“What are we going to do?” she asks.

I cup her jaw, tilting her face up to mine. “End this, baby.”

Her breath hitches. She nods. And I know—she’s not going to fight me on this. She’s with me.

I grab my jacket. “I’m heading downstairs, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you, okay?”

The way she looks at me, worried and yet trusting, breaks my heart a little. I give her one last kiss before leaving. This is for them and our future—a future I never thought I wanted until I found her.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Henrietta (Blythe)

I listen to his footsteps fade down the stairwell, each one pulling the air from the room. The moment Atlas is gone, the apartment feels smaller, the silence pressing in, thick and stifling. I inhale deeply, trying to force the oxygen into my lungs, trying to tell myself this isn’t what it feels like—trapped, cornered. But the walls feel too close. The air too thin. It’s like I’ve slipped back into the nightmare I just woke up from.

It’s in my head. I know it is. But knowing doesn’t help.

Anxiety feeds on the unknown, and right now, there’s too much of it. I remind myself—calm down, breathe, stress isn’t good for the baby—but it’s almost impossible when I can still hear pieces of Atlas’s conversation with Sanford replaying in my mind.

They took down an agent.

They’re close. Too close.

My fingers clench into the fabric of Atlas’s pillow as I sink onto the edge of the bed. The scent of him lingers, grounding me for a second before another thought claws its way in. I should be used to this—waiting, hiding, staying out of sight while men decide what happens next. But I don’t want to be used to it. I don’t want to live like this, constantly looking over my shoulder, hoping this time won’t be as bad as the last. Hoping Winston won’t find me. Won’t hurt me. Won’t take my baby away—or hurt her.

I press a hand over my stomach, swallowing against the fear, tightening my throat.

Three months. That’s how long I’ve been here, building something I never thought I’d have. A life. A real one.

Atlas. The little business he started, and we’re growing together—even when my ideas sometimes feel too over the top. The baby I never expected but already love with everything in me.

I never dreamed of this before, but now I can’t imagine wanting anything else. And yet, it still feels out of reach—like something fragile that could shatter with a single misstep. Winston is trying to pull me back, to drag me into the nightmare I fought so hard to escape.

But this time, I’m not alone.