All Chapters of The Doctor's Temptation: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Vincent didn't sleep. Mia knew because she woke twice in the night and both times found him sitting up, phone in hand, jaw tight."We should call security," she said the second time, voice thick with sleep. "Have them trace it.""Already done." He set the phone face down on the nightstand, finally, like he was forcing himself to. "It's a burner. Whoever sent it knew what they were doing.""Do you think it's connected to Lena?""I think," Vincent said carefully, "that Lena isn't smart enough to cover her tracks that well. Which means someone else is involved. Someone who let her take the fall."Someone still inside,Mia thought, and the words settled over her like a cold hand on the back of her neck.***Lena requested one final meeting before her exit was finalized. She wanted it private. No lawyers, no board members. Just her and Vincent, in his office, door closed.Mia waited outside, arms crossed, trying not to imagine what was happening on the other side of that door.When Lena em

Vincent read the email three times before he set the phone down."Global CEO," he said, mostly to himself. "Two years, minimum, based out of Singapore. They want an answer within the month."Mia sat very still, watching him do the math in his head, watching the old version of him, the one who measured his worth in acquisitions and boardrooms, reappear for just a moment before something else pushed through."What do you want?" she asked, careful to keep her voice light, free of the fear underneath it."Two years ago I would've said yes before finishing the email." Vincent looked up at her. "Right now all I can think about is how far Singapore is from you."*Don't make this decision about me,* she wanted to say, and also didn't want to say at all, because the truth was more selfish than she liked admitting. She didn't want two years apart. She didn't want any years apart."You built your whole life around proving you could run something bigger than your father did," she said instead. "I

Neither of them slept.The email sat unopened on Vincent's phone until morning, and by the time the sun came up over the lake, it had stopped feeling like a threat and started feeling like a formality. Whatever it was, it would still be there after coffee.Mia found him on the dock at six, wedding ring still unfamiliar on her hand, watching the water like it owed him an explanation."You could've woken me," she said, settling beside him."You looked peaceful. First time in months." He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against his side. "I didn't want to be the one who ended that.""Open it," she said. "Whatever it is. I'd rather know than spend the morning imagining worse."He did. The message was short, three lines, from a name neither of them recognized. A tip line reporter, fishing for comment on rumors of unpaid debts tied to Preston Wade's family, unrelated to the company, unrelated to them, the kind of story that would burn itself out in a news cycle once someone actually ch

Dr. Patel's office smelled like eucalyptus and old paper, the same as it always had, and somehow that ordinary detail was what finally let Mia breathe."It's nothing dangerous," Dr. Patel said, sliding a folder across the desk before either of them could spiral further. "Your iron levels came back lower than I'd like, and there was a slightly elevated marker I wanted to discuss in person rather than alarm you over the phone. It's common in early pregnancy. Easily managed with supplements and some dietary changes. I just don't like delivering that kind of news to an anxious voicemail."Mia felt the breath leave her body all at once, relief crashing through her so hard her hands trembled in her lap."That's it?" Vincent asked, still gripping her other hand like he hadn't quite caught up to the good news yet. "Iron levels?""That's it." Dr. Patel smiled, kind and a little amused. "You two looked like you were bracing for a funeral in my waiting room.""We've had a complicated few months,

Geneva.The word sat between them in the study like something with weight, something that could tip the careful balance they'd only just finished building."Full autonomy," Vincent said again, almost to himself, staring at the phone like it might explain itself further. "The kind of research I used to lie awake wanting to do, before the company swallowed all of it.""Then take it," Mia said, and the words cost her more than she let show. "If it's the dream, Vincent, don't let me be the reason you don't reach for it.""You're not the reason I wouldn't." He set the phone down, crossed the room, knelt in front of where she sat with one hand resting on the curve of her stomach. "You're the reason I already know my answer.""Don't decide that in the next five minutes just to make me feel better.""I'm not." He took her hands in his. "I spent years chasing exactly this kind of offer. Prestige, purpose, a legacy bigger than my father's company. I used to think that was the whole measure of a