LOGINInside, 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
Three days later, Blair sat in the back of an unmarked FBI surveillance van two blocks away from St. Matthew’s Cathedral, watching her own funeral on a small monitor. The irony wasn’t lost on her. If wasn’t so important what they were doing, she might have enjoyed it more. She could see the Gothic
After their shower, Blair wrapped herself in a towel and padded back to the bedroom, her body still humming from their morning activities. She was reaching for her clothes when she heard Roman clear his throat behind her. She turned around and her breath caught. Roman was on one knee, wearing nothi
“How could he?” Blair’s voice was barely a whisper. “Because if Warner Industries is worth fifty million dollars, and your parents died while you guys were still very young… It was like taking candy from a baby.” Blair felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. The room was spinning, and
Blair sat in the passenger seat of Roman’s car, staring out at the city lights as they drove back. Her throat was raw from giving her statement, and she felt emotionally drained in a way she hadn’t expected. They had told Roman’s family that she was ok but they had been kept away from the funeral fo







