Chapter Eighty-One: Blake One More Time

Blake called on a Tuesday.Nadia was in the staffroom marking essays during her free period when her phone buzzed with a number she hadn't seen in weeks."Nadia," Blake said, his tone warm and familiar. "I hope I'm not interrupting standardized test prep.""Just midterms," she replied, setting down her red pen."Equally grueling. I'll be brief. I'm hosting a small dinner next Friday. Twelve people, no agenda, just good food. I want you and Caiden there."Nadia looked out at the sunlit school courtyard."What kind of dinner?""The non-corporate kind," Blake said. "And honestly, after following the regulatory news, I want to see with my own eyes that you're both intact. Old friends get to check in. Even the ones who've only met twice."Nadia smiled faintly."I'll ask Caiden.""He already said yes," Blake countered dryly. "I called him first. He told me to call you.""He did?""He said, and I quote, 'Nadia makes those decisions.'"Blake paused, a slight shift in his tone."Three months a

Chapter Eighty-Two: The Paper in Her Pocket

The last day of term was a Friday.Nadia taught her final class at two-thirty, watching her Year Twelve group gather their things with that restless end-of-year energy.One student, a girl named Sophie who had been guarded in October and exceptional by March, lingered by the doorway."Miss Verne?"Sophie stepped closer to the desk."I just wanted to say thank you. For the year."Nadia looked up from her planner."You did the work, Sophie. I just made sure you knew it was worth doing.""No one ever made it feel like it was mine before," Sophie said softly. "The arguments, the reading. Like my opinion actually mattered."She paused, looking down."I know that sounds small.""It’s not small at all."Sophie gave a brief nod, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked out into the hallway.Nadia sat in the quiet room for a moment, letting the silence settle.She smiled to herself as she closed her planner.Whatever changed beyond these classroom walls, she knew she would keep coming back

Chapter Eighty-Three: The Open Door

They stayed in Harlan Wolfe's study for a long time.Neither of them spoke.June morning light poured through the three tall windows.Nadia walked slowly around the room, her hands tucked into her cardigan pockets as she took in the high ceiling and the rich grain of the floorboards.Caiden stayed in the doorway, watching her move through the room.After a long moment, he stepped inside.She stopped at the center window, looking out over the formal beds and the tree line beyond the gardens."The view is completely different from here.""Everything looks different from the east side," Caiden said softly. "He bought it facing west. For years he joked that the house was stubborn and refused to look where it should."Nadia turned around."Did he ever get used to it?""Eventually," Caiden said. "He realised the house wasn't the thing that had to change."Nadia looked at the empty walls, thinking of the man who had filled this room with his life's work."We'll paint it. Something warm. She’

Chapter Eighty-Four: Day Twelve

Nadia decided fear wasn't going to make today's decisions.She made up her mind in the car on the way to the clinic, sitting with her hands flat on her lap as the September city moved past the window.Over the past eight months, she'd learned that fear could sit beside her without getting the final say.Thirty-four weeks.Nothing requiring immediate concern, the nurse had said on the phone.She let those words steady her.She was going to walk into Dr. Mwangi's office, hear what needed to be said, and figure out the next step.Caiden was driving.He hadn't let Leo take over this morning.Whenever something mattered, Caiden preferred to drive himself.She looked at his hands.Steady.Both of them."Whatever it is," she said, "we handle it."He glanced at her, then back to the road."Yes.""I am not afraid," she said.A brief silence filled the car."I am," he said quietly. "A little."She looked at him."That's allowed."The clinic was quiet at eight-thirty, with only two other patient

Chapter Eighty-Five: She Goes to Find Him

The monitoring appointments became the rhythm of the week.Tuesday and Friday at nine.Dr. Mwangi—or on the Tuesday she was in surgery, her registrar, who carried the exact same calm precision.Each appointment followed the same pattern.The results were recorded, the markers reviewed, and for another week they stayed stable instead of climbing, which was considerably better than the alternative.Nadia rested more than she used to.Not bed rest, which hadn't been prescribed, but a deliberate drop in the non-essentials.She stopped marking essays late into the evening.She let Caiden drive her places she used to walk.On warm September afternoons, she took a book out to the terrace, letting the quiet sit with her.Caiden rearranged his schedule for the first week and kept it that way without another word.He was at the house in the mornings and evenings, and reachable in between.Nadia noticed, but she didn't bring it up.Some things didn't need a discussion; they just needed to be acc

Chapter Eighty-Six: What I Know

Dr. Mwangi answered on the second ring."Thank you for calling back, Nadia," Dr. Mwangi said. Her voice carried its usual steady, unhurried weight. "The markers from this afternoon's reading came back higher than yesterday's, and we have some new protein indicators. I'd like to reassess in the morning."Nadia held the phone tighter."Are we talking about moving up the delivery?""Possibly," Dr. Mwangi replied. "Thirty-five weeks is good. Harlowe is well-positioned and measuring at a strong weight. If we decide to proceed, we're in a solid position. But I want to see you before making any final call. Come in at eight.""We'll be there," Nadia said."Good. Rest tonight. This is a precaution, not an emergency."The line went dead.Nadia set the phone on the desk and looked up at Caiden.He was already on his feet, pulling his jacket from the back of his chair."I need to pack a bag," she said. "Just in case.""Leo started one this afternoon," he said.Nadia blinked."Leo packed my hospit

Alle Kapitel von Married to My Enemy's Son: Kapitel 81 – Kapitel 86

Chapter Eighty-One: Blake One More Time

Chapter Eighty-Two: The Paper in Her Pocket

Chapter Eighty-Three: The Open Door

Chapter Eighty-Four: Day Twelve

Chapter Eighty-Five: She Goes to Find Him

Chapter Eighty-Six: What I Know