Page 221 of Maddening Fixation

So faint I had almost imagined it the first time.

Now I felt it often enough that there was no denying the truth.

My palm instinctively pressed harder against the soft curve of my stomach.

Our child was alive.

But Romeo didn’t know.

Keegan didn’t know.

I had made sure of that.

Every instinct in me screamed to keep my pregnancy hidden for as long as possible. As long as Romeo believed I was simply his prisoner, there was still hope.

Hope that one day I would escape.

Hope that I could disappear before this baby ever entered the world.

Because if there was one thing I knew with absolute certainty, it was this—

Romeo Flynn did not deserve to call himself my child’s father.

Not now.

Not ever.

Romeo took a step forward.

I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

I simply stared at him, my body frozen while my heart remained painfully, completely numb.

Four months ago, seeing him would have made my pulse race for a thousand different reasons. Anger. Attraction. Confusion. Fear.

Now?

Now there was nothing left except a hollow emptiness where every feeling used to live.

And beneath it all, a hatred so deep it terrified even me.

For one fleeting, violent second, I wished I had a gun in my hand.

Not because I wanted revenge.

Not because I cared about the trust fund anymore.

I wanted freedom.

Freedom from this house.

Freedom from this marriage.

Freedom from him.

He started walking toward me.