Married For Vengeance, Pregnant With His Secret

The rain started at sunset, a soft patter that soon turned into a relentless drumbeat against the glass walls of Voss Tower. Aria usually found storms calming cleansing in a way mere silence never could but not tonight.

Tonight, every rumble of thunder echoed with menace.

She paced the nursery, one hand braced against her lower back, the other idly straightening the tiny mobile that hung over the crib. She'd chosen the theme golden stars and midnight-blue moons on a whim, thinking it felt hopeful. Lately she wondered if she'd cursed the room with cosmic chaos instead of comfort.

A soft click came from the doorway.

"Overthinking again?" Damien's voice was low, worried.

"I'm nesting," she said, attempting a wry smile. "Apparently nesting looks a lot like panic."

He crossed to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "Marcus doubled the guards. No one's getting past them."

Aria rested her cheek against his chest. His steady heartbeat was the only thing anchoring her tonight. "Kieran and your father are still free. Sometimes it's not the door you lock that matters it's the door you don't know is open."

Damien brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "Then we'll seal every door."

Thunder cracked, close enough to make the lights flicker. They exchanged a glance. Even electricity seemed unreliable now.

1:14 a.m.

The penthouse alarms blared.

Aria shot upright in bed, pulse hammering. Damien was already out of the room, gun safe open within seconds muscle memory from years of threats. She followed, bare feet silent on marble.

Marcus's voice crackled over the intercom: "Perimeter breach west terrace. Possible decoys on the east. Stay in the safe room until I—"

The feed hissed, then died.

Damien swore under his breath. "Backup generator just cut."

Emergency LEDs glowed pale blue, casting ghostly shadows as they hurried down the hallway. They reached the reinforced door of the safe room a sleek panic suite hidden behind a bookshelf. Damien turned the biometric lock. A soft click…then nothing.

Red lights flashed on the scanner.

"Locked out?" Aria whispered.

"I changed the code this afternoon," he muttered. "No one else has it."

She gripped his arm. "Unless someone copied your print."

A crash echoed from the foyer splintering glass, then the staccato bark of gunfire downstairs. Aria's breath snagged. The baby kicked sharply, reacting to her spike of fear.

Footsteps advanced along the main corridor slow, deliberate, as if whoever approached wanted them to listen.

Damien motioned Aria behind him. From his belt holster he drew a compact pistol, eyes cold and focused. "Stay behind me, love. No matter what."

The footsteps stopped outside the nursery.

Aria felt the air leave her lungs. No.

Damien crept forward, weapon raised. Aria pressed close, heart thrumming in her ears.

The nursery door creaked open. A figure in black body armor and a full visor slipped inside silhouette sharp against the galaxy mural on the wall. He held no gun. Instead, a single sheet of paper dangled from his gloved fingers. He pinned it to the wall above the crib with a hunting knife, blade plunged into painted stars.

Then, with a mock salute toward the hallway, he retreated through the window he'd used to enter rappelling cable vanishing into darkness.

Damien dashed to the window too late. The intruder was already a silhouette slipping down the rain-slick façade.

Alarms still screamed. Marcus's voice finally returned: "Roof is clear east stairwell secure. West terrace compromised, suspect escaping—"

"Abort chase," Damien snapped into a wall comm. "Protect Aria." He turned to her. "Are you hurt?"

"I—I'm fine." She stared at the note, trembling. "Read it."

Damien yanked out the knife and unfolded the paper. Three words, scrawled in thick black ink:

"STARS DIE FIRST."

Aria's knees buckled. Damien caught her, guiding her to the rocking chair. The mobile above the crib still spun lazily, casting flickering shadows.

A fresh surge of fury burned through Damien. "He could've killed us. But he wanted fear."

Aria's voice shook. "The stars… He means the baby, doesn't he?"

Damien's jaw set. "Not on my watch."

Dawn

Rain faded to mist. Emergency crews had reset the penthouse power; police combed the terrace for prints. Marcus debriefed SWAT-level security now stationed on every floor. Still, Aria felt exposed a bird behind paper walls.

Damien knelt before her in the living room, eyes dark with remorse. "I promised to keep you safe."

"You did your best." She touched the bandage on his forearm a shallow cut from shattered glass. "They're escalating. We need to end this."

He nodded. "I'm calling an emergency board vote. Harrison's shares can be frozen under the anti-fraud clause. We'll sever Kieran's shell companies. Then we take everything to the DA."

Aria inhaled shakily. "And the baby?"

"We relocate to the upstate safe house. No city, no cameras." His shoulders slumped slightly. "I hate hiding you, but until they're behind bars—"

"Hide me," she interrupted, "but don't muzzle me." Her gaze hardened. "Elena kept silent and paid the price. I won't."

Damien's expression softened with pride and fear. "Then we fight loudly."

11:38 a.m. Voss Holdings Boardroom

The board members majority older men in tailored suits shifted uneasily as Damien strode in with Aria at his side. She wore simple black slacks and a cream blouse, her pregnancy obvious yet dignified.

Harrison Voss occupied a seat at the far end, fingers steepled. His eyes flicked to the gauze on Damien's arm, then to Aria's belly. He smirked.

"You look tired, son. Fatherhood isn't agreeing with you."

Damien set a folder on the table. "This is the financial trail linking you to Kieran's sabotage and hush payments around Elena Lawrence's death. Today the board will vote to freeze your shares and remove you from any position of influence."

Harrison laughed softly. "I built this company. These men owe me—"

"Correction," interjected Board Director Chen, adjusting his glasses. "We owe the shareholders, the brand, and the law. Mr. Voss, we can't ignore these documents."

Harrison's smile faded.

Aria stepped forward. "You used your own grandchild as leverage. Last night—" Her voice faltered, but she carried on. "Last night someone invaded our home, threatened our baby. If the board condones that by keeping you, they're complicit."

A murmur of agreement rippled around the table. Harrison's jaw tensed.

The vote began.

It was close three for removal, two abstentions until Director Novak, usually Harrison's puppet, lifted his hand reluctantly. "For the integrity of Voss Holdings…I vote to suspend Harrison Voss."

Four out of seven. Majority.

Harrison stood, face flush with rage. "This isn't over."

Damien met his glare. "Yes, it is."

Harrison stalked out. Cameras in the hallway flashed like lightning; security escorted him to a waiting elevator.

Aria exhaled slowly, gripping Damien's hand under the table.

Nightfall – Private Highway, Upstate

A black SUV cut through forested back roads under a bruised-purple sky. Aria watched pines blur past, hand resting on her belly as soft classical music filled the cabin.

Damien drove; Marcus followed in a second vehicle with armed guards. For the first time in days, the world felt hushed.

Aria closed her eyes. Images flickered: Elena laughing, the nursery's spinning mobile, the knife in the wall.

A bump in the road jolted her. She opened her eyes and saw headlights in the rearview mirror. A single car tailing, too close.

"Marcus, report," Damien said into the dash comm.

"No sign of pursuit on my end Wait." Static. "I've got a vehicle approaching fast silver sedan."

Tires squealed. The sedan swung into the oncoming lane, drawing level with Damien's. The passenger window lowered. A camera lens protruded paparazzi mayb.

Then the flash wasn't from a camera.

It was the glint of a pistol.

"Down!" Damien swerved as a shot shattered the back window. Glass exploded; Aria ducked instinctively, shielding her stomach.

Marcus's SUV slammed into the sedan's rear quarter, sending it skidding off the road and into the ditch. The gunman's vehicle hit a tree with a crunch of metal.

Damien pulled over, engine idling. Marcus's guards approached the wreck, weapons trained.

Aria shook, adrenaline cold in her veins. Damien unbuckled, rushing to her side. "Are you hurt?"

"I—I'm okay." A small cut on her forearm bled, but she couldn't feel it over the pounding of her heart.

Sirens sounded in the distance Marcus had already called state police.

Damien helped her out, wrapping his coat around her shoulders despite the warm night. She glanced at the wreck. The gunman was unconscious, pinned by airbags. The driver Vanessa stared through the cracked windshield, mascara streaked by tears of shock and rage.

Aria's breath caught.

Vanessa's lips moved soundlessly: He's coming.

State Police Barracks – Two Hours Later

Paramedics finished bandaging Aria's arm. Damien gave his statement, jaw rigid. Officers photographed the firearm recovered from the sedan serial numbers filed off.

Vanessa refused medical treatment, refusing even to meet Damien's eyes as officers led her away. Her last words echoed in Aria's mind:

"He's coming."

Who? Harrison, stripped of power? Or Kieran, now cornered?

Aria rubbed her belly. The baby shifted, as if sensing the question too.

Damien sat beside her, exhaustion etched deep. "I can't keep subjecting you to this."

"We're almost through the storm," she whispered. "Darkest before dawn, remember?"

He brushed his fingers across her cheek. "Let me at least give you a dawn worth waiting for."

Aria smiled sadly. "Just promise me we'll hold our child safe and alive when the sun rises on the other side of this."

Damien kissed her knuckles. "I promise."