Mag-log inInside, 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
Sutton hadn’t realized how draining it was going to be leaving Miles at the hospital. She felt empty. She was so glad she had Luca. She was so tired.Her body still ached from the hospital stay, her muscles weak from the enforced bed rest on top of everything else, but her heart was raw from everyth
One week later, Sutton was losing her damn mind.“How are you doing today, Miss Warner?” the nurse chirped as she passed by.“Still trapped in this hospital, no offense,” Sutton muttered with a smile that was at least 20% sincere. “But thank you for asking. Do we know when the doctor is likely to re
Her sisters and Roman had left before the fireworks. Sutton was glad Keira had been fuming mad. It was late morning by the time the hospital chief of staff left the room.Or rather, backed out with a pale face and a panicked promise to “get to the bottom of this.” Luca hadn’t raised his voice; he ha
“Papa.”She turned to face Luca when she heard his voice.She had expected to see Luca with his father, sort of bracing herself to meet the man who hadn’t wanted her in his son’s life. What she hadn’t expected…was that he’d be alone and staring directly at the man beside her.The man with the cane.







