All Chapters of HIS BY MISTAKE : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Ines arrived within the thirty minutes, since I woke up, her usual calm efficiency a welcome contrast to the tension still lingering in the house. She checked my blood pressure, listened for both heartbeats, asked a string of careful questions about what I'd eaten, how much I'd slept, how the stress of the morning had built before I went down. "Both babies sound strong," she said finally, sitting back. "Everything looks fine. This was your body telling you it hit its limit, low blood sugar, poor sleep, and a spike of stress all together. Nothing permanently concerning, but it's a warning you need to actually listen to." "I will," I said. "I've heard that before," Ines said, something dry in her tone, though not unkind. She turned to Dorian next, who had been watching me keenly "And you," she said. "How are you doing Mr Reyes?" He blinked, clearly not expecting the question directed at him. "I'm fine." "You're not," Ines said simply. "You've been holding your hand so tightly you

Dorian didn't answer on the driveway. He said, "Inside," so quietly that I almost didn't hear it, and then he stood there until I moved, one hand hovering near my back like he expected me to fall over again. I didn't fall. I walked through the front door, past Marta, who took one look at our faces and found somewhere else to be, guess she must have overheard what happened. Dorian helped me onto the couch where this whole day had started, I looked at him patiently, he didn't sit. He paced to the window, then back, then stopped in front of me with his hands in his pockets like he didn't trust them. "Ines said no stress," he said. "Well, Ines isn't standing in your driveway being told to ask you a question." I kept my voice even. “Noelle, you have to rest” “Rest? Dorian, apparently your late wife’s mother came to this house scanning me as if I’m a doll and you want me to rest?” I frowned, my voice rising “Yes!” He yelled back. “You passed out this morning, and your body is we

Dorian had fallen asleep with one arm draped over my waist, his face turned toward my shoulder, the lines that usually sat between his brows finally smoothed away. In sleep he looked younger, and less guarded. Like a man who'd set down something heavy. I stared at the ceiling and tried to make sense of what had just happened to me. Months ago, I would have laughed if someone told me I'd end up here. Not in this house, not with his hand resting on my stomach as if the babies were the most precious thing he'd ever been trusted with, not with my skin still warm from his touch. I'd walked into this marriage thinking it was an arrangement, a way to keep my children safe and my name out of the headlines. I had never planned on wanting him. But I did. God, I did. And it wasn't only the way he'd touched me, though my cheeks heated just thinking about it. It was how careful he'd been, asking at every step, stopping when he thought I might be afraid. Trent had never once asked me what I

The voice note started off cracking. Josie's voice came out thin and strained, like she'd been crying or something “Hey…erm.” She sighs as if struggling to get the words out “I know this…unnecessary but I was just…erm checking on you.” A pause “people make mistakes Noelle. And I know you probably…I mean you do hate me but I just wanted to get it off my chest. I wanted to meet up personally but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see my face” My hands fisted listening to her, old wounds reopening but I tried to keep my cool “yeah…hope you’re okay though. You might never listen to this but I hope you do” I was getting tired of the sympathies and wanted to end it but the voice note cracked and the tone changed “now that, that’s off my chest” she sighs as if smiling “you have your own faults too you know? I mean…aiming for a rich guy? Well I guess I’m happy for you…but does he know it’s not his? I honestly didn’t think you would stoop so low, and to think you were innocent when you were

My body stretched out sluggish as I tried to fully wake up, my eyes were still heavy from sleeping and the room quiet. It took me about ten more minutes to fully wake up and sit up in bed, I rubbed my underbelly to get my body moving, before standing up. After using the toilet, I went to the study to look for Dorian. The study was empty. His chair was pushed back from the desk, his laptop open, a half-drunk cup of coffee gone cold beside it. For a second the empty room made my stomach dip, the way it had that morning in the hospital, until I heard a clatter drift up from the kitchen, followed by Marta's voice, low and amused. I followed the sound down the hall. The smell of garlic and butter and something warm and savory that made my mouth water before I'd even reached the kitchen. I stopped in the doorway, the table was already set and covered Dorian stood at the stove with his back to me, sleeves rolled to the elbow, a dish towel slung over one shoulder. A pan sizzled in fro