MasukChristian's POV The Crystal Gallery felt like it had been designed to test the discipline of any man who'd ever sworn he didn't care about storefronts. Everything gleamed. Glass, marble, that kind of flawless order that somehow made everything look more expensive just by being exactly where it belonged. Different scents lingered in the air. A trace of new leather. A hint of citrus drifting from an open boutique. And somewhere nearby, the smell of fresh coffee that made you want to stop for no reason at all. Well-dressed people moved at an unhurried pace, like no one there had anywhere to be. Discreet security in all the right places. Employees with perfectly measured smiles. And me, trying to convince myself this was just a "quick stop for a few hours." Zoey walked in like the place belonged to her. And honestly, it did. Because Zoey had that ability. She didn't need to belong to a space to own it. All she had to do was exist the way she naturally did. I walked beside h
Zoey's POV I still couldn't pinpoint the exact moment my morning in London—which had started with a pregnancy test on the sink and me trying not to pass out—turned into an international operation. But somehow, before I knew it, we were all on the Kensington jet, heading to Valentia. And when I say "all," I mean all. The adults. The kids. The nannies. And… Ginger. Ginger was stretched out in the most spacious part of the cabin, wearing that confident look of a dog who was born to be loved and sneak forbidden snacks. Matt was so thrilled she was there, he seemed to have forgotten he'd just switched countries like it was nothing more than changing rooms. "Mom, look!" he announced, at three years old and fully convinced that anything new in the world existed purely to be shown to me. "Ginger's with me!" "I see, baby," I said, kissing the top of his head. I kissed Matt so often it should probably be illegal in some countries. His nanny—who had come from Verdania with Chris
Christian's POV Pregnant. Zoey was pregnant. The word still felt too big to fit inside Annabelle's bedroom, but it was real all the same. Real like her hand gripping mine. Real like the test sitting on the sink. Real like the silence that came before the moment we finally looked at each other. Our second child. Or daughter. I blinked once, like my body needed time to catch up before my soul could. I'd spent weeks chasing adrenaline. And I had just found it. Just not the way I expected. "I wanted to surprise you…" I said, still a little dazed. My own voice sounded different to me. Softer. Not the CEO. Not Kensington. Just me. "Turns out I'm the one who got surprised." Zoey smiled through her tears, and that smile hit me like sunlight after a week of relentless London rain. "I know," she murmured, wiping her face with the back of her hand like she was annoyed at her own emotions. "I can't believe I needed Matthew to figure this out for me." She let out a shaky l
Zoey's POV "Okay," Annie said, way too practical. "Let's give them space." She grabbed Matthew with one hand and Nate with the other like she was dragging two kids away from an electrical outlet. Matthew still turned his head back, clearly wanting to stay. And in that split second before they left, I saw his lips move close to Annie's ear. "We're listening at the door, right?" Annie answered without a trace of guilt, like it was a sacred oath of sisterhood. "Obviously." The bedroom door clicked shut. I stood there in the middle of the room like I'd forgotten how to exist in my own body. Christian took a step toward me. It wasn't aggressive. But it was decisive. That was always how he moved. The world could be on fire, and he'd still find the center and choose exactly where to stand. "You think I'm cheating on you?" he asked. His voice was controlled. But there was something else in it. Something I didn't want to see. Pain. "How could you think that?" h
Zoey's POV London was waking up the way London always does. Pale light slipping through the window like it was too polite to be called sunlight. The sky that same permanent gray. But inside Annie's house, there was warmth that didn't come from the heating. It came from the fact that, for a few hours, I got to just be a sister. The kitchen was already alive when I walked in. Fresh coffee in the air. Fruit abandoned on a plate. A pitcher of juice someone had set on the table. Annie was sitting with her legs tucked under her, wearing a sweatshirt, hair tied up in a messy bun, holding her mug like it was part of her identity. I had my mug too. Except I wasn't drinking. I was staring at the coffee like it might give me answers. Annie took a sip, studied me over the rim, and made that face that said, 'I'm not going to push—but I'm absolutely reading you.. "That's going to get cold," she said calmly. "I know." "No, you don't," she corrected. "You're looking at that cof
Christian's POV I didn't like lying to Zoey. But right now, I had to. And I had to do it quietly—for three reasons. The first was simple and frustrating: I didn't know if this would work. And if I didn't know that, I wasn't about to build expectations. Not for her. Not for me. Not for anyone. The second was practical: it involved Kensington. And anything tied to Kensington could turn into headlines in seconds. Speculation. Rumors. Stories spreading across networks like they were facts. I'd seen it happen too fast to ever trust "no one will find out." The third reason was the one that made the guilt sit heavier—and at the same time justified everything: I wanted it to be a surprise. Zoey deserved a real surprise. Not just something expensive or beautiful. Something that meant something. So when I told her that morning I was heading to the Serene Port office early… I lied. I was actually flying to Solara Bay to make it all happen. The car dropped me at the airport b
Madeline's POV "How about we have dinner at the main restaurant tonight?" Apollo suggested while we were still finishing getting ready after the pool incident. "I'm tired of room service." "You're tired of room service?" I laughed, adjusting my dress and watching him in the mirror. "Who are you,
The small chapel was only a few minutes from the mansion, but the trip there would be made with all the pomp a family like ours deserved. A row of classic cars was parked in front of the main entrance. There was a silver Rolls-Royce Phantom, two vintage Bentleys, and a classic 1950s Mercedes, all im
Madeline's POV I woke up to sunlight streaming through the bungalow's massive glass windows. The sound of waves gently hitting the stilts blended with the distant call of birds, creating the perfect soundtrack for what felt like a dream. For a moment, I just lay there, taking in the view—the tur
Madeline's POV Apollo had been gone for over an hour on a work call he'd promised would be quick, and since then I'd found myself sitting there, staring at the impeccably cleaned room, feeling his absence in a way that unsettled me. I shouldn't have missed him. We shouldn't have gotten to this p







