You stand in the doorway of the nursery with one hand over your stomach, watching Damien Blaze turn away like a man trying to survive his own feelings. One second, he is showing you custom Italian music boxes, temperature-controlled cribs, blackout curtains, first-edition children’s books, and a room built from years of hope. The next second, he is suddenly distant, clearing his throat, acting like your smile scared him more than any billion-dollar deal ever could. You tell yourself not to read too much into it, because men like Damien Blaze do not fall for women like you.
You are Bella Hart, twenty-two years old, a former nursing student, a janitor, an orphan, and now the pregnant woman living inside a mansion in Malibu that has more rooms than your entire childhood neighborhood had apartments. Every hallway smells like fresh flowers because Damien ordered them before you even woke up. Every meal is prepared by a private chef. Every doctor speaks gently because Damien Blaze stood in the corner of the room and made it clear that your life mattered.
But that is the problem. You do not know if you matter, or if the baby does.
That night, you sit on the edge of the guest bed in a silk robe you are afraid to touch too much because it looks expensive enough to ruin your life. Mango, Damien’s spoiled little dog, curls beside your feet like he has decided you belong there. You place your palm over your stomach and whisper, “Don’t worry, little one. I’m going to do this right.” The words feel brave until your eyes fill with tears.
You do not hear Damien outside the door.
He stands in the hallway with one hand raised, frozen before he knocks. He came to check on you, to ask if you needed anything, to apologize for acting strange in the nursery. But then he hears your soft crying and your whispered promise, and something in him breaks quietly.
Austin, his assistant, appears at the end of the hall with a tablet in his hand. “Boss,” he whispers, “we found more on the aunt and uncle.” Damien lowers his hand from your door. His face changes from nervous to deadly calm. “How bad?”
Austin’s jaw tightens. “Worse than we thought. Catherine and Roy Hart emptied Bella’s savings account, opened credit cards in her name, and used her identity for payday loans across Nevada and California. The man they tried to hand her to is connected to a loan shark operation in Las Vegas.” He pauses. “And there’s evidence they knew she was pregnant.”
Damien looks back at your closed door. “They touched her while she was carrying my child.”
“Boss—”
