Amara exhaled slowly and leaned back into the chair. "Maybe traffic—"

"Traffic?" Julian gave a dry laugh. "Amara, the man disappeared on the day of a DNA test. That’s not traffic."

She rubbed her forehead tiredly. She had barely slept the night before. Too many thoughts. Too many questions. Too many possible outcomes that all ended with her life becoming even messier than it already was, even when Julian had promised he was with her through it all, and Madam Vale’s hug from this morning, she still felt uneasy. All her heart prays that the child she was carrying was Julian’s.

Julian stopped pacing and looked at her carefully. His anger softened just a little.

"You okay?"

Amara nodded automatically, though she wasn’t sure if it was true. "I just want this over with."

The waiting room felt colder than before. Nurses walked past calmly while a television mounted on the wall played some morning talk show no one was paying attention to. Somewhere down the hall, a baby cried briefly before the sound disappeared again.

Everything around them felt normal. But nothing about this day was normal. Julian tried Seb’s number again. The call rang and rang before going dead. That was it.

"I’m going to kill him," Julian snapped, shoving the phone into his pocket. A tired smile almost touched Amara’s lips. "Maybe we should just go ahead with the test without him."

Julian looked at her for a long second before nodding sharply. "He’d better accept the results afterward because I’m done playing nice with him."

Amara stood slowly, adjusting the loose cardigan around herself. Julian immediately moved beside her like second nature, protective even in the smallest things.

The two of them headed toward the hallway leading to the testing department. They barely made it three steps before the hospital entrance exploded into chaos. The glass doors slid open. Voices flooded inside.

"Amara!"

"Mrs. Vale!"

"Is it true?"

"Are you here for delivery?"

"Who’s the father of the baby?"

"Is the marriage collapsing?" Camera flashes burst violently across the lobby. Amara froze. For one horrible second, her mind completely blanked. There were too many people.

Too many cameras. Microphones pushed toward her face. Questions were crashing into each other so loudly she couldn’t even separate one from another.

Someone shoved closer. Another flash went off directly in her eyes. Amara instinctively stepped back, one hand moving protectively toward her stomach as panic crawled up her spine.

Julian reacted immediately. "Move back!" he barked, stepping in front of her.

His arm wrapped around her shoulders while he used his body to shield her from the cameras. Reporters kept pushing anyway, hungry for a reaction, desperate for a headline.

"Julian, is the baby yours?"

"Are the rumors true about Sebastian Creed?"

"Is there a paternity dispute?" The questions only became uglier. Amara’s breathing turned uneven. This was exactly what she had feared. One picture. One wrong story.

And suddenly, the entire country would create its own version of her life. She lowered her head as Julian guided her backward, trying to block as much as he could.

Then suddenly. Another hand appeared beside them. Firm. Steady. Protective. "This way." The deep voice cut cleanly through the noise.

Before either of them could react properly, the stranger began directing them through a side path near the hospital wall, shielding Amara from another wave of cameras.

Julian frowned immediately, tense and suspicious, but right now escape mattered more. The reporters followed anyway. Questions chased after them. Flashes kept exploding around them. By the time they reached the side parking lot, Amara’s heart was pounding painfully hard in her chest.

Their car sat all the way across the open parking area. Too far. To reach it, they would have to walk directly through the media again. More pictures. More rumors. More stories.

Everyone twisting her life into entertainment. Julian cursed under his breath. "This is insane." Another crowd of reporters started spilling toward the parking lot entrance after spotting them again.

"Great," Julian muttered darkly. Then a black car suddenly pulled up beside them. Smooth. Fast. The tinted window rolled down.

"Get in. Now." Amara blinked. Julian tilted his head slightly toward the driver’s seat. And there he was.

Sebastian. Looking annoyingly calm. Like he hadn’t disappeared for hours and nearly caused a war. Julian stared at him in disbelief before letting out a sharp hiss.

"You must be kidding me." Amara could barely feel her legs anymore. The noise outside was becoming unbearable. Reporters were already rushing toward the parking lot, cameras lifted like weapons, hungry for another scandal to feed the public.

Julian looked once at the crowd. Then at Amara. He made the decision instantly. Without another word, he pulled the back door open for her.

"Get in." Amara hesitated only for a second before sliding into the car. Julian quickly got in after her and slammed the door shut just as another wave of reporters reached them.

The car moved immediately. Outside, flashes still exploded against the dark-tinted windows. Inside, silence settled heavily. A suffocating silence.

The kind that came before a storm. Unfortunately for them, they bring security today. No guards. No assistants. No protection. They had wanted this meeting to be quiet and discreet. What a joke that had turned out to be.

The engine hummed softly as Sebastian drove through traffic with one hand resting lazily on the steering wheel, as if this entire disaster meant nothing to him. Amara sat by the window quietly. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Too quietly. Her arms folded tightly across her chest while anger burned silently behind her eyes. She didn’t look at either man.

Julian, however, looked ready to commit murder. "Was this part of your plan?" he asked coldly.

Seb’s jaw tightened slightly, though his expression remained calm. "Believe me or not, I had nothing to do with this." Julian let out a humorless laugh.

"Right."

"I’m serious."

"We all know you did this," Julian scoffed.

Sebastian finally glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Julian, you have more enemies than you realize, starting with your royal family. People would pay a fortune to destroy you, and now Amara too." His voice turned colder. "I’m actually the least of your worries."