangerously charming.

I didn’t care to know him. I just wanted to keep my head down, survive each day, and protect the life growing inside me.

But fate… had other plans.

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The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.

Every head in the office turned. Conversations stopped. Even the air seemed to freeze.

Ethan Dawson had arrived.

He was taller than I remembered. broad-shouldered, poised, dressed in a charcoal suit that perfectly framed his lean figure. His hair was slightly tousled, his sharp eyes sweeping through the room with quiet command. Every stride was confident. Every glance carried weight.

My heart skipped.

I knew that walk. That presence. That voice.

My hands trembled as I clutched the file I was holding. I wanted to look away, to pretend I didn’t see him but my body refused to obey. My breath caught when his eyes found mine across the room.

A flicker of recognition.

Then confusion.

Then silence.

He stared just for a second. But in that second, my entire world tilted.

“Miss Ramirez?”

My name rolled off his tongue.

“Yes, sir?” I managed to say, forcing professionalism into my trembling voice.

He studied me a moment longer before nodding curtly. “Follow me to my office.”

I was so afraid. And the secret I was hiding. the one growing inside me was something that would soon change both of our lives forever.