Page 239 of Maddening Fixation

The nurse studied me for a moment, her expression softening.

“I see...”

Her voice was quiet. “Please sit down.”

Her eyes flickered briefly toward my stomach.

“For the sake of the baby.”

The word made my heart squeeze.

Baby.

The one word that made everything feel real.

I lowered myself back onto the bed reluctantly, one hand instinctively resting over my stomach.

My child.

My reason for surviving.

“Is something being hidden from me?” Romeo’s voice cut through the room.

But sharp enough to make my skin tighten.

The nurse immediately straightened.

“No sir. I’ll return in two hours to check on her.”

She looked at me.

“Please don’t get up unnecessarily.”

Then she turned toward Romeo, bowed politely, and left.

The door closed behind her.

Silence filled the room.

I clenched my jaw.

I couldn’t keep hiding it.

Not anymore.

If I stayed silent, Romeo would force the truth out of the nurse. And if he discovered it that way, he would see it as another betrayal.

A small, foolish part of me still hoped this would change something.

Maybe knowing I carried his child would break through the ice around his heart.

Maybe, for once, he would look at me and see more than an enemy.

Maybe he would remember that I was the woman who had saved his life.

The woman who was carrying his baby.

It was a fragile hope.