ly refused, the doctor's warning echoing in her mind: an aborti

head. The skin split instantly. Blood mixed with scalding tea, trailing down her pale cheek in a gruesom

tion. She remembered her cousin mentioning that Cillian was the "Emperor of the Capital" and was set to marry into the Vance famil

l. "Mrs. Thorne, you've been running from our wedding f

his voice devoid of any warmth. He flicked the medical report at her face. The s

their favored daughter to a "disabled" man, must have used Elena as a substitute. Cill

evil's

lian asked coldly. "Or do you want to

led. She was trapped. Cillian

hed out and jerked her into his lap. The faint, sweet scent of her skin stirred a flicker of familiarity in him-it was so similar to the wom

eathe. "If you get rid of the child, maybe I'll

n't," Elena sobbed. "Th

yway." He turned toward the door. "Philip Woods! Prepare

perati

ded by bodyguards and shoved onto a cold, metallic operating table. The sterile smell and the

screams. She could only watch through a blur of tears as Cillian wheeled himself into the corner of the ro

he anesthesia," the doctor command

atue of ice. As the anesthesiologist approached with a long needle, Elena let out a muffled s

skin, and the world bega