MasukInside, Blair sat on the sofa, her hand resting on her slight belly, while Roman stood nearby deep in conversation with Luca. Two-year-old Olivia was showing off her drawings to anyone who would look."Aunt Keira!" Olivia shouted, abandoning her colouring-in to run across the room. Keira bent down,
Olivia, growing restless, wiggled off Blair’s lap. “Can I go play with my blocks?”“Yes, but stay in the playroom,” Roman told her. “I’ll be there in a minute.”As Olivia skipped off, Roman pulled Blair to her feet and into his arms. “You look tired. You should have let me bring someone in to handle
“Mama! Look!”Blair looked up from her laptop to see her two-year-old daughter, Olivia, proudly showing off a crayon drawing that was mostly colorful scribbles.“That’s beautiful, sweetheart,” Blair said, genuinely impressed with the artwork of her toddler. “Is that our family?”Olivia nodded madly,
"Is that what you think?" Niko's voice was dangerously quiet. "That your only value is as a... what? A royal broodmare?""It's the reality of our position," she insisted. "The Wystovian crown needs an heir. You need an heir. And I can't—" Her voice broke.Niko crossed the distance between them in th
"I'm trying to protect him—""From what? From having a choice?" Keira's voice grew stronger. "You're deciding what's best for Niko without asking him what he wants. That's not protection, that's control."Amelia stared at her, startled by the blunt assessment."Look, I get it. The pressure is overwh
Amelia shook her head, the weight of her failure pressing down on her. "The doctors say there's nothing wrong with Niko, which means the problem lies with me. I'm considering stepping aside, letting him divorce me so he can marry someone who can actually give him an heir." She glanced at Keira, sudd
Alexei's tone softened. "It won't be easy," he acknowledged. "But nothing worth fighting for ever is. And you, Keira, in my eyes are worth fighting for."He leaned forward, planting a kiss on her lips as his hand moved up, spanning her neck. "I want you," he whispered against her mouth, his voice hu
Keira woke to sunlight streaming through the room. She blinked slowly, memories of the night before flooding back from Alexei's proposal on the terrace, and the multiple times they'd made love, her body was sore in all the right places.Stretching, she reached across the bed only to find cool sheets
Through a glass window Keira spotted a young girl, barely nine years old, sitting by herself in a waiting area opposite them. Her face showed fading scratches, and her left arm was wrapped in a vibrant pink cast. Something about the child's solitude pulled at Keira's heartstrings. She noticed tears
"It's not just that," she said, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It's everything. The pressure, the scrutiny, feeling like I'm constantly being judged and found wanting.""Keira…" Alexei said, his brow furrowed with concern."No, you want to hear it… I don't know how to be what everyone expects," Ke







