The pen moved across the crisp paper with absolute certainty.

Three weeks passed like a dream.

Life inside the Moretti estate was an entirely foreign universe. There were no financial worries, no screaming matches over bills, and no late-night panic attacks about whether we could afford diapers and groceries. Mrs. Gable treated Lily like royalty, and Luca... Luca was a revelation.

Despite managing a multi-billion-dollar global real estate empire, he made it home for dinner every single night at precisely seven o'clock. Sometimes, I would find him sitting in the oversized armchair in the nursery, holding a sleeping Lily against his broad chest, whispering soft Italian lullabies while she clutched his index finger.

I was sitting at the grand mahogany desk in the library, sketching a new concept design for a commercial plaza Luca was developing in downtown Manhattan, when the heavy oak doors banged open.

Mrs. Gable stood in the doorway, her face flushed with indignation, blocking the entrance.

"Mr. Moretti gave strict instructions that no uninvited guests were to—" Mrs. Gable started.

"Get out of my way, you old hag!" a familiar, shrill voice shrieked.

Derek pushed his way past Mrs. Gable, marching into the library with a face twisted in desperate, pathetic fury. Behind him scurried Brittany, clutching her designer handbag like a shield.

I stood up so fast my chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor. My hands trembled, not out of fear anymore, but out of sheer, unadulterated shock. "Derek? How did you get in here?"

Derek sneered, his eyes scanning the opulent library before landing on me with venomous satisfaction. "You thought you could run off with some sugar daddy and hide behind a billionaire's gates, Emma? You're still my legal problem!"

"You signed away any parental rights the moment you demanded a DNA test in front of a hospital full of witnesses, Mr. Sterling," a cold, razor-sharp voice echoed from the doorway.

Luca stepped into the room.

He hadn't been scheduled to be home for another two hours. He wore his custom charcoal suit, his jacket open, his hands casually tucked into his trouser pockets. He didn't raise his voice, but the sheer atmospheric pressure in the room plummeted instantly.

Derek flinched, taking a nervous half-step back, though he tried to puff out his chest. "Mr. Moretti! With all due respect, this is a family matter! Emma is an unwed mother, and she manipulated you into signing that birth certificate! I am taking her to court for full custody, and I'm suing you for alienation of affection!"

Luca didn't even blink. He walked slowly across the Persian rug until he was standing just inches from Derek.

"Custody?" Luca asked, his tone deceptively gentle. "With what money, Derek? Your firm’s financial audit hit your CEO’s desk this morning. Thanks to your little embezzlement scheme in the regional accounts—which my legal team uncovered and handed directly to federal prosecutors three hours ago—your bank accounts have been frozen, your passport has been flagged, and your firm fired you before lunch."

Derek’s color drained entirely. He grabbed his collar as if he couldn't breathe. "That... that's impossible! You framed me!"

"I don't frame criminals, Derek. I simply expose them," Luca replied coldly. He turned his head slightly, signaling to Viktor, who stood imposingly in the hallway. "Viktor, escort our guests off the property. If Mr. Sterling sets foot within five miles of this estate again, ensure he spends the next twenty years reflecting on his choices in a federal penitentiary."

"Emma! Emma, please!" Derek shrieked, lunging forward, but Viktor caught him by the shoulders with a grip of steel, hauling him backward out of the room like a ragdoll while Brittany sobbed in absolute terror.

When the doors clicked shut, the silence returned to the library, heavy and absolute.

I stood by the desk, my knees shaking, the sketchbook clutched tightly in my hands.

Luca turned back to me, the cold, lethal aura vanishing in an instant, replaced by a deep, aching tenderness. He crossed the room in two long strides, stopping right in front of me.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, his hands coming up to gently cup my face.