Adrian noticed immediately “What happened?” he asked with his instincts alert and his relaxation evaporating in an instant.“It’s nothing… well, it’s something” Elena said carefully choosing her words as she looked at him with a mixture of seriousness and restraint, “One of my guards called because there’s… a situation that needs my immediate attention.”Adrian’s brow furrowed “A situation? Here? Now?” His tone was calm but carried the edge of concern that had returned the instant the phone rang.Elena shook her head slightly “I can’t say much right now, but it’s… important., and it can’t wait” She looked at him with her expression apologetic but firm, “I need to step out just for a little while, but stay here, relax, and focus on tonight, okay?”Adrian nodded swallowing the tension rising in his chest “Alright” he said with his voice quiet, “But… be careful”Elena barely let the door close behind her while Adrian’s gaze had been sharp and concerned, but she couldn’t let him know.“It

Elena didn’t waste a single minute after Adrian left her house before she grabbed her phone with trembling fingers the moment the door locked behind him, and dialed the private number of the doctor she had assigned to Seraphina and she picked up almost instantly.“Madam Hart?”“Come to my residence” she said sharply, “Now”“But ma’am, I…”“Now, Doctor” she repeated with voice cold enough to freeze steel, “Don’t make me say it twice.”She ended the call and began pacing the living room like a storm bottled in human form while every step she took thudded against the polished marble floor and every breath she took sounded too loud in the quiet, too rough, too uneven.‘Pregnant’ She still wasn’t used to the word.The guards kept Seraphina out of sight, the doctor kept her stable, while the food, the comfort, and the medicine were all top tier. Seraphina wasn’t harmed, she wasn’t tortured and wasn’t starved since Elena had made sure she was cared for because Seraphina wasn’t just a rival

Victor Blackwood didn’t remember driving home because his mind was blank, hot, and loud all at once and all he remembered was seeing Adrian and Elena sitting close enough for the sun to paint them in one frame, laughing softly, sharing food while looking like a couple healing their way back together and like everything was normal.Victor shoved the door open with enough force that it slammed into the stopper when he reached his penthouse while the sound echoed through the marble-floored foyer, and he stood still for a second with his chest rising and falling like he had run miles and then the fury hit and he grabbed his jacket at the collar and ripped it off, flinging it across the room, while it landed on a table lamp knocking it over with a loud crash.“Unbelievable” he muttered pacing like a trapped wolf, “Absolutely unbelievable” He dragged both hands over his face with the image replaying in his mind; Elena laughing at something Adrian said, and Adrian looking at her with a softn

Elena didn’t sleep not even for a minute, no matter how tightly she wrapped her duvet around her body or how many times she changed positions on the bed, her mind never stopped spinning because Victor’s voice replayed in a dark, obsessive, and sharp circles enough to cut straight into her bones “We need to see… If I can’t have you, then he can’t.”The words had crawled under her skin like poison and the worst part is that it came at a time when everything was finally moving perfectly; Adrian was warming back up to her, he smiled more, opened up more, and really looked at her the way she had been craving for months, while his walls were lowering, his tone had softened, and she felt like he was hers again for the first time since the divorce.t.The picnic had been proof that Adrian had relaxed with her, laughed, listened, and let their conversations drift toward the future like it wasn’t forbidden territory and he didn’t mention Seraphina even once. Elena held onto that small victory l

Elena sat in her office long after Victor had left while her fingers kept trembling slightly as she replayed his words over and over again ‘A one-night stand… or he doesn’t back off.’Her heart dropped every time the phrase echoed in her mind because she had expected anger, maybe bargaining, or maybe even emotional blackmail but that was a line she never thought Victor Blackwood would cross.Maybe she should’ve known that Victor was the definition of reckless when it came to the things he wanted and the things he refused to lose, and right now, he believed she was something he was about to lose forever.Elena exhaled shakily and rose from her seat as she walked to the full-length window overlooking the city and tried to talk herself into calmness but her mind was spinning in too many directions.If she pushed Victor too far, he would absolutely drag Adrian into this, he would twist the truth and he would hint at things Elena couldn’t afford Adrian to know.Victor wasn’t bluffing becaus