LOGINKAEL'S POVThe silence in the empty room crashed down on me like a physical blow. I stared at the crimson drop on the sheet, my mind spinning into a blind, wild panic. The IV stand was completely bare, the plastic tubing dangling uselessly in the air."Harlow!" I shouted, turning on my heel and throwing the bathroom door open. Empty.I bolted back into the hallway, nearly ripping the main door off its hinges. Julian was already on his feet, his phone pressed to his ear, but he dropped his hand the second he saw the look on my face."What's wrong?" he demanded, his voice instantly rising."She's gone," I roared, my hands shaking as I gripped the doorframe. "She ripped her IV out and left. Where the hell could she go?"Julian's face went completely white. "She can't walk down the street in her condition, Kael. She's too weak!"I didn't wait to argue. I sprinted down the corridor toward the nursing station, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Did anyone see the woman in room 214 leave?
KAEL'S POVI looked down at Harlow, making sure she was deeply asleep before I gently slipped my hand out of hers. I tucked the white blanket securely around her shoulders and leaned down to press one final kiss to her cheek."I'll be right back," I whispered against her skin. "I'm going to finish this."I stood up and followed the nervous nurse out into the hallway. Julian was sitting on a plastic chair across from the door, his head buried in his hands. He looked up when the door clicked, his sharp eyes instantly tracking my movement."Where are you going?" he demanded, standing up."Vanessa is downstairs," I said, my voice completely flat. "She has the decryption key to the server. Stay here and guard my woman. If she wakes up, don't tell her where I went."Julian's face hardened, but he nodded once, settling back into his seat right outside her door. He knew as well as I did that this was the endgame.The elevator ride down to the main lobby felt like an eternity. Every time the n
KAEL'S POVThe silence that followed the doctor's entrance was deafening, and the raw fury that had been pumping through my veins just a second ago evaporated, leaving nothing but an icy, hollow dread. Julian and I both froze, our eyes locked onto the woman in the white coat, and she looked tired, her expression carefully guarded, the way doctors always looked when they were delivering news that could break a person."Are you the family?" she asked, her gaze moving between my soaked, dripping suit and Julian's pale face."I'm her father," Julian said, his voice cracking for the first time, and the powerful billionaire seemed to shrink right before my eyes. "Is my daughter okay? The baby?""She suffered a severe vasovagal syncope, a profound faint, brought on by extreme emotional stress and physical exhaustion," the doctor explained in plain terms, looking directly at us. "When she fell, she took a hard hit to her hip and knees, but right now she is awake, and she's stable."I took my
HARLOW'S POVThe next morning arrived with a blinding clarity that no amount of late night passion could erase, and the folded document was still tucked safely inside the inner pocket of my coat, waiting like a ticking bomb. I left Kael sleeping peacefully in the tangle of our sheets and went downstairs before the rest of the house could wake, my hands perfectly steady as I dialed my father's private number.When Julian answered on the second ring, his voice was thick with sleep but instantly alert. I didn't give him room to ask questions, I simply told him I was coming over, and that he needed to ensure my mother was out of the house.Thirty minutes later, I walked into my father's study, and the room smelled of old leather, rich mahogany, and the faint, bitter scent of black coffee. Julian was standing by the window, his posture rigid, and he didn't look like the doting, eccentric man who had purchased twenty baby outfits the day before. He looked like the ruthless billionaire who
She didn't show him the paper that afternoon.She needed to sit with it first. Turn it over. Look at it from every angle before she handed it to him and watched his face change.Instead she watched him at dinner — how he refilled her glass without being asked, the way his fingers brushed hers longer than necessary. How he argued lightly with her mother about seasoning and lost gracefully, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth that made her thighs press together under the table. How his hand found the small of her back every time he passed behind her, like it was just what his hand did now — a proprietary warmth that seared through her dress and made her forget her own name.She watched and she thought and she said nothing.Later, the house was quiet.He found her in the kitchen near midnight, standing at the counter with a glass of water and too many thoughts. She was wearing one of his shirts — too large, slipping off one shoulder, the fabric thin from too many washes."You've
She told herself she wasn't going to go.She said it firmly in her head while she got dressed. Said it again while she drank her tea standing at the kitchen window. Said it a third time while she typed a reply she deleted before sending.She went anyway.The café Vanessa named was small and off a side street. Not flashy. Not the kind of place someone went to be seen. That alone made Harlow more nervous than anything else. It meant Vanessa wasn't performing. She wanted privacy.Harlow arrived five minutes early and chose a seat near the door.Vanessa walked in exactly on time.She was beautiful. Harlow had already known that from yesterday, but seeing her without the shock of surprise made it worse somehow. Vanessa moved like she'd never once been unsure of a room. Tall. Composed. The kind of woman who didn't fidget.She sat across from Harlow and set her bag down without rushing."You came," she said."Barely." Harlow didn't smile. "Say what you need to say. I have places to be."Vane
HARLOW'S POV The Grindstone felt different now. Before, it had been my escape. My place to hide from my father's expectations, from my failing grades, from the life I did not want. Now it was just a coffee shop. The same worn couches. The same sticky tables. The same bitter smell of old espresso
HARLOW'S POV The drive back to the penthouse was silent.Kael kept his eyes on the road. His hands gripped the steering wheel. I watched the city lights blur past the window and tried to breathe.My father had not thrown us out. He had not screamed. He had not disowned me.But he had looked at me
HARLOW'S POV I did not sleep on Saturday night.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father's face. The way he would look at me when he found out. The disappointment. The anger. The betrayal.Kael held me. His arms were warm. His chest was steady. But even he could not calm the storm inside me."
HARLOW'S POV The Grindstone was crowded for a Wednesday afternoon. I squeezed into the corner booth beside Sage, who immediately grabbed my arm."You told your mother," she said."I told my mother.""And she did not kill him?""She threatened to break his legs. But no, she did not kill him."Iris







