(Luca’s POV)
Time didn’t stop when Blake said the words.
But his body did.
“I was pregnant. Last year. It was yours. And your father paid me to disappear.”
Her voice echoed through the apartment like a fire alarm — sharp, sudden, impossible to ignore.
Luca’s stomach turned. Not just from the words, but from the look on Emery’s face behind Blake.
Hurt.
Not rage. Not jealousy.
Just… devastation.
“Is it true?” Emery asked, barely above a whisper. “Did you…?”
“I didn’t know,” Luca said quickly. “I swear, Em, I had no idea—”
Blake laughed — bitter and small. “Of course you didn’t. That was the point.”
⸻
Blake walked in without being invited, dropping a worn folder onto their kitchen counter.
Inside: a positive pregnancy test. A doctor’s note. A copy of a check from Caldwell Holdin
