"Adrian!"
Emma's panicked cry echoed off the safehouse walls. Her hands fumbled for his face, patting his cheeks, brushing sweat-soaked hair from his forehead. His skin burned beneath her palms.
"Ellis!" she screamed.
Footsteps thundered down the hall. Ellis burst through the door, two medics on his heels. They rushed to Adrian's side, checking his pulse, pulling back his eyelids. One began prepping an IV, another tore open packets of cold compresses.
Emma backed away, hands clamped over her mouth. Her entire world was collapsing in slow motion. Please, not yet. I just found him. Please, God…
Minutes crawled by like hours. Finally, one medic turned to her.
"He's stabilizing, madam. But his condition is very fragile. The infections from internal injuries, coupled with stress and exhaustion—it's all compounding. We'll need to keep him under observation here. Moving him would be too dangerous."
Emma sank into a chair, tears streaming silently. Ellis rested a hand on her shoulder.
"He's strong," he said quietly. "He's fought off worse than this."
Emma swallowed. "But how many times can someone be pushed to the edge before they fall?"
The days that followed blurred into a haze of worry and small, stolen joys. Emma refused to leave Adrian's side. She spooned soup into his mouth when he was awake, wiped sweat from his brow during fever spikes, and curled up beside him each night just to feel the steady, if uneven, rise and fall of his chest.
Sometimes he'd wake disoriented, muttering things that broke her heart. Apologies for things that weren't his fault. Names of people long dead. Promises he couldn't keep.
Once, in the darkest hours of night, he grabbed her hand so tightly it hurt.
"Don't let them take you," he rasped.
She kissed his knuckles. "No one will. I'm right here."
Then, almost cruelly, the days began to brighten. Adrian regained enough strength to sit up, to hold her hand with steady fingers. His color improved. The doctor still looked grave, but the dark curtain of immediate doom seemed to lift.
That's when the lawyer arrived.
A sharp knock on the door broke the fragile peace. Ellis led in a man with slicked hair and a leather briefcase.
"Mr. Blackwood," the lawyer said with a deferential nod. "Mrs. Blackwood. I apologize for intruding at such a delicate time. But… the terms of your contract marriage are nearing conclusion. Legally, it's set to end this Friday."
Emma froze. Friday. Just days away.
The lawyer continued, oblivious to the tension crackling in the room. "If you'd like to formalize the dissolution, I can prepare the paperwork now. Assets and protections will of course still be honored. Or, alternatively—"
"Leave it," Adrian interrupted hoarsely. "We'll call when ready."
The lawyer bowed out. The door shut, leaving a suffocating silence.
Emma twisted her hands together. "Do you want it to end?"
Adrian's jaw tensed. "I told you from the beginning, this was temporary. To protect the company, to protect you."
"But everything's changed." Her voice cracked. "I'm carrying your child. We've faced death together. And you told me you love me."
"That's exactly why we should end it." His hands curled into fists. "You think I want to watch you trapped in this life, forever hunted by people like Cassandra? Or worse, watch you weep over my grave when the sickness finally wins?"
Her tears fell, hot and angry. "So your plan is to push me away, again? To let me walk out of here with your baby, while you die alone in this house full of ghosts?"
Adrian didn't answer. He looked away, shoulders shaking with the force of everything he refused to say.
Emma crossed to him, grabbing his face and forcing him to meet her eyes. "I don't care about contracts, Adrian. I care about us. About building whatever time we have left. About giving this baby a father, even if it's just for a little while."
He crushed her against his chest, breathing her in like she was the only air left on earth. "I'm terrified," he confessed into her hair. "Terrified of loving you more each day and leaving you with nothing but pain."
She pulled back just enough to press her forehead to his. "That's the risk we take when we love someone. But it's worth it. You're worth it."
A tear slipped from his eye. The mighty Adrian Blackwood—untouchable billionaire, feared kingpin—was breaking, right there in her hands.
Then he kissed her. Not desperate or rough, but soft. Reverent. Like he was memorizing the shape of forever.
That night, under flickering candlelight, he took her hand and slid a ring onto her finger. Not the contract band, cold and businesslike, but the delicate diamond she'd found in his safe.
"This was supposed to be for later," he whispered. "But I don't want to wait anymore."
Emma's breath caught. "Then don't."
They made love with a tenderness that felt like eternity condensed into hours. When he finally fell asleep with his hand splayed protectively over her belly, Emma lay awake, marveling at how right it felt—how despite everything, this broken man had become her entire world.
At dawn, a knock came again. Ellis entered, face pale.
"There's been movement from Cassandra's side. We believe she knows about your pregnancy and plans to force a hostile takeover of Blackwood Industries. If she can prove the marriage is a sham—"
Emma stood, chin high. "It's not a sham. And I'll prove it. We'll stand together."
Adrian gripped her hand, pride and terror warring in his gaze. "Are you sure? If we go public, there's no turning back. Every secret, every rival, every threat will come for us."
She nodded. "I'd rather face the wolves with you than hide alone. I love you, Adrian. That means all of you—the danger, the sickness, the scars. Everything."
Outside the window, sunlight spilled over the lawn, birdsong tentative after the storm. For the first time, the future didn't seem like a guillotine hanging over them. It felt like a fragile, defiant promise.
Emma and Adrian prepare to go public with their marriage and unborn child, bracing for Cassandra's next move. Whatever comes, they'll face it hand-in-hand.