Chapter 4

After Lucien helped me move, we began our honeymoon. I’d suggested a quiet resort, something simple, given the Blackwell family’s financial state. But Lucien insisted on Bora Bora.

We landed at sunset, the sky painted pink and gold, the ocean glimmering like fire. For the first time since my rebirth, I felt… at peace. Like here, on this island, I could let go of every fear and burden.

“Come,” Lucien murmured, guiding me forward. “I booked us a suite.”

The word alone made my cheeks flush. Tonight would be my first night with Lucien Blackwell. I told myself I wasn’t nervous, but my racing heart betrayed me.

The moment we stepped into the suite, the atmosphere shifted. The room was ours alone—private, hushed, intimate. A bed scattered with red roses waited for us, hinting at everything that was about to happen.

Lucien took my hand and pulled me closer. “May I?” he asked softly, his eyes searching mine.

I nodded, whispering, “You don’t have to ask permission every time…”

And yet, the fact that he did—it made him the gentlest man I’d ever met.

His kiss was not gentle. Not this time. It was heated, urgent, consuming. My breath hitched as he claimed my mouth, and in a blur, we were falling back onto the bed, roses crushed beneath us.

Lucien looked down at me, his eyes burning, his fingers firm on my waist. The intensity of his gaze made me turn my head shyly, even though I wasn’t pulling away.

I shouldn’t have been shy. I’d been a wife, a mother. But here I was, blushing like a girl of eighteen.

“You don’t want this?” Lucien asked, his voice hesitant.

“No…” I turned back, meeting his eyes. “I’m just nervous.”

His lips quirked, almost boyish. “I am too.”

We both laughed then, the tension easing, though the fire between us didn’t dim.

He leaned closer, murmuring against my lips, “We shouldn’t waste another second.”

I didn’t answer with words. I kissed him back, surrendering to the moment, to him.

I had expected this marriage to be formal, distant—a business arrangement, nothing more. But in that bed, with Lucien Blackwell above me, burning with quiet passion, I realized how wrong I’d been.

Who would have imagined the calm, cold Lucien could be this hot, this devastating, this heartbreakingly sexy?

…

Life after the wedding turned out to be calmer than I expected. To my surprise, Lila hadn’t shown her face at my new home with Lucien. She hadn’t contacted me, hadn’t sent a single sneer my way.

Then, I heard the news—Lila was about to give birth.

It hadn’t even been a year since the wedding, and Lila was pregnant. From Father’s words, her due date was set for the first of next month.

If my calculations were correct, Lila must have conceived just after the wedding. There wouldn’t have been time for IVF treatments, especially considering Silas’s… condition.

I knew about Silas’s infertility from my past life. We’d gone to the doctor together when I couldn’t get pregnant. After tests, we’d learned the truth—Silas couldn’t father a child without medical intervention.

How could Silas—almost infertile Silas—have gotten Lila pregnant so quickly? Without any medical help?

The answer was almost too obvious, and yet, I refused to let myself think that way.

It’s not that I didn’t believe Lila was capable of such a thing, but if she truly dared to carry another man’s child just to please Silas Vane, I fear he would seek revenge on the entire Dusk family.

…

A month passed, and still, there was no happy announcement from Lila. The birth should have happened by now.

Something was wrong. But I wasn’t prepared to concern myself with her life.

Then, to my surprise, Lila called two days later. She was back at the Dusk mansion and wanted to meet me. She missed me, she said.

It felt odd. I had no idea why she would suddenly reach out. But curiosity tugged at me, and eventually, I decided to return home.

When I opened the front door, I found Lila sitting on the sofa, cradling a newborn in her arms.

The baby cried loudly, the sound filling the room. But as Lila stood to greet me, I caught a clearer glimpse of the baby’s face. And my breath caught in my throat.

The child had bright blue eyes.

Bright blue.

That was genetically impossible. Unless… Unless the baby wasn’t Silas’s like I’d predicted.