She belongs to Zane Wolfe now.

Roman had ended her world with a signature. She got herself up and went to her car, she checked and confirmed her things were in the car.

In the passenger seat, she saw the check and the signed divorce papers including passports and a plane ticket.

She groaned and drove off, rain began to fall, soft at first, then heavy, washing over the car like judgment. She kept driving. Past downtown, past the places they used to frequent. She was pregnant.

And now she was alone. Her shaking hand gripped the wheel tighter as she drove toward the cliffs outside the city. The place Roman had once brought her for a date, yes there were all because of a contract, but they were true. The irony of her life now, made her nauseous.

She parked and stepped out into the storm. Wind whipped her hair around her face. Her silver heels sank into wet gravel. She removed them, and water soaked her dress instantly. But she didn’t stop walking, she continued getting closer, and closer.

Until the world below her dropped into black. She stood on the edge, the edge of the bridge.

Alessia took a breath. One more step. She could end the ache, the shame, the loneliness. Roman would never know about the baby, no one would.

She closed her eyes, just then headlights shined and a car screeched to a halt.

"HEY!" a voice yelled, half fury, half panic.

She turned her head just as a man jumped from the vehicle. Rain slicked his dark hair. He wore a soaked trench coat and expensive slacks. He ran like the devil himself had sent him.

"Don’t you dare move!"

She blinked through the storm. "Go away."

He ignored her, his boots slammed against gravel, he stepped closer and closer.

"You jump, and I swear I will follow," he yelled, panting.

"Just to drag your ghost back and yell at it."

She tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob.

"That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

"Good. It’s working."

She turned, tears streaming with the rain. "Leave me alone, Zane..”

“No, I won't.”

Zane Wolfe. Roman’s fiercest rival. The man accused of sabotaging Velez Tech, the very name Roman had used to accuse her of infidelity.

And here he was, in the flesh, real and he was very angry.

"You think he’s worth this?" Zane asked, eyes flashing.

"You think he deserves to ruin you twice? You deserve the world.”

She didn’t answer. Her body gave out first, her knees buckled.

Zane lunged, catching her before she hit the rocks. His back hit the cold wet floor, she sobbed into his chest, fists pounding at his coat. He said nothing. Just held her. Let her cry.

“You should let me die. Please, life isn't worth living.”

“Yes it is, you have me. You have a whole world you haven't discovered, you aren't tied by his bounds anymore.” Zane said as he lifted her and placed her in his car. She curled like a ball in the back seat, wet and in tears.

Zane called for a driver, who drove her car to his apartment building. Zane stared at Alessia wondering just how much pain she was, for her to decide it was time to end it.

The penthouse smelled of leather and coffee. Alessia sat on the edge of a king-sized bed, wrapped in a thick robe, her wet hair towel-dried and her limbs shaking. Zane handed her a mug of hot tea and said nothing.

She drank in silence, eyes red, body drained.

"I didn’t know where else to go," she finally whispered.

"You weren’t supposed to go anywhere," he muttered.

"You were supposed to scream, break things. Not throw yourself off a cliff, that's a little over the edge, you could go to the club or something, and get drunk.” He suggested as he sat on the bed with her.

"You saved me." She mouthed as she dropped the tea. Her eyes darted.

He didn’t respond. He just stared at her green eyes, he stared at her hair. He adored just how vulnerable she was, he wanted her all to himself.

"I’m pregnant," she said, but he turned slowly.

"It’s Roman’s." He said flatly, she had a connection with him.

She stared into the fire. "He’ll never know. I don't want him to know.” She stated.

"Are you sure about that?" Zane asked, confused and concerned. Zane could end the world if it meant being with her.

She nodded, lips pressed tight.

"I won’t let him hurt this child."

Zane stood up and knelt before her. He stared at her pretty eyes again, the same eyes that he fell in love with, but she belonged to someone else.

A few seconds passed, his eyes darted into hers. He needed a chance, this was one.

"Then don’t hide. Fight." He added.

She gave a bitter laugh. "I have nothing left."

"Wrong." He reached into his drawer and pulled out a file, he had the file prepared an hour ago, he saw it as an opportunity, an opportunity that would drown his rival, Roman.

"Then let’s make him pay."

She squinted. "What is this?"

"A contract."

"For what?"

He stood and straightened his coat. "Marry me."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

Zane paced the room, with a smile. He went to the bar and poured himself a drink.

"Fake marriage, it's a strategic partnership. You’re already carrying his child, let’s ruin him together. Publicly."

Alessia’s heart thundered.

"You want to pretend to be the father?"

"No. I want the world to believe I stole his wife, his legacy, and his heir.” He stared at her, he smirked too. He was serious.

She shook her head. "You’re insane." She didn't believe what she heard, it was crazy and it could work but it was crazy still.

"Maybe," he said, stepping closer, voice low.

"But I have resources, I have lawyers, I have the media on side and you will be safe with me. You will raise your baby in peace. You will never have to see Roman again. That's what the contract does for you.” Zane stated as he took a sip in the drink. This was the ultimate way to get into Roman's skin. Everything was working.

Her voice cracked.

"Why would you do this for me?" She asked, grateful that someone saved her, grateful that the someone was Zane.

Zane looked at her then, really looked. His voice was quiet.

"Because I hate him more than I like power, and I like you even enough to watch him suffer. I will give you time to think about it.” Zane added as he leaned in and kissed her forehead, the forehead kiss was different, the way he held her head, the way he lingered for a second before he left.

She took in a deep whiff of his perfume, it was icy, hot and had bits of vanilla and chocolate. She loved that, it was different from the usual spicy coconut smell that Roman never changed.

Alessia didn’t sleep that night.

She stared out the window of the penthouse and stared at the city filled with lights. Her fingers rested on her stomach. Her heart still trembled. But the fire in her veins had returned.

Roman had humiliated her, he shamed her and she tried to kill herself. She stared and promised that he would never forget her.

She looked down at the contract, she looked at Zane's signature, she picked up the pen and signed.

“Two can play this game. You will crumble, Roman and I will help Zane.” She cursed under her breath.

She had fallen in love with Roman over the years, he used her and made her beg for scraps. He made sure she never forgot when she broke a contract rule or when she defaulted, and yet- he sent her out like she was nothing. She went to bed, said a few prayers and promised to hurt Roman, he made her almost kill her baby.

*******

The next morning, tabloids exploded.

VELEZ EX-WIFE IN SECRET WOLFE MARRIAGE, AND PREGNANT.

ZANE WOLFE AND ALESSIA WEDDING SHOCKS CITY—THE MORNING AFTER HER DIVORCE!

IS WOLFE THE FATHER? HOSPITAL RECORDS CONFIRM EARLY PREGNANCY.

Roman didn’t just throw the tablet—he launched it. It smashed against the office wall, the glass cracking down the middle like the split in his chest. But the damage had already been done.

The headline, the photo.

Alessia, in that black gown, the same ivory shade she wore the first time he made love to her. Her hand was flat across her lower belly, but there was no bump, but every gesture screamed tenderness. Ownership.

And Zane Wolfe. That bastard had his head bowed reverently against her stomach like a man in love.

A man claiming something Roman hadn’t even been told existed. His child.

His ex-wife, divorced barely twelve hours ago, was now married again, to his enemy.

His lips curled, but not in amusement and not in disbelief, but in fury and grief.

She looked happy, the kind of happiness that gutted a man.

She stood beside Zane in front of a glass chapel, framed by white roses and city lights. A photographer had caught the moment they walked out, her veil fluttering behind her, his arm tight around her waist.

Roman had once held her like that, whispered promises into the curve of her neck, and now she wore another man’s ring, another man’s name.

And a baby? He gripped the edge of his desk, knuckles bone-white.

She had been pregnant when she left. Pregnant when she signed the papers.

When he made himself cold, cruel even because he thought letting her go was the kindest thing he could do.

Because he loved her too much.

Because he was terrified he would destroy her, the way his father destroyed everything he touched.

So he gave her freedom, and she walked straight into Zane Wolfe’s arms, into another man’s home, another man’s bed.

He squeezed his eyes shut, breath coming in sharp cuts.

“Sir?” Ezra’s voice floated in, cautious.

“There’s more, there's a nurse who leaked hospital confirmation. She’s six weeks along, and the media’s eating it up.”

Six weeks. Six weeks ago, she was still in his bed, he made love to her, he fucked her, six weeks ago, she was still whispering I love you between kisses.

Still his, Roman didn’t speak.

“Sir... what should we do?” He turned slowly, his voice low and flat. “She’s mine.”

Ezra blinked. “But she…”

“I don’t care what papers she signed, what chapel she walked through, what ring Wolfe bought her. She’s mine. And that baby is mine too...” He stopped, swallowing.

“I want them both back.”

He walked toward the smashed tablet, glass crunching under his shoes. He stared down at the frozen image of the happy couple, the world applauding their fairytale.

And if Alessia thought marrying Zane would keep Roman Velez away….She had forgotten who he was.

Later that night, Alessia stepped onto the penthouse balcony, wrapped in a soft robe. Zane followed, juice in hand.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

She sipped her drink. "No. But I have to be."

"Do you still love him?"

Her throat closed. "I don’t know."

He looked away.

"Just don’t fall for me next. That would complicate things." He lied, he wanted her to fall for him, he needed her to fall for him.

She smiled faintly. "Don’t flatter yourself."

The mood lightened, but deep inside, something still twisted.

Hours later, while Alessia slept, Zane sat alone in his office. He pulled out a black velvet box, inside was a necklace, but not just any necklace.

Roman’s mother’s heirloom. The one Alessia had taken the night she left. Zane stared at it for a long time.

Then picked up his phone, he dialed a number he hadn't used in years.

Roman answered, but Zane didn’t speak.

He simply played a recording:

Alessia’s voice, soft, broken but sure.

"I am yours now, Zane. My child and I are yours now.”

Click, the line went dead.

Roman’s hands clenched into fists as he stared at the necklace that arrived at his estate the next morning. No note. Just the heirloom taunting him.

He knew now, she didn’t just leave him. She left him pregnant. And now she belonged to Zane Wolfe.