LOGINGwen's POV The second I stepped out of the legal conference room, the word pregnant echoing in every corner of my mind, I was already walking down the hallway with my phone in my hand, my heart beating too fast for a body that had almost died a few weeks ago. I couldn't tell Nick in the middle of household chaos. I couldn't just toss out "I'm pregnant" the way you say "we're out of milk." And more than anything… I needed to see it. I needed proof with my own eyes. Paper. A stamp. A number. Because fear has a cruel way of whispering, what if it's a mistake? And hope, once it's been broken, learns to walk carefully. I asked my assistant to reschedule whatever she could. I called my doctor. They squeezed me in. The hospital smelled like disinfectant and anxiety. That alone was enough to turn my stomach. Reception. Signature. Wristband. Those automatic steps where you become a patient before you're a person. They ran the tests. I waited. In the waiting room, I sta
Gwen's POV "But… me? No… how?" The words didn't fit together. They refused to line up into something my brain could process. Christian let out a soft laugh despite the obvious tension in the room. "I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain the biological details," he said, attempting humor that barely held. I smacked his shoulder lightly, more reflex than anger. "Don't be an idiot," I muttered automatically. Then I corrected myself, because that wasn't the real question. "How do you know and I don't?" I demanded, looking straight at him. "How is it possible that you know I'm pregnant before I do?" His face turned serious instantly. "They found out during the pre-op exams," he explained, his calm clearly rehearsed. "Before the emergency surgery. It's protocol. Pregnancy test before general anesthesia." He paused. Something heavy crossed his expression. "And since I was the closest relative available at the time, I was the one the doctors informed. I was the one who
Gwen's POV The Kensington legal department's conference room was intimidating by design. A long table of polished dark mahogany. Black leather chairs that were just rigid enough to discourage emotional outbursts. An entire wall of glass overlooking Florentia, as if the city itself were a quiet reminder that inside this room, the world ran on rules. The opposite wall was lined with shelves of Italian legal codes, bound and aligned with almost aggressive precision. Three attorneys sat across from me. Julia March, family law, sharp-eyed in a way that suggested she'd seen every kind of domestic war imaginable. Marcus Ross, asset protection, carrying the clinical calm of someone who could turn panic into clauses. Leonardo Cross, coordinating everything, thin-framed glasses and a voice that sounded like it had been built to say, "This is incontestable." Christian sat at my side. Relaxed posture. Absolute attention. As always, even when he pretended not to be invested. I sat str
Gwen's POV I looked at him. At the man I loved, standing at the top of that tower, holding the open velvet box, the ring catching the ruthless Castorian sunlight. Vulnerable. Exposed. Fear still flickering in his eyes, and beneath it, a fragile hope trying not to die. My chest tightened. For days, I had watched Nick pull away. Build walls. Create distance because of Renee. Because of the poison she knew exactly how to drip into the cracks. Not anymore. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air that smelled like earth and ripening grapes. "Then ask me," I said. My voice came out steady. Clear. A decision. "Put the ring on my finger." He blinked, like I'd just yanked the foundation out from under his excuses. "But… Renee—" "Forget Renee," I cut in, the anger in my voice surprising even me. "Forget her plan. Forget what she wants. What she expects. What she predicted you would do." I stepped closer. "If you love me," I continued, softer now but no less inte
Gwen's POV I didn't tell him I was coming. I just got in my car Friday morning, told Dante to handle anything urgent, and drove straight to Montelira. To the estate. Parts of the property were almost unrecognizable. Metal scaffolding wrapped around the wing damaged by the fire. Blue tarps covered sections of the roof. Men in yellow helmets moved back and forth carrying materials, operating machinery. The sound of power saws and pneumatic drills echoed through hills that were usually quiet. And yet it was still familiar. Deeply familiar. The vineyards were as green and perfectly aligned as ever, endless rows stretching in clean geometric patterns. The scent of warm earth and ripening grapes filled the air. The Castorian sky arched wide and blue above everything, indifferent to the human chaos below. It was beautiful here. It always had been. I parked near the main house, in the part untouched by the fire. I turned off the engine and sat there for a moment, breathing. B
Gwen's POV In the days after the meeting at the gelato shop, something shifted. Subtle. Gradual. Like a thin layer of ice forming over water that used to run free. Nick started sleeping on the couch. "Bella and Martina are using the guest room," he explained the first night, grabbing an extra pillow from the closet. "And I'm going to stay up watching some documentaries about winemaking. I don't want to wake you with the TV." It made sense. It even sounded thoughtful. So I didn't question it. But the second night, he gave the same explanation. Just as casually. The third night, too. The fourth. Before I realized it, an entire week had passed without him sleeping in our bed. The bed felt too big. I started waking up alone every morning. Nick had already left. Always early. Always before the sun had fully risen. "I need to get to the estate early," he would text when I asked. "The contractors start at seven. I want to supervise everything personally." Reasonable.
When Christian came back into the waiting room, I noticed right away that something had changed in his expression. He looked tense, yes—but also focused, as if he'd just heard something serious that left him both worried and resolute. "Everything okay?" I asked as soon as he sat down beside me, se
The silence after Christian's words stretched endlessly, heavy and suffocating. I stared at his bruised face, my mind struggling to process what he'd just said. It wasn't an accident. Someone had tried to kill him. "How can you be sure?" I finally asked, my voice trembling despite my best effort t
Two weeks had passed since my family had moved into the mansion, and the place felt completely different. It was amazing how my parents and siblings had turned those vast, echoing halls into something that actually felt like home. My father had become Joseph's best friend, spending hours together
Two days after the revelation about Elise and Alex's car, I was still processing everything we'd uncovered. Christian had spent the morning on the phone with Marcus, discussing the next steps in the investigation, while I tried to hold on to some semblance of a normal routine—or what was left of it,







