Mark stood frozen in the center of his penthouse, the skyline of New York stretching wide and glowing behind him but all he saw was her face.
Pregnant.
Aurora was pregnant.
Maxwell's words echoed like a siren through his mind. "She's carrying your baby, Mark."
His hands clenched into fists. His throat burned with a thousand unspoken words.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to smile. He wanted to punch a wall. He wanted to fall to his knees. But all he did was whisper, "She's having my baby." The thought didn't feel real.
He stumbled backward, collapsing onto the couch as the weight of the news hit him like a thousand bricks. One week of silence.
The way she walked out on him without saying goodbye. The nights he had stood outside her gate like a madman, hoping to catch a glimpse of her silhouette. And all this time… she had been carrying his child.
His jaw tightened. His heart pounded like a war drum. "She wants to keep this from me," he muttered, rising to his feet. "She hid my child from me." He paced across the living room like a storm in human form. His voice cracked when he spoke again, "How could she… how could she not tell me something like this?"
He remembered all the times he tried to reach her.The number of times he'd stared at her photos and asked himself if she still loved him. And now she was pregnant. His child was growing inside her. The same child he should've been pampering. Talking to.
Protecting. Singing to sleep at night.
And instead, he was a stranger. She was going to keep this from me forever…" His heart shattered a little more at the thought.
Mark stormed into his study, flinging open a drawer and pulling out the small velvet box he had hidden there. A diamond ring. He had planned to propose to her again the way she deserved. Without secrets, without betrayal. Just love. But now? Now everything was blurred in chaos and fire.
He pulled out his phone and opened the security files. The folder labeled "Aurora."
Every antenatal appointment. Every blood test. Every ultrasound report. He had eyes on everything and it hurt more than it helped.
She wasn't alone.
Gianna was always with her. Her father's bodyguards followed her like shadows. But still, it wasn't him.
He should've been the one rubbing her swollen feet. He should've been the one holding her hand during the scans. He should've been the one talking to their baby at night.
Instead, he was the man she hated. The man she left. The man she couldn't forgive. Mark slammed his fist into the table, sending papers flying. But when he looked down and saw a copy of her latest scan the image of their child curled up peacefully his hand slowly relaxed.
His eyes welled.
"I don't care what I have to do," he whispered. "I don't care who tries to keep me away. Not William. Not Kim. Not even you, Aurora."I am this baby's father. And I'm not going anywhere."
With trembling fingers, he reached for the phone. He scrolled through his list until he found what he needed.
His lawyer.
If she wanted to play games, fine.
If she wanted to keep his child from him, let her try. But Mark Wilson was no longer the broken man begging for love. He was a father now.And he would fight.