جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

I find the first reference to the experimental compound in a six-year-old medical ledger and my hands go cold on the page.The private archive room in the residence is quiet except for the low hum of the climate control. Stacks of old family health records cover the table. I have been here since before dawn, pulling files Liam does not know I requested.The entry is small. A coded delivery note. “Compound 17-B. Secondary hormonal stabilizer. Restricted trial.” My name is not on it, but the timing matches a routine physical I took the year before everything started to slip.I photograph the page with my personal device and close the folder.Lucas appears in the doorway without knocking. He looks at the open boxes and then at my face.“You should not be in here alone.”“I am not alone. You are here.”“That is not what I meant.” He steps closer and lowers his voice. “If Liam finds out you are pulling sealed medical archives without him he is going to lose it.”“Liam does not get a vote o

Henry says the word Omega in front of the full board and every eye in the room turns into a knife.I sit at the long table and keep my spine straight even though the child chooses that exact moment to shift hard against my ribs. Liam stands behind my chair, close enough that I can feel the heat of him.Henry does not look at me when he continues. He looks at the directors.“The primary heir has undergone a secondary differentiation. He is now Omega. He is also pregnant. Both facts have been confirmed by private medical review. The board has a responsibility to consider what that means for leadership continuity and for the unborn child.”Someone to my left actually exhales like they have been punched. Another director stares at the table as if the wood might offer an escape.I find my voice. “You do not get to announce my medical status like a quarterly report.”Henry finally turns his head. “I get to protect the empire from instability. An Omega in a high-stakes pregnancy is not a sta

The shot cracks across the plaza and Liam is already moving before I register the sound.One second we are walking the short public path from the car to the private clinic entrance. The next Liam’s body slams into mine and we hit the ground hard. Pain explodes in my shoulder from the impact. People are screaming. Security is shouting orders.“Stay down,” Liam grits out against my ear.His weight is heavy on me. Too heavy. I feel the wet heat spreading across my chest and realize it is not mine.“Liam.”“I am fine.”“You are not.”He tries to rise and his left arm fails him. Blood soaks through his jacket from the upper shoulder. His face is already pale.Security forms a wall around us. Someone is calling for an extraction vehicle. I press both hands over the wound the way he once showed me and feel his blood warm between my fingers.“Look at me,” I tell him. “Open your eyes.”He does. “Child. Are you hurt?”“I am not the one bleeding.”“Answer me.”“I am okay. The baby is okay. You a

Henry looks me in the eye and says he is my biological father and the entire foundation of my life cracks in one sentence.We are in the private study of the estate after the latest closed-door meeting. Liam waits just outside the door at my request. I wanted one unfiltered exchange. I got this instead.“Say that again,” I tell him.Henry stands behind the desk like he has practiced the moment. “Your mother and I had an affair the year before you were born. The man who raised you as his son was already infertile. She needed an heir. I provided one. Quietly. The records were adjusted. You have always been mine by blood.”“You are lying.”“I am finishing the truth. The sabotage, the doses, the pressure on the board. It was never only about the empire. It was about securing the bloodline I started. The child you carry is my grandchild. That marker makes the connection even more valuable.”My vision tunnels. “You dosed your own son.”“I guided the outcome. You were too rigid as an Alpha.

The contraction hits so hard I drop the final evidence drive and brace both hands on the desk before I can fall.Lucas stops talking mid-sentence. Liam is already beside me, one arm steadying my waist.“Breathe through it,” Liam says. “In. Out. I have you.”“I am trying.”“Do not talk. Just breathe.”The wave peaks and slowly eases, leaving a deep ache and a fresh flood of unstable scent that fills the study. Lucas looks away like he is giving us privacy he cannot actually provide.“That is the fourth one,” Lucas says. “You need to stop.”“We seal the package first,” I tell him. “Henry files in less than two days. If this is incomplete we walk in with nothing.”Liam’s hand stays on my back. “You can barely stand through them. The package can wait six hours.”“No. It cannot.”I straighten slowly. The scent is still crashing, sweet and sharp and impossible to control. Liam does not step away. He has not left my side for more than a few minutes since the contractions started this morning