LOGINAvelin POVHe should be holding the other end of the crib while Chen complains about his back. He should be pretending to argue over the paint color, laughing when Auntie Liling scolds him for getting paint on the floor. He should be standing behind me now, one hand on my belly, telling our son how spoiled he already is. Instead, there is only me and the hole he left behind.By the time the paint dries, my lower back is burning. Auntie Liling immediately points toward the chair in the corner when she catches me pressing one hand there.“Sit.”“I’m fine.”“Sit.”I sigh and obey. She hands me water and crouches in front of me, narrowing her eyes as she looks me over.“You’re pale.”“I am pregnant.”“You’re stubborn.”“That too.”She snorts softly but gently presses a cool cloth to the back of my neck. “You’re doing amazing, love.”Her words tighten my throat. “I don’t feel strong,” I admit.Her gaze softens. “You are.”I shake my head. “I feel tired all the time, scared, angry, and…” I
Avelin POVSix months have passed, and that is how far along I am now. Some mornings I still wake in a state of quiet surprise when I roll over and feel the heavy weight of my own body before I even manage to open my eyes. My stomach is round now and has become impossible to ignore, stretching the fabric of my linen shirts and fundamentally changing the way I move through every room of the inn. I am slower, heavier, and significantly more careful with each step I take. My feet swell by the time evening arrives, and my back aches with a dull persistence if I stand for too long. Sometimes even the simple act of breathing feels different, as if my body is struggling to learn how to make physical space for another life within me.Still, when I stand in front of the mirror with both hands resting protectively over the curve of my belly, all I can think is a single, staggering thought: You are real. My son is real, and more importantly, Shen’s son is real. That realization always fills me w
Leander POVFour months, that is how long I have been back. It has been four months of work, four months of control, and four months of pretending nothing is wrong, and still, I cannot settle. I lie awake most nights staring at the ceiling and watching shadows shift slowly across the room. Sleep comes in fragments now; I get three hours if I am lucky, sometimes less, and sometimes none at all.When sleep does come, it does not bring rest; instead, it brings him, or rather, the absence of him. The dream starts the same way every time with the sound of ocean waves. The sound is steady, rhythmic, and endless. It should be calming, but it isn't, because it feels like something I lost.There is laughter too, soft, warm, and close enough that I should recognize it, but I don't, and that is the worst part. I am standing somewhere with sand beneath my feet and wind against my skin, and I am not alone. Someone is there with me, and I can feel them as their presence wraps around me like somethi
Avelin POVFour months have passed, and that is how far along I am now. I stand in front of the small mirror in my room with my hands resting on my stomach, acknowledging that it is no longer something I can hide. My body has changed; my belly curves outward now, soft but undeniable. My clothes fit differently, my movements are slower and more careful, and even breathing feels different sometimes, as if my body is adjusting around something precious. Because it is. Because he is.He is my child, our child. My throat tightens as I whisper softly, “Look at you.” My fingers trace the curve gently as I add, “You’re really here.”A sudden wave of nausea hits before I can finish the thought, and I barely make it to the basin in time. Everything comes up again. It has been like this for weeks; it is relentless. Morning, afternoon, or night, it doesn't matter. My body decides when it wants to rebel, and I simply have to endure it.“Avelin!” Auntie Liling rushes in, already knowing the routine
Conrad POVThe silence in my office is heavy, the kind of silence that precedes a landslide. I sit in the dim light of the city skyline, the amber glow of the streetlights bleeding through the glass like a slow-moving infection. I knew before the news broke, before the headlines, before the world celebrated his return, I already knew. The reports from my scouts had reached me hours before the first satellite van parked outside the Voss estate. While the public wept with relief for their golden boy, I sat here in the dark, watching the digital feed of a ghost coming back to life.Leander Voss didn’t die.The reality of that sentence should terrify me, but instead, it tastes like copper in my mouth—bitter, metallic, and inevitable. I stare at the photograph in my hand, not the one in the newspaper or the polished, controlled version of him standing in front of cameras. That man is a mask for the masses. The man in this photo, however, is a revelation I never wanted to see. This one is d
Leander POVThe first six weeks disappear into work. That is the simplest way to describe it, not because they pass quickly but because I bury them. I hide everything beneath meetings, contracts, deadlines, and numbers. I arrive before sunrise and leave long after dark, sometimes not leaving at all. I sleep on the office sofa for an hour, wash my face in the private bathroom, change my shirt, and begin again. No one questions it; this is what they expect from me.Leander Voss returned from the dead, so naturally, I would come back sharper, harder, hungrier. I would reclaim every inch of the empire that slipped away while I was gone. I would punish weakness and restore order. And I do. Yet, I feel nothing. The first major acquisition meeting happens on a gray Tuesday afternoon. The conference room is full, lawyers, financial analysts, and assistants pretending not to listen too closely. Across from me sits the CEO of a manufacturing company I’ve sought for two years. Before my disapp
Shen POVI wake up before him. For a moment, I don’t move. Avelin is curled against my side, his hand resting lightly over my chest, just above my heart, as he placed it there in his sleep to make sure I’m still here, still his. The morning light slips through the window slowly, soft gold stretchin
Shen POVThe sky seemed made just for this moment. Soft orange and pink stretched across the horizon, blending seamlessly into the calm blue of the ocean. The waves rolled in gently, as if even the sea understood that this was something sacred. The entire village had gathered on the beach, blankets
Shen POVI asked Enrie for a private conversation before breakfast, knowing I needed to speak with him alone. He looked up from repairing one of the pier ropes, his hands steady, his face unreadable against the cold, gray morning. The sea beneath the pale sky was restless, waves crashing softly as
Shen POVI wake before the sun rises. For a moment, I stay still, not moving at all. Avelin lies beside me, still asleep, his breathing soft and steady, his hand resting lightly against my chest as if it belongs there. The early light seeps through the window, pale and quiet, softly turning everyt



![The mafia King's Pet [M×M]](https://www.goodnovel.com/pcdist/src/assets/images/book/43949cad-default_cover.png)



