Nathaniel stared at the divorce agreement.

Then his eyes dropped to my hand resting over my stomach.

“Your son?”

His voice changed.

I realized my mistake immediately.

I had never told him.

Nathaniel slowly placed the papers down.

“Emma… are you pregnant?”

“Yes.”

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he crossed the room toward me.

“How long?”

“Five weeks.”

His face went pale.

“And you were going to divorce me without telling me?”

“I just told you.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

His composure finally cracked.

“You were going to take my child and disappear?”

I looked at him.

“You disappeared first.”

Nathaniel froze.

I pointed toward the phone containing those photographs.

“You went to Chloe without explaining anything. When she humiliated me publicly, you protected her. When I asked you to choose, you told me not to push.”

I slid the divorce papers toward him.

“So I stopped pushing.”

Nathaniel didn’t sign.

Instead, he left.

For three days, I heard nothing.

On the fourth morning, Chloe appeared at my apartment.

She looked exhausted.

“I need you to withdraw the divorce.”

I almost laughed.

“You should be celebrating.”

“I’m serious.”

“Why?”

Her next words surprised me.

“Because Nathaniel has requested an investigation into me.”

I stared at her.

Chloe admitted she had sent the photographs to a journalist.

She wanted people to remember that she had been Nathaniel’s first love.

But according to her, she hadn’t expected the story to become so large.

“Why tell me this?”

“Because he thinks I arranged more than the photographs.”

“What does that mean?”

Before she could answer, my phone rang.

Nathaniel.

I answered.

“Emma, don’t let Chloe leave.”

Chloe’s face changed instantly.

Nathaniel continued:

“The hospital reviewed the disaster-zone records.”

I stood.

“And?”

“Chloe wasn’t assigned to my medical team.”

I looked directly at her.

“She requested a transfer into it three days before the photographs were taken.”

Chloe backed toward the door.

Nathaniel’s voice became colder.

“And someone accessed your medical record yesterday.”

My blood ran cold.

“My record?”

“The pregnancy test you had at the clinic.”

I had gone for confirmation two days earlier.

Only a handful of people should have known.

I looked at Chloe.

“Did you know I was pregnant?”

She said nothing.

That silence answered everything.

Then she whispered:

“Emma, your pregnancy is exactly why you need to leave Nathaniel.”

“Why?”

Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

“Because the Gray family didn’t arrange your marriage simply because they wanted an alliance.”

I stopped breathing.

Nathaniel heard her through the phone.

“Chloe.”

She ignored him.

“Ask Lawrence why he chose you.”

“Chloe, stop.”

“Ask him what happened to Nathaniel’s older brother.”

Nathaniel went completely silent.

I had heard almost nothing about his brother except that he had died years ago.

“What does his brother have to do with me?”

Chloe looked at my stomach.

“Not you.”

She whispered the next words.

“Your family.”

A knock sounded at the door.

Three slow knocks.

Chloe turned white.

“Don’t open it.”

“Why?”

She grabbed my wrist.

“Because if Lawrence Gray knows I told you this, neither of us is supposed to be here when he arrives.”

My phone was still connected.

Nathaniel heard everything.

Then the knocking came again.

And this time, an elderly voice sounded from the hallway.

“Emma.”

Lawrence Gray.

“Open the door.”

A pause.

“We need to discuss why your child is the reason this marriage was arranged in the first place.”