room, her body convulsing from dry heaving. She hadn't slept all night, lying on that extra-large bed. The

athroom door was suddenly pushed open, and

He rushed to her side and re

hat made her tremble suddenly spread throughout her body. She

words were gentle, y

r, his expression showing genuine pai

. She looked at his reflection in the mirror-a worried husband, a conc

ng the possessiveness he knew how to handle it." We're going to

go to the hospital. He needs to make sure his "investment" remains intact. Or p

Hospitals-where lies begin and the perfec

was calm. "If this

ng his side. He held her hand, his thumb gently stroking her knuckles, softly offering wo

e city blurred into ashes and steel in her eyes. Whe

the car window. A cool morning breeze

the surname "Parker" like a key, opened a private suite, bypassed the queue, and called a spe

the lab was processing her blood samples. Julian'

e worry on his face faded, replaced by a trace of sincere and urgent ten

"I have to answer this

down the corridor, his back to her, but she could see his reflection on the bright marble wa

she could read lips. A few years ago, she learned a bor

id. I'll be the

the true face of a man in love. Then he turned aro

ry. The office ran into trouble, and an emer

ie. "I'll have Assistant Mark come to keep you company. A

. There was no more pain in his chest, no a

Her voice was unusua

rily pressed a kiss on her forehead-a routin

r he had "worked overtime" for the third time in a week, a tiny and ugly seed of suspicion prompted

across the map of Manhattan-not heading toward the downtown Parker Industrial he

ar and irrefutable on the small screen. She close

e wearing a bright floral surgica

rm. "The results are out. Congratulatio

mer. Her body stiffened, and air silen

own, landing on her flat abdom

emed about to crack. This is exactly what she wants, and

sneer, Stella's whimpering, the lie about her mother's kid

trouble-a shackle that could bin

ued smiling. "I'll give you some time. The doctor

d alone in the quiet, luxurious room. The joy she shou

bdomen, something changed. The faint glimmer of

not be a shackle

r strength, h

world full of lies. She would fi

lian assistant. She walked out of the

where she

al's medic

her, for herself, and for the tiny