The tension in the room seemed to dissipate as Conrad Stone softened his gaze. Looking at Celeste Lynn, his eyes flickered with a profound, tender guilt that he couldn't quite mask. To the world, the last five years had been a baptism by fire, a period where he forged himself into the Supreme Commander of The Vanguard. But as he stood before the woman he loved, he realized that while he was reclaiming his glory on the battlefield, Celeste had been living through a relentless, waking nightmare.
He could only imagine the sheer terror that must have gripped her the moment she discovered she was pregnant with no one to turn to. There were no shoulders to lean on when the exhaustion became unbearable, no arms to hold her when the pain of childbirth arrived. She had brought Kylie Stone into thi
