FAZER LOGINLily came home earlier than usual that evening, something I'd noticed happening more frequently over these past few weeks as the pregnancy advanced and her body demanded rest in ways her stubborn determination usually resisted. I'd been quietly grateful for it, even as I worried about what it meant that she needed the extra hours simply to function properly through each day. I found her already upstairs when I arrived home myself, kneeling beside the bathtub while Alena splashed enthusiastically in the warm water, her small giggles echoing through the bathroom with the particular unguarded delight only bath time seemed to properly inspire. "Dada!" Alena announced, spotting me in the doorway, one small wet hand slapping the water's surface with enthusiastic force that sent droplets scattering across Lily's already damp shirt. "Hey, sweetheart." I crouched down beside them both, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Lily's head. "How was your day?" "Tiring," she admitted, though her s
I watched her from the doorway of our bedroom that evening, curled on the edge of the bed with her laptop still open beside her despite the late hour, dark circles shadowing eyes that had carried too little sleep for too many consecutive days now.She didn't notice me watching. I let her have that moment of privacy a while longer, studying the particular exhaustion carved into features I'd come to know so completely — the way stress settled first in the set of her jaw, then in the careful, deliberate slowness of her movements, as though conserving energy she didn't have enough of to spend carelessly. Her free hand rested against her stomach, an unconscious gesture she'd developed weeks ago, protective even in exhaustion.I felt something ache deep in my own chest, watching her.I'd spent months learning exactly how to be steady for her through crisis after crisis — Lara, the trial, Julian, Alena's illness. I understood, intellectually, that difficulty simply seemed to be a pattern wov
Alexander had appointed himself chief overseer of my wellbeing the moment the pregnancy was confirmed, and within a week I understood exactly what it might feel like to be gently, lovingly smothered. "You don't need to carry that," he said one evening, appearing beside me in the kitchen the moment I reached for a stack of dinner plates, taking them from my hands before I could properly protest. "Alexander, it's four plates. I'm pregnant, not fragile." "I know." He set the plates down with the particular careful attentiveness he brought to nearly everything these days. "I just want to help." "You want to wrap me in bubble wrap and set me on a shelf until this baby arrives." "That's an excellent suggestion," he said, entirely unbothered by my teasing, "though I imagine the shelf portion would prove logistically challenging." I laughed despite myself, though the particular exasperated affection in it did little to disguise how genuinely touched I was by his constant, carefu
Alexander had appointed himself chief overseer of my wellbeing the moment the pregnancy was confirmed, and within a week I understood exactly what it might feel like to be gently, lovingly smothered. "You don't need to carry that," he said one evening, appearing beside me in the kitchen the moment I reached for a stack of dinner plates, taking them from my hands before I could properly protest. "Alexander, it's four plates. I'm pregnant, not fragile." "I know." He set the plates down with the particular careful attentiveness he brought to nearly everything these days. "I just want to help." "You want to wrap me in bubble wrap and set me on a shelf until this baby arrives." "That's an excellent suggestion," he said, entirely unbothered by my teasing, "though I imagine the shelf portion would prove logistically challenging." I laughed despite myself, though the particular exasperated affection in it did little to disguise how genuinely touched I was by his constant, careful atten
Everything felt like too much at once, these past few days. The missing funds investigation had stalled somewhere in Max’s careful, methodical process, each update carrying more questions than answers, more shell accounts traced back to dead ends rather than the clear culprit I desperately wanted named. The board had grown restless, several members pushing for a public statement I wasn't yet ready to make, uncertain how much transparency would help versus how much might simply invite further scrutiny before we'd properly identified the threat. And now, as though my body had decided the emotional exhaustion wasn't quite enough on its own, the morning sickness had arrived in full, unforgiving force. I woke that particular Thursday already nauseous, the familiar rolling discomfort settling deep in my stomach before I'd even properly opened my eyes, and made it to the bathroom with barely a moment to spare. Alexander found me there minutes later, kneeling on the cool tile, my forehead
Patricia appeared in my office doorway on a Tuesday morning, her expression carrying none of the usual composed efficiency I'd come to rely on since taking over the company. "We have a problem," she said, closing the door behind her with a particular deliberate care that immediately set my nerves on edge. "A significant one." "What kind of problem?" "Funds are missing." She set a folder down on my desk, her hands not entirely steady. "A substantial amount, transferred out of one of our secondary accounts over the past six weeks. Small enough increments that it didn't trigger our usual flags, but adding up to something considerable now that we've finally noticed the pattern." My stomach dropped immediately. "How much?" "We're still confirming the exact figure. But preliminary estimates put it well into seven figures." I opened the folder with hands already trembling slightly, scanning the transaction records she'd compiled, my mind racing through every possible explanation even as







