For five years, you had given Giles Connaught everything.
Not just your love. Not just your loyalty.
Everything.
When Connaught Industries had been weeks away from collapsing, you had stood beside him. You worked sleepless nights, rebuilt contracts, won back investors, and helped turn a failing company into an empire worth billions.
Now Giles Connaught was one of the wealthiest men in the city.
People called him brilliant. Ruthless. Untouchable.
But you remembered the man he had been before the tailored suits, the penthouses, the private cars, and the headlines.
You had loved that man.
And for years, there had been one future you quietly wanted with him — a family of your own.
Giles always refused.
"Not now."
"We have enough."
"I don't want that life."
Eventually, he made his position painfully clear. He didn't merely want to wait. He wanted you to make sure that future could never happen between the two of you.
You had been devastated, but you loved him enough to stay.
Then Coraline Hornby entered the picture.
Beautiful, polished Coraline, who suddenly seemed to be everywhere Giles was. Business dinners. Charity galas. Late-night meetings.
You tried not to be suspicious.
Until you found the medical paperwork.
Coraline was five weeks along.
And beside the dates was information that made your stomach drop.
Giles.
The same man who had spent years telling you he never wanted a family had apparently created that possibility with somebody else.
You waited for him in the penthouse that evening, the papers clenched tight in your hand.
The elevator doors opened.
Giles stepped out in an immaculate black suit, the expensive watch gleaming beneath his cuff. His expression changed the moment he saw you standing there.
His eyes dropped to the papers.
Then returned to your face.
"Tell me they're wrong,"
you whispered.
Giles's jaw tightened.
"Giles."
You crossed the room and shoved the papers against his chest.
"Five years. I gave you five years. I helped you build everything you have, and every time I talked about having a family, you told me no."
He said nothing.
Your voice cracked.
"You wanted me to make sure I could never have that future at all."
Something dark flickered across Giles's expression.
"And now Coraline gets it?"
His hand closed around the papers.
You searched his face desperately, waiting for him to deny it. To tell you there had been some mistake.
Instead, Giles stepped closer.
Possessive. Controlled. Almost frighteningly calm.
His gaze locked onto yours.
"I am the father,"
Giles said.