LOGINDominic's POV
Christmas Eve falls on a Tuesday. Emma's shift ends at noon and I pick her up from the patisserie because it's cold and she'll argue about the subway and I've stopped pretending the argument is one I'm willing to have. She comes out with a white box tied in string. "What's that?" I say. "Celeste let me take the extras." She gets in and puts the box onEmma’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 POVVictoria Sterling walks into the restaurant on a Monday.Not our restaurant, the hotel restaurant where I used to work. Dominic and I are having lunch there because he had a meeting nearby and I had a rare free hour while Mrs. Kowalski has the girls. It was spontaneou
DOMINIC'S POV Being with Emma is different than I expected. We don't announce anything to Mrs. Kowalski, but she knows immediately. She finds us having breakfast together—actually together, sitting close instead of across from each other—and
EMMA'S POV We don't talk about what happened in the car. For a week, we move around each other even more carefully than before. Dominic leaves early for work, comes home late. I eat dinner with Mrs. Kowalski and pretend everything is normal. It's not normal. I'm sixteen weeks pregnant now. Ther
EMMA'S POVMrs. Kowalski discovers I'm crying over a commercial about puppies."Kochanie, what's wrong?""Nothing. The puppies found homes and it's just so beautiful." I'm sobbing into a throw pillow at ten in the morning, still in my pajamas.She sits beside m







