LOGINKAEL'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 didn't sleep that night.**She lay on her back staring at the ceiling while Kael's breathing beside her stayed too even, too controlled. He wasn't asleep either. They both knew it. Neither said anything about it.*Vanessa.*The name sat in her chest like a stone.She'd told herself yesterday was a coincidence. People run into each other. Cities aren't that big. Exes exist. She'd told herself all of it and almost believed it.Almost.She turned her head and looked at Kael's profile in the dark. His jaw was tight. His eyes were open."You've been staring at the ceiling for two hours," she said."So have you.""Tell me what you know."He was quiet for a long moment — long enough that she thought he might not answer. Then he exhaled slowly and sat up, elbows on his knees, his back to her."My guy told me she's been in the city for three weeks."Harlow sat up. "Three weeks.""Before she showed up at the restaurant."The number landed wrong. Three weeks wasn't an accident. Three week
Harlow woke early but stayed in bed, watching Kael sit beside her with his phone in hand. He wasn't really looking at it."You didn't sleep much," she said."I did." It wasn't true, and they both knew it.She sat up slowly, rubbing her face. Her body felt strange, like it had changed without asking permission. Without thinking, she placed a hand over her stomach. Kael noticed immediately and reached for her hand, holding it gently."Any pain?" he asked."No.""Any sickness?""Not yet."He nodded, checking off invisible boxes like it was the only way to keep himself calm. Harlow smiled faintly. "You don't have to monitor me every second.""I do," he replied, and there was no argument in his voice. Just certainty. That made her quiet for a moment, not because she disagreed but because she understood where it came from.They got ready and went for a short walk. The air outside was cool and quiet. Neither spoke much at first. Kael stayed close, his hand brushing hers again and again like
KAEL'S POVFor a moment after the doctor spoke, I forgot how to breathe. Pregnant. That single word kept echoing in my head like it didn’t belong in real life, like it couldn’t possibly be real.I looked at Harlow. She was staring at the doctor, completely frozen, like her body hadn’t decided what
HARLOW'S POV The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room, and then everything tilted. I stared at Vanessa, at Kael, and finally at the horrified expression on my father's face. The walls seemed to sway around me. The room was suddenly too hot, too loud, and too crowded, all the voices b
HARLOW'S POV I should have known it would not stay peaceful; nothing in my life ever did. As the applause faded, conversations started up again and music drifted through the house. People raised their glasses and moved back into little groups. For a few minutes, everything felt normal. Dangerous
HARLOW'S POV The night before the party, I could not sleep.Kael was beside me, his breathing slow and even. His arm was draped over my waist. His face was relaxed in sleep.I slipped out of bed and walked to the window.The city was still awake. Lights flickered in buildings across the skyline. C







