Semua Bab A baby for my Billionaire Alpha Stepdaddy: Bab 41 - Bab 50

Victoria’s POVI had been watching Ofelia closely for the past few weeks, though I tried not to make it obvious.She looked stronger than when she first arrived at the mansion with two worn suitcases and sadness she thought she had hidden well. Her shoulders no longer curved inward as though she expected the world to strike again. She dressed with more confidence, spoke about work with growing pride, and sometimes laughed in a way that reminded me of the little girl she used to be before life became complicated.I loved seeing the change.At the same time, I worried that she was working too hard.Between her position at Blackwood Enterprises and whatever she did on her laptop late at night, she rarely seemed to rest. She left early with Damien, returned tired, ate dinner, and disappeared into her room to work again. I had tried asking whether she needed anything, but Ofelia always gave me the same answer.“I’m fine, Mom.”She had learned that from me.We both used the word fine whenev

Ofelia’s POVThe sound came again.Low.Deep.It rolled through the forest like something alive, something too large and too powerful to belong to any animal I had ever heard before.I sat upright in bed, the old novel sliding from my lap onto the blanket. For several seconds, I did not move. My heart pounded so hard that I could hear it above the wind pushing against the balcony doors.The room suddenly felt too small.Too dark.I reached for the lamp and switched it on, flooding the space with warm light. Nothing changed. The curtains still moved gently beside the window. The trees outside still scraped against one another. Somewhere in the distance, the river continued flowing.Then the strange sound stopped.Silence returned so quickly that I began questioning whether I had really heard it.Perhaps Damien had been right.Maybe there were wild animals in the forest.A large dog.A wounded deer.Anything ordinary.I pushed the blanket aside and climbed out of bed. The wooden floor f

Ofelia’s POVThe world became nothing but wind, pounding hooves, and terror.Willow raced across the field so quickly that the estate blurred around me. The reins cut into my palms as I pulled them with both hands, but the mare only threw her head and ran faster. My body bounced violently against the saddle, and every movement threatened to send me falling to the ground.“Stop!” I cried.The horse ignored me.The forest rushed closer.Dark trees stretched across the edge of the field, their branches twisting together like a wall. I could barely breathe. Every lesson Damien had given me disappeared from my mind. Hold the reins gently. Keep my balance. Stay calm.There was nothing calm about a frightened animal carrying me straight toward the same forest where I had seen that impossible shadow.Behind me, someone shouted my name.“Ofelia!”Damien.I tried to look back, but the movement made my balance shift dangerously. I quickly faced forward again and tightened my legs around Willow’s

Ofelia’s POVThe moment Thomas said the northern fence had been broken, Damien changed.The softness that had entered his expression during our conversation disappeared. His shoulders straightened, his jaw hardened, and the man standing beside me became the cold, controlled Damien everyone at Blackwood Enterprises feared.“What did you find?” he asked.“Tracks near the boundary,” Thomas replied. “And blood on the wire.”Damien’s gaze moved toward the library windows.The forest stood beyond the garden, silent beneath the afternoon sunlight.“How long ago?”“Less than thirty minutes.”“Has anyone left the property?”“No, sir. The staff have been accounted for.”“Good.”Damien crossed the room and reached for the jacket hanging over the back of a chair.I stepped into his path.“What is happening?”He did not look at me as he pulled the jacket on.“Stay inside.”“That isn’t an answer.”“It is an instruction.”The familiar anger rose inside me.Only minutes earlier, he had almost told me

Damien’s POV“She listens when people speak gently, Damien. You should try it.”Victoria’s advice followed me into the office on Monday morning.It stayed with me during the drive into the city, while I reviewed messages from the security team, and even after I sat behind my desk with three urgent reports waiting for my attention.I should have dismissed it.Victoria did not understand what had happened at the estate. She had not seen the tracks near the forest or the broken northern fence. She did not know how close Ofelia had come to real danger, twice in the same day.Speaking gently would not have stopped the horse from racing toward the trees.It would not have prevented her from walking into the forest after I ordered her to remain inside.Yet as I looked through the glass wall toward Ofelia’s desk, I knew Victoria had not been entirely wrong.Ofelia arrived twenty minutes earlier than usual.She wore a dark grey blouse, black trousers, and her hair pulled into a neat bun. Every