SELENA Thursday morning came too fast.I sat on the edge of Kael’s bed, fully dressed for the first time in days, staring at the open suitcase I hadn’t packed. The marks on my wrists had faded to faint bruises. My throat no longer hurt when I spoke. The soreness between my legs was mostly gone. What remained was the heavier weight, the test scheduled in two hours, the legal threats, the public ruin, and the man standing across the room watching me in silence.Kael was already dressed in a dark suit. He looked composed, as if the board, his son, and my mother hadn’t spent the last forty-eight hours trying to dismantle his life.“You’re quiet,” he said.“I’m thinking.”“About the test.”“About everything.” I looked up at him. “About what happens after they take my blood. About what you’ll do if the baby is Liam’s. About what I’ll do if it is.”Kael walked over and stopped in front of me. He didn’t touch me right away.“I already told you,” he said. “You’re not going back to him.”“And
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