The Weight Of Doubt

Mia’s POV The panic room was silent except for our breathing. Damien sat against the wall, blood still seeping from his wounds, while I huddled a few feet away, arms wrapped around my knees. The small, reinforced space felt like a cage. No windows. No escape. Just the two of us — and the heavy weight of everything unsaid. I couldn’t stop staring at the black screen where Elias’s message had appeared. The real test results are coming. My hand rested on my belly, protective and terrified at the same time. “Are you going to say anything?” I whispered. Damien looked at me, his dark eyes exhausted but still intense. “What do you want me to say, Mia? That I’m sorry for bringing you into this world? That I should have protected you better?” He winced as he shifted. “Or that every time I look at you, I know I’d burn everything down to keep you and our child safe?” Our child. The words made my heart ache. Part of me wanted to crawl into his arms and believe him. The other part — the one that kept replaying Elias’s confident smile — screamed that I was being naive. “I don’t know who to trust anymore,” I admitted, voice breaking. “My father betrayed me. Elias claims the baby is his. You say it’s yours. I’m stuck in this room with you, carrying a life I didn’t ask for, and I’m scared, Damien. Scared that I’m falling for a man who might have lied about everything.” He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away. When I didn’t, he pulled me gently onto his lap, his arms wrapping around me. Forced proximity in its purest form — his warmth against my skin, his blood on my hands, his breath on my neck. “I never lied about wanting you,” he murmured. “From our wedding night, when I claimed you against that glass… I knew you were different. The contract was supposed to be simple. One year. An heir. Then freedom. But you got under my skin. You made me want more.” His hand stroked my belly tenderly. For a moment, the ruthless billionaire disappeared, and I saw the man who was desperate to protect what was his. I leaned into him despite myself, tears slipping down my cheeks. “If the test says the baby isn’t yours…” “It won’t,” he said firmly. “Elias is playing mind games. He’s been working with your father to destroy me from the inside.” The emergency screen flickered again. Another message from Elias appeared. “Still hiding in your little box, Voss? The full DNA results will be delivered in person. Midnight. Bring Mia. Or I come for her myself.” Damien’s body tensed beneath me. His arms tightened, holding me closer. “We’re not opening that door,” he growled. But I felt the shift in him — the calculation, the dark determination. He was already planning how to end this. I turned in his lap, facing him. Our foreheads pressed together in the dim emergency lighting. “If I walk out there with you… promise me one thing.” “Anything.” “Whatever the truth is about the baby… don’t lie to me again.” His eyes darkened with emotion. “I promise.” The screen went black. We stayed locked together in silence, his hand on my belly, my head on his shoulder. The forced closeness made every heartbeat feel shared. But as the minutes ticked toward midnight, one terrifying thought wouldn’t leave me: If Elias was telling the truth… then the man holding me right now had been lying from the very beginning. And I wasn’t sure my heart — or my body — could survive the final revelation.