LOGINGwen's POV Two months have a cruel way of looking short on a calendar and endless in your body. The new routine settled like fine dust. You don't see it at first, but you feel it in your throat. I memorized visitation hours like medication instructions. I learned not to ask questions that sounded like interrogations. I learned to smile at Bella without asking for anything back. And most of all, I learned the sound of Nick's car in the garage. That afternoon, I heard the elevator and closed my laptop before finishing the email. Automatic. My body already knew. Nick walked in without announcing himself. Not because he was trying to be dramatic. He just saved words when words were expensive. He dropped his keys on the console, took off his coat slowly, and stood there for a second like the house had shifted in the last three days. "She asked again," he said. I didn't ask what, because I knew. I just stepped close enough for him to see me without feeling cornered. "'Can I
Nick's POV Bella's backpack felt too light for what I was doing. I zipped it up slowly, feeling the resistance of the fabric like it was the only real thing in a morning that had turned into a legal maze. Inside, I packed things she'd recognize without thinking. The pencil case with the cracked lid. Her sketchbook. Two changes of clothes. Pajamas. Her favorite hoodie. The pair of socks with little stars she insisted were "lucky." None of it was her life. Just a small enough slice so it wouldn't feel like goodbye. I heard footsteps in the living room and Martina's low voice, soft, careful, like she was building a nest around her. "Are you taking your necklace?" Martina asked. "The friendship one?" Bella replied, bright. "Yes!" I paused for half a second, my hand still on the backpack strap. That necklace had become proof of affection and, at the same time, potential ammunition. I hated how everything blurred together like that. Bella appeared at the end of the hallway
Nick's POV The silence in the car was worse than anything else. I drove without remembering the route. Gwen sat with her hands folded in her lap, her fingers moving now and then like she was counting something invisible to keep herself steady. Heartbeats. Deadlines. Fear. When we got home, Bella was in the living room with Martina, sitting on the floor drawing. When she saw us, she looked up and smiled. Small. Real. The kind of joy that wrecked me because it had no idea what was coming. "Daddy!" She jumped up and ran to me with that pure, instinctive sense of belonging. I crouched down and hugged her, squeezing my eyes shut. "Hey, baby." Martina looked at me, then at Gwen, reading the news in our faces. She didn't ask. She just stood slowly and touched my shoulder. A silent I'm here. It took me a full minute to find words that didn't taste like panic. "Bella… can you come with me for a minute?" I asked. "Let's talk in your room." She nodded like it was nothing. To
Nick's POV "Based on the technical evaluation and the minor's well-being, I grant the request for a provisional measure, establishing temporary residence with the mother, with visitation rights for the father on designated days and times, until further review by this court." I heard every word. But it felt like listening to a language I only understood well enough to recognize danger, not well enough to defend myself against it. Mother. Father. Visitation. Review. The sound went distant and unbearably heavy at the same time. I watched the judge's mouth move and thought, stupidly, that I should've brought a glass of water. That I should've slept more. That I should've answered differently somewhere along the way. On some random day. In some conversation that had now turned into this. A clean, almost polite sentence about my daughter's life. I caught a glimpse of Renee. Perfect hair. Straight posture. That calculated calm she only wore when she was winning. Her lawyer already
Nick's POV Three days isn't enough time for anyone to pull themselves together. But it's more than enough time for the world to decide what it wants to do with you. Cross called in the middle of a morning I was pretending was normal. The kind of normal where I sign off on construction paperwork, answer supplier messages, and act like my brain isn't split in two. One half working. The other counting how many times Bella blinked differently since the interview. "Valemont?" His voice was direct. No good morning. "The temporary custody hearing's been scheduled." I froze where I stood. The noise from the site turned into a dull hum. "When?" "Today." A short pause. "Two o'clock." I felt the ground shift under me. Not enough to fall. Just enough to remind me how heavy my body suddenly was. That physical reminder that I wasn't in control. "Today…" "Yes. And I need you here." His voice lowered. "Calm. No improvising. Understood?" I looked up at the gray sky and thought, no
Gwen's POV The way Dante said it told me exactly how serious this was. It wasn't gossip. It wasn't a hallway rumor. It was something that demanded eyes on it. Context. Something we'd have to face head-on. Nick nodded once. Sharp. I saw his shoulders tighten like he was bracing for impact. Bella stayed in the backseat a second longer, still buckled in, looking from Dante to us like she was trying to figure out why adults always wore that same worried expression. "Come on, princess," Dante said gently, gesturing without rushing her. "It'll be quick." Bella climbed out slowly, stepping onto the gravel with too much care for a child her age. I felt the urge to take her hand. I didn't. Dante led us along the side of the main house. The path was short, but here at the estate, everything echoed. Every door. Every corridor. Every corner still held that recent silence. The kind that reminded you how much worse things could've been. We stepped into one of the small support rooms. I
I kept staring at the tests. The word pregnant blinked on the digital screen like a neon sign refusing to die. "Zoey?" Annie's voice sounded distant, almost muffled. "Breathe." That's when I realized I hadn't been breathing. My lungs burned as I finally drew in air, sharp and uneven, like a seri
Annabelle's POV The electronic beat pulsed through the bar as I took another sip of my cocktail, watching Amanda try to get the attention of the hot bartender who was clearly more into his own reflection in the mirror behind the counter. "Mandy, give it up. That guy's more in love with himself t
I ran through the halls of Silvercrest Medical Center like my life depended on it, my heart pounding so hard it hurt to breathe. The fluorescent lights blurred above me, and the antiseptic smell made me queasy—or maybe it was the pregnancy hormones mixing with sheer panic. "Christian Kensington,"
"Water? Seriously?" Annie's eyes narrowed, a wicked smile curving her lips. "You're at the Kensington winery's party of the year. Are you insane, or should I start calling you Mom?" I turned to see her striding toward me, two glasses of wine in hand. She offered me one, her brow furrowed. "Annie







