THE PREGNANT VIRGIN AND THE RUTHLESS HEIR

GesareThe first thing I notice is the sound of machines, beep beepA slow, rhythmic sound that seems to echo inside my skull.My eyelids feel heavy, like someone glued them shut, but I force them open anyway. The bright white light above me stings my eyes, making me squint and for a moment I just lie there, confused.Then the pain hits.My muscles ache, my head throbs, and every breath feels like it drags glass through my chest, I try to move my fingers twitch slightly and my arms feel completely weak. But when I try to move my legs nothing happens, they feel heavy. A cold wave of panic spreads through my chest as I try to move the again but still nothing moves. “Where am I?” My voice comes out dry and hoarse, barely louder than a whisper. I glance around the unfamiliar room, searching for something, anything that might explain where I am or what's happening to me. “Why can’t I feel my legs?” I ask trying to hold back the tears threatening my eyes. “It’s okay,” a gentle female vo

Gesare. The first thing I noticed when I woke up was how quiet it was apart from the machines humming and the soft murmurs of the nurses talking at the station down the corridor.The second thing I noticed was the pain.It throbbed through my leg like a slow drumbeat, dull but heavy, reminding me every few seconds that trying to escape the hospital earlier had been a spectacularly bad idea.I groaned softly and shifted a little which was a bad move, the movement sent a sharp ache through my stomach and my leg at the same time. I sucked in a breath and squeezed my eyes shut for a moment.“Turns out you can't handle the pain well huh?” a deep familiar voice said and my eyes were wide open. I turned my head slowly and saw him sitting in the chair beside my bed, the man from the elevator.For a second I just stared at him, trying to remember how much of what happened earlier was real and how much had been the pain medication messing with my head.He was leaning back in the chair like he

Kumba. The moment I read the message, something in me snapped, I didn’t even remember grabbing my keys.One second I was staring at my phone, the words “She signed herself out” burning into my skull, and the next I was already halfway out the door, jacket thrown over my shoulder, the faint burn of whiskey still lingering in my throat.A homeless nineteen year old pregnant girl with a broken leg all alone in the streets alone at night. I slammed the penthouse door behind me harder than necessary and strode toward the elevator, my jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.“Stupid,” I muttered under my breath. “This is absolutely stupid.”I didn’t know if I meant her or myself.The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside, jabbing the button for the parking level. My reflection stared back at me from the mirrored walls tie loosened, hair slightly disheveled, eyes darker than usual.I looked like a man on the edge of losing control and I hated it.The doors slid open again and I walked straigh

GesareIt was still heavily raining, the water falling against the windshield, blurring the city lights into streaks of red and gold. I gripped the edges of my seat, shivering not entirely from the chill seeping through my wet clothes. The warmth of the car did nothing to calm the storm that had been building in my chest for hours. My leg throbbed fiercely, the crutches I had carried barely able to keep me upright back at the shelter. Now, tucked in the leather seat, it pulsed in time with the storm outside.I kept looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He drove with quiet precision, one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely beside him. His presence was heavy, like a shadow I couldn’t escape and yet, I couldn’t look away. I still didn’t trust him, not fully. After all, who knew what a man like him might do?Finally, I couldn’t take the silence any longer.“You just missed the hospital,” I said cautiously, my voice breaking slightly as I looked around.He didn’t look at

KumbaI didn’t realize how quiet the house had become until Dr. Valentina left.The door closed behind her with a soft click, but the silence she left behind was anything but gentle. It pressed in on me, heavy and suffocating, like the calm before something breaks.I stood in the hallway for a moment, staring at nothing, my hands resting on my hips as I tried to steady my breathing.That conversation, Hearing it out loud, watching Gesare process it, watching her hold her stomach like that It did something to me. Something I didn’t like.I dragged a hand down my face and exhaled slowly. I should leave it alone. That’s what I had told myself from the beginning. Pay the bills. Make sure she’s safe. Stay out of it.Not my problem.The words felt hollow now, I was too involved. I walked toward the back of the house without really thinking about it, my feet moving on their own. The glass doors leading to the pool area were slightly open, letting in a soft breeze.That’s when I saw her.Ges