Mag-log inThe past few months had turned Tessa into something she once thought impossible. At eight months pregnant, she moved with soft new curves and a warmth that seemed to radiate from her. She often felt insecure, muttering about her weight and size. To Nathan, it was like watching a Greek goddess carry life. Every curve, every inch of skin he kissed every night was living proof of the miracle inside her, their child. To him, without question, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.At the office, the late afternoon slipped by in reports and phone calls. But Nathan’s main focus, and his simplest pleasure, was sitting in his lap. Tessa, in a soft cotton maternity dress, rested her head on his shoulder, breathing slowly in a light sleep.The weight of her, the heat of her body pressed to his, had become Nathan’s new center of gravity. He could sit like that for hours, letting Tessa sleep in his arms while he kept working.Since the incident at court and the attack with the thrown
In the car, Tessa glanced at Nathan from the corner of her eye. The words were right there on her tongue but refused to come out. She was terrified of him finding out what had happened, something she herself still couldn’t fully accept. She wasn’t afraid Nathan would hurt her. She knew he would never take his anger out on her. But Julian… Nathan might actually kill him, even if they seemed to be getting along now.Nathan started the engine and the car rolled forward.Should she tell him now? Before they got to the restaurant where they were supposed to celebrate today’s win. Tyler and Jack were probably already there and… Julian too. It would be awful if everything blew up in the middle of dinner, with knives on the table. That would be genuinely dangerous.Their car pulled out through the courthouse gates. At that exact moment, a sharp, shattering sound exploded in front of her. Something dark and heavy slammed into the windshield on the passenger side, right in front of her face. Th
The air in the courtroom felt heavy, thick with tension you could almost cut with a knife. Beside Tessa, Nathan sat as still as a statue. His hand wrapped around hers, gripping so tightly it should have hurt, if not for the tight knot of anxiety that had been lodged in her stomach all morning. Jack and Tyler sat right behind them, there as friends.On the defendant’s bench sat Charles Remington. He looked thinner, paler, but his eyes still held that cruel, arrogant glint she had always associated with him. Only today, that glint seemed dimmer under the weight of the overwhelming evidence Julian had presented.Tessa wasn’t afraid of him anymore. The nightmares about him still came, but less often now. They didn’t haunt her the way they used to. Sometimes they appeared, but not with the same force.One by one, the charges were read out loud by the judge. Each word landed like a hammer sealing his fate. Large-scale fraud, tax evasion, aiding a fugitive, kidnapping, torture, and premedita
The bar smelled like cigarette smoke and alcohol. When the bartender saw Nathan finishing his drink, he immediately poured another glass.Nathan sat there alone, waiting. He didn’t like waiting, but tonight mattered. It was almost monumental, because tomorrow, everything would end.A perfume, far too sweet for his taste, drifted into his senses. Then, not long after, perfectly manicured nails brushed his shoulder."Long time no see, Nathan," a confident, familiar female voice whispered near his ear. "Still busy as always?"Nathan turned just slightly to look at her. She was tall, dark-haired, impeccably dressed. He recognized her vaguely, maybe from a charity dinner or a museum board meeting. He couldn’t remember her name and didn’t feel the need to."Yeah," he said shortly, hoping she’d take the hint that he wasn’t interested in chatting.She didn’t get the hint. She slid onto the stool next to him, resting her chin on her hands."Such a shame. Nights like this are boring… and there
Tessa was already six months pregnant. Her belly was round and tight, and every kick and every little shift was a constant reminder of the tiny person growing inside her.That day, Nathan finally took an entire afternoon to shop for what he considered the baby’s essential supplies. Or at least, what Nathan thought counted as essential.They walked through the aisles of an upscale baby store that looked more like a modern art gallery than a normal shop. Everything was white and minimalist, with the scent of fresh cotton and expensive wood in the air. Most of it actually wasn’t Tessa’s taste. She preferred things with color, either blue or green.Nathan was pushing the cart with the same focus he usually saved for multi-billion-dollar mergers.“We need hypoallergenic towels,” he said, checking a stack of soft fluffy towels that looked like they could fall apart with a single wrong move. “And organic cotton for his body. I don’t want his skin getting irritated.”Tessa just nodded and smi
The cold gel on Tessa’s stomach made her shiver, but the tremor running through her body came more from nerves than temperature. After weeks of waiting, the day was finally here. The anatomy scan. Twenty weeks. Halfway there. And most importantly, today they would find out if the tiny kicker inside her was a boy or a girl.Nathan sat beside her on the narrow chair in the exam room. His posture was straight, hands resting on his knees, expression calm. But Tessa knew him too well. She saw the tension in his jaw, the quicker blink of his eyes, the fingers pressing lightly into the fabric of his pants. He was just as wound up, even if he always looked like he had the world under control.Silence hung heavy in the room, broken only by the soft hum of the machine. Tessa needed a distraction before the tension pushed her into panic. She was not only waiting to hear the gender. She needed to know the baby was healthy.“Hey,” Tessa said, turning to Nathan. “Seriously, if it’s a girl, what are







