Evelyn’s POV The mansion was somehow quiet. Evelyn sat on the edge of her bed, her hands twisted in the sheets, staring at her phone on the nightstand as if it might ring on its own. It didn’t. It sat there in perfect stillness, mocking her hesitation. She had told herself a dozen times she wouldn’t call, that she could handle this alone, but the pressure inside her chest was too much. The doctor’s words still echoed in her mind, Pregnant. The confirmation had been like a thunderclap. She was carrying Damian Blackwood’s child. The Blackwood heir. She should have been relieved. She should have been proud, even. The contract had found its success, and her debts were no longer the rope around her throat, and soon she'd be free. But pride wasn’t what filled her when she lay awake at night.

