"Pregnant?" Isla's voice cracked as she stared at Cassian Wolfe. "That's impossible!"
Damien stepped between them, his face hard. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Cassian's smile was smug. "Ask Victoria. She has the test results."
Another gunshot echoed through the building. Isla jumped, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Julian!" she cried, pushing past Cassian and racing toward the stairs. The elevator would be too slow during the power outage.
Damien was right behind her, with Serena following. They sprinted up two flights of stairs, bursting into Victoria's floor. The emergency lights cast long shadows down the hallway. The door to Victoria's office stood slightly open.
Isla ran to it, but Damien caught her arm. "Wait," he whispered. "We don't know what's happening in there."
"I don't care," she hissed, yanking her arm free. "Julian could be hurt!"
She pushed the door open.
Victoria's office was in chaos. Papers scattered everywhere, a chair overturned. The window behind her desk had a bullet hole in it. And in the center of the room stood Julian Mercer, very much alive and holding a gun.
"Julian?" Isla gasped.
He spun around, his face contorted with rage. When he spotted her, something shifted in his eyes—pain, betrayal, fury.
"Well, well," he said coldly. "If it isn't the happy couple."
Isla stepped into the room, confused. "Julian, what happened? We saw photos of you tied up, threatened—"
Julian's bitter laugh cut her off. "Is that what they told you? That I was kidnapped?" He waved the gun carelessly. "No one kidnapped me, Isla. I've been trying to undo what you did."
Damien moved to Isla's side, his hand hovering protectively near her back. "Put the gun down, Mercer."
Julian's eyes flashed with hatred. "Stay away from my fiancée, Calloway."
"Ex-fiancée," Victoria's voice came from the corner where she stood calmly, despite the chaos. "Isla is Damien's wife now."
"A marriage that shouldn't exist!" Julian shouted. "Tell them, Victoria. Tell them how you found Isla and Damien together three months ago!"
Victoria smoothed her silk blouse. "I simply discovered what Isla had been hiding. Her affair with my stepson."
"Affair?" Isla felt like she'd been slapped. "That's a lie! I never even met Damien until the gala!"
"Then explain these," Julian snarled, tossing a manila envelope onto the desk. Photos spilled out—dozens of them showing Isla and Damien together at restaurants, on his yacht, entering his penthouse late at night. All dated from months before.
"These are fake," Damien said calmly, though Isla could feel the tension radiating from him. "Someone created these photos to manipulate you, Mercer."
"I hired three different experts to verify them," Julian shot back. "They're real. While I was working late, building our future, you were sleeping with Calloway!"
Isla shook her head, desperation clawing at her throat. "Julian, please. I would never cheat on you. Someone drugged us all—me, Damien, even Serena. They forced us into this marriage!"
"So you just happened to marry him in your sleep?" Julian's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Then explain why your pregnancy test came back positive two weeks ago—when I was in Tokyo!"
The room fell silent. Isla felt her knees weaken. "I'm not pregnant."
"The blood test doesn't lie," Victoria said smoothly. "I have the results in my safe. Damien's name is on the paperwork as the father."
Damien's face hardened. "Open the safe."
Victoria hesitated, then walked to the painting on her wall—the one Isla had recognized in the background of Julian's "kidnapping" photo. She swung it aside, revealing a sleek digital safe. Her fingers danced across the keypad.
"Here," she said, pulling out a medical file. "See for yourself."
Damien took it, scanning the documents inside. His expression gave nothing away, but Isla saw his knuckles whiten around the folder's edge.
"This can't be right," Isla whispered.
Julian lowered the gun, his anger giving way to pain. "I thought we had everything, Isla. I loved you. I was going to propose properly next month, at the lake house."
"Julian," Isla reached for him, her heart breaking. "These are all lies. I would never hurt you like this."
He stepped back as if her touch would burn him. "Then why did I find your grandmother's ring in Calloway's penthouse three months ago?"
Isla froze. "What?"
"I tracked your phone," Julian admitted. "After you started having 'late meetings' and 'overnight depositions.' I followed you to his building. The doorman knew you by name. You dropped your grandmother's ring in the lobby while you were laughing with him."
"That's why you thought it was stolen," Serena whispered from the doorway, where she'd been listening. "You reported it missing."
"Because it was!" Isla insisted. "I never went to Damien's building before yesterday!"
Julian shook his head, his eyes hollow. "I found the ring. I was going to confront you that night, but then I decided to investigate first. I followed you for weeks, watching you build a life with him behind my back."
"Then why didn't you break up with me?" Isla asked, tears streaming down her face.
"Because I still loved you," Julian whispered. "I kept hoping there was an explanation. That you'd come clean. Instead, you married him in secret."
"I didn't—"
"Enough lies!" Julian raised the gun again, pointing it at Damien. "This ends now. Sign annulment papers, or I'll make sure Calloway Industries falls apart brick by brick."
Damien stepped forward, ignoring the gun. "You're being played, Mercer. We all are. Think about it—why would Victoria have photos of your 'kidnapping' in her office? Why stage this elaborate scheme?"
Julian faltered, the gun wavering. "What are you talking about?"
"The photos of you tied up came from this office," Isla explained quickly. "Someone here sent them to threaten me."
Victoria's calm facade cracked slightly. "That's absurd."
"Is it?" Damien turned to her. "You've wanted control of Calloway Industries for years. What better way than to force me into a marriage you could manipulate?"
"And drag my law firm into it?" Julian scoffed.
"Mercer & Hayes handles all of Calloway's legal affairs," Damien pointed out. "A merger would give Victoria access to everything."
Julian's eyes narrowed as he looked at Victoria. "You told me you found out about their affair by accident. That you were trying to help me."
Victoria's smile turned cold. "I was helping you, dear. Sometimes the truth hurts."
"Then why did my mother call me this morning, saying you threatened her if I didn't play along with your plan?" Julian asked quietly.
Victoria's face paled.
"You told my mother you'd ruin her charity foundation if I didn't sell my shares in the firm," Julian continued, turning the gun toward Victoria. "You said you had people watching her house. How did you know I'd find Isla and Damien together?"
"Because she orchestrated it all," Damien said, the pieces finally clicking into place. "The fake photos. The drugged champagne. The wedding none of us remember."
Victoria's composure shattered. "You have no proof."
"We will," Isla promised, her voice steady despite her tears. "Julian, please. I never cheated on you. I would never hurt you like that."
Julian looked at her, conflict clear in his eyes. "Then explain the pregnancy."
"It's not real," Isla said firmly. "It can't be."
"Actually," Serena stepped forward, taking the medical file from Damien. "These results aren't for Isla Bennett. They're for Isla Brooks—your former paralegal who left three months ago."
"What?" Isla grabbed the file, examining it closely. There it was—Isla Brooks, not Isla Bennett.
Julian slowly lowered the gun. "If Victoria lied about this..."
"She lied about everything," Damien said grimly.
Victoria edged toward the door. "This is ridiculous. I was protecting Calloway Industries!"
"By forcing me to marry a woman you thought was pregnant with my child?" Damien's voice was deadly quiet.
"You needed stability!" Victoria snapped. "The board was questioning your commitment! A wife and child would secure your position—and mine!"
As the truth spilled out, Isla noticed something on Victoria's desk—her grandmother's emerald ring, sitting in plain sight.
Julian saw it too. His face hardened as he realized how deeply he'd been manipulated.
"You planted that ring for me to find," he whispered.
Victoria's eyes darted to the door, calculating her escape. "This is all a misunderstanding—"
"Save it," Damien cut her off. "Your plan failed."
"Did it?" Victoria smiled suddenly, an eerie calm settling over her. "You're still legally married. And there's a clause in your father's will you don't know about, Damien. If you divorce within a year of marriage, you lose everything—to me."
Damien's face went white. "You're bluffing."
"Check with the family lawyers," Victoria said smugly. "Your father wanted to make sure you didn't marry for convenience."
Before anyone could respond, the lights suddenly came back on. In the moment of distraction, Victoria lunged for the door.
Julian moved to stop her, but Victoria was faster. She grabbed something from her desk—a syringe—and plunged it into Julian's neck as she passed him.
"Julian!" Isla cried out as he collapsed to the floor.
Victoria fled through the door. Serena ran to Julian's side, checking his pulse.
"He's alive, but his pulse is weak," she reported.
Damien was already on his phone, calling for help. "Security, lock down the building. Medical emergency in Victoria Calloway's office."
Isla knelt beside Julian, cradling his head. "Stay with me," she whispered.
Julian's eyes fluttered open briefly. "Isla," he gasped. "Don't trust anyone. Not even Damien. This is... bigger than you know."
His eyes closed again as his body went limp.
"What did she inject him with?" Isla asked frantically.
Damien picked up the syringe Victoria had dropped. "I don't know. But we need to find Victoria before she disappears."
As paramedics rushed in, Damien pulled Isla aside. "If what Victoria said is true about my father's will, we're stuck in this marriage."
"I don't care about that right now," Isla insisted. "Julian needs help."
"Julian will be fine," Damien said, his voice low. "But we need to figure out who else is involved. Victoria couldn't have done all this alone."
As they watched Julian being loaded onto a stretcher, Isla's phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:
The marriage is just the beginning. The child comes next. And this time, it will be real.
Attached was a photo of Isla's medical records—showing an appointment scheduled for artificial insemination the very next day.