02

Victoria Harper 

The silence in our bedroom was suffocating. Daniel’s laptop light glowed against his face like it was his lover instead of me. I hadn’t felt his touch in weeks, months, maybe. I didn’t even remember what it felt like anymore.

“Daniel…” I whispered, leaning closer. “Please… just touch me.”

I pushed his laptop aside and climbed onto his lap, desperate. Maybe if I reminded him what we once had, he’d remember too.

But his eyes didn’t soften. They hardened.

“Stop, Victoria,” he said, his voice colder than the room. “I can’t have sex with you tonight.”

I froze, shame crawling up my spine.

He released me with a rough push, and I tumbled off his lap, sprawled across the mattress. My chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, my heart beating against my ribs in humiliation.

I turned my head, hair falling over my face. “When, Daniel?” My voice cracked. “You haven’t touched me in months. Every time I try, there’s another excuse, your campaign, your perfect image. What about me? What about us?”

His laptop was already back in his lap. He didn’t even look at me. “Control yourself, Victoria. You’re not a teenager and you know I can’t risk distractions right now.”

Tears burned in my eyes. “Distraction? I’m your fiancée! I just need you. I’m begging for you like a fool, and you can’t even look at me. Do you know how pathetic that makes me feel?”

Finally, his gaze snapped to me, blazing. “Enough!” he warned. The sound made me flinch. “My career comes first. Always.”

I shrank back, clutching the sheets to cover myself even though the shame already coated me. 

I picked up my robe, covering myself. Was it wrong that I just wanted to be treated like a woman? To be seen, to be touched, to be craved, to be looked at with affection? 

Was I really that unattractive?

The thought burned—but only for a moment. 

maybe it was time I stopped waiting for scraps of affection from a man who only wanted power, not me.

I shook it off immediately. I had a future too, one I was actually working towards but I still had time for him. Why couldn’t he do the same? 

This wasn’t who I fell in love with. He used to touch me and need me like I was his world. 

Since he was so focused on work, I should be too. If I spent more time at work, I wouldn’t have the time to be horny. With frustration, I made my way to my office. 

I opened my case board, faces, dates, strings, all circling one name: Camorri Cartel.

A mafia network I'd been tracking for months. Smuggling, extortion, laundering—all of it. 

I had been chasing the Camorri cartel for six months now, but I kept catching loyal dogs, never the master.

And yet, lately, I could feel him watching me. Someone was getting nervous—someone powerful enough to hide in plain sight.

If I could find this, it would be the break in my career. 

Daniel probably doubted me and my ability, that is why he didn’t want me to go after the cartel but I would prove him wrong

I pushed away from the desk, suddenly lightheaded. 

I had been feeling dizzy and sick all week because I wasn’t resting. 

"Coffee would fix it. Coffee always fixed it.

But the second I poured it, the smell hit me like a slap and I suddenly felt uneasy. My stomach clenched violently.

I bolted for the bathroom, barely making it before I was on my knees, clutching the toilet, retching until my throat burned

When it passed, I stayed on the floor, my back against the wall, breathing hard.

This wasn’t just the need to rest. My hands leaped to my belly. Could I be…? 

I immediately opened the cabinet and pulled out a pregnancy test. I took took the test and paced around the bathroom, impatiently 

When the result appeared, I froze.

Two pink lines.

Pregnant. Impossible 

My knees buckled, I sank onto the cold tile floor, the test trembling in my hands. Daniel hadn’t touched me in months. No one had.

So how the hell was I carrying a child?