Married For Vengeance, Pregnant With His Secret

The morning after the truth had been laid bare was quiet too quiet.

The safe house in Vermont, nestled deep in the forest, had always been still, but today the silence between Aria and Damien was heavier than ever.

Aria stood by the window, watching light scatter across snow laced trees. Her hand rested on her belly out of instinct. It had been a sleepless night. Damien hadn't left, but the air between them was a minefield.

He hadn't touched her. He hadn't spoken much. But he'd stayed.

That was something.

Damien walked in from the hallway, shirt rumpled, jaw shadowed with stubble. He paused when he saw her, then quietly walked into the kitchen. The clink of a mug and running water broke the silence. He didn't ask if she wanted coffee.

She didn't expect him to.

"I'm not going to apologize again," Aria said finally, not turning around. "But I'm not going to pretend like everything's normal either."

Damien stood in the doorway, coffee in hand. He stared at her for a long moment before answering. "It's not normal. It won't be for a while."

"I know."

He walked past her to the table and sat down. "But I meant it. I'm still here. I'm not leaving."

Aria turned, facing him fully. "Then we have to figure out how to move forward."

He nodded, eyes fixed on the steam curling from his cup.

There was a beat of silence before he asked, "Was the baby ever really just leverage to you?"

The question stabbed through her.

"Not for long," she admitted. "In the beginning, yes. But it stopped being about revenge the moment I heard the heartbeat."

He looked up then, and for the first time that morning, their eyes met.

Damien exhaled. "I keep replaying everything. Every moment. Trying to figure out when things became real."

"They were real," she whispered. "At least, they were for me. Eventually."

His jaw flexed. "That's the part that makes it harder to hate you."

She blinked. "You want to hate me?"

"I should," he said, leaning back. "But I don't."

They sat in silence again. It wasn't peace. But it wasn't war either.

Just… space.

Aria spent most of the day upstairs organizing the nursery. The safe house had an extra room, and since their arrival, she'd tried to make it feel like something more than a hiding place.

She rearranged the tiny clothes in the drawer. She hung a mobile above the crib. She did anything but think too hard about the look in Damien's eyes.

Downstairs, Damien was on the phone. His voice was low but firm, giving instructions to someone named Marcus to re-check security clearances and firewalls.

Ever since Aria told him the full truth, he'd started asking different questions about his father, about Kieran, about who else might be watching them.

Paranoia wasn't paranoia if it was real.

They ate dinner in near silence, sitting across from each other at the long wooden table.

Aria pushed food around her plate. Damien sipped from a glass of wine, his thoughts clearly far away.

Finally, she asked, "Would you want to know the gender?"

Damien looked up, surprised.

"I mean, the baby," she added.

His gaze softened slightly. "You already know?"

She shook her head. "I've been too scared to check. But maybe… it's time."

He nodded once. "We'll find out together."

It was the closest thing to a promise they'd shared in days.

Damien didn't sleep in the bed. He hadn't since her confession. But tonight, he opened the bedroom door, paused, and said, "I'll stay in the armchair, if that's okay."

Aria nodded, barely breathing.

He didn't touch her. Didn't kiss her. But his presence filled the room, and when she finally fell asleep, it was to the sound of his slow, steady breathing.

Meanwhile — Voss Tech Headquarters

In a high security surveillance room, a figure stood alone, watching footage play on repeat. It was from three months ago. The gala. The balcony. Damien and Aria.

Their first kiss. Their first mistake.

The figure leaned forward, studying every angle.

Then, a gloved hand reached for the controls and clicked: DELETE FILE.

Gone.

A low voice murmured into the darkness, "Let's see how long they survive the truth."