LOGINDominic's POV
We come home Sunday evening to two toddlers who have apparently spent four days testing Mrs. Kowalski's patience and found it finite. She meets us at the door with Sophia on her hip and the expression of a woman who has fulfilled her contractual obligations and is ready to be relieved. "Sophia bit her sister," she says. "Twice. Ava pulled the plant off the windowsill. The one I've had for eleven years." She hands Sophia to Emma. "They're fEmma’s POVI stared at the words.This is going to be a problem.For a moment, I couldn’t speak.The city lights blurred beyond the balcony.The paper trembled slightly in my hands.Not because of the wind.Because of me.I looked up at Dominic.“You wrote this the night we signed the contract?”He nodded.I blinked.“Why?”A small smile appeared on his face.The kind he only showed me.“Because I met you.”I laughed softly.Half emotional.Half disbelieving.“That’s not an answer.”“It is.”I looked back at the contract.At the seven words hidden in the margin.Months ago, I walked into his office terrified.Desperate.Certain I was making the biggest mistake of my life.Meanwhile, he had already seen a problem coming.Not the pregnancy.
Emma’s POVFor a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong.I stared at Dominic.Waiting for him to explain.Waiting for him to tell me there was some misunderstanding.Some mistake.Some ridiculous rumor that nobody would believe.Instead, his expression remained grim.Serious.Real.“What do you mean?”My voice sounded distant.Like it belonged to someone else.Dominic looked down at the phone.Then back at me.“The article claims the surrogacy contract makes you a carrier only.”I blinked.Once.Twice.The words refused to make sense.“What?”His jaw tightened.“They’re arguing that because the embryos weren’t genetically yours, you don’t have legal parental rights.”The nursery suddenly felt too small.Too hot.Too difficult to breathe in.I looked to
Emma’s POVI knew something was wrong before Dominic came home.The feeling settled in my stomach around six o’clock.A quiet uneasiness.The kind that appears before bad news.The twins were in the nursery.Mrs. Kowalski was helping the nanny with dinner.I was sitting at the kitchen island pretending to work on wedding invitations.Pretending.Because I’d read the same card six times.My phone buzzed.Dominic.I answered immediately.“Hey.”“Emma.”The second I heard his voice, my heart dropped.Something had happened.“What is it?”A pause.Then—“I’ll be home in twenty minutes.”That wasn’t an answer.“Dominic.”Another pause.Longer this time.“The hearing got moved.”I straightened.“What?”“Tomorrow morning.”The invita
Dominic’s POVFor a moment, nobody spoke.The silence inside Eric’s office felt suffocating.I stared at him.Trying to understand what he had just said.Trying to convince myself I’d heard wrong.“You arranged it.”Eric shrugged.“As much as anyone can arrange something.”My hands clenched into fists.Marcus stepped forward.“What exactly does that mean?”Eric looked completely relaxed.Like we were discussing quarterly profits instead of years of manipulation.“It means I made sure Emma was assigned to that dinner.”My jaw tightened.“Why?”The question came out colder than I intended.Eric smiled faintly.“Because I knew you’d notice her.”That answer somehow made everything worse.“You expect me to believe that?”“No.”His gaze stayed steady.“I expect you to investi
Dominic’s POVThe room went silent.Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.My eyes stayed on the document sitting on the table between us.A single folded sheet of paper.Nothing remarkable about it.And yet somehow it felt heavier than everything else we’d dealt with over the last few months.Emma sat beside me.I could feel the tension radiating from her.The hurt.The betrayal.The confusion.I wanted to take all of it away.Instead, I reached for the document.Blake didn’t stop me.Didn’t say a word.I unfolded it slowly.Marcus moved closer.Emma leaned forward.The first thing I saw was a name.A familiar name.For a second, my brain refused to process it.Then it did.And I felt something cold settle in my chest.“No.”Marcus took the paper from my hand.
Emma’s POVI stared at the message.Over and over again.The words didn’t change.Emma.We need to talk.It’s about what I did to you and James.My hands were shaking.Not violently.Just enough that I noticed.Enough that Dominic noticed too.He gently took the phone from my hand and read the message himself.The second he finished, his jaw tightened.“Absolutely not.”I blinked.“What?”“You’re not meeting him alone.”I almost laughed.Only Dominic could jump straight to that conclusion.“I haven’t even replied.”“Good.”He set the phone on the coffee table.“As far as I’m concerned, that’s where it stays.”I folded my arms.“That’s not realistic.”“It is if I throw it into the river.”Despite everything, I smiled.Just a little.Dominic noticed.His expression softened.Only for a moment.Then the concern returned.“Emma.”“I know.”“No, I don’t
EMMA'S POVThe two-week wait is torture.I go back to work at the hotel, pretending everything is normal while obsessively analyzing every twinge and symptom. Is that nausea morning sickness or leftover hormones? Are my breasts tender because I'm pregnant or because I want to be pregnant?Dominic t
EMMA'S POV Three weeks into hormone treatments, and I want to murder everyone.I'm standing in the hotel kitchen trying to plate a dessert while my hands shake and sweat drips down my back. The hormones make me hot all the time, nauseous half the day, and so emotional I cried yesterday because a c
DOMINIC'S POV Dr. Patel's office smells like vanilla and expensive hand sanitizer.I arrived fifteen minutes before Emma. The waiting room has soft lighting and abstract art. Everything designed to make nervous couples feel calm.Except Emma and I aren't a couple. We're a business arrangement, and
EMMA'S POV The hospital smells like antiseptic by the time I arrive. I find Lily in her usual room, sketching. She looks up when I enter, and her smile is so bright it breaks my heart."Emmy! I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."I sit on the edge of her bed, clutching my purse where the check f







