The confirmation came at 10:42 a.m.
Clinical.
Measured.
Undeniable.
Lena sat on the edge of the examination bed, her hands folded tightly in her lap as the doctor turned the monitor toward them.
“There’s no mistake,” the doctor said gently. “You’re pregnant.”
The room felt very still.
Not like the chaos of Chapter 4: Scandal Under the Spotlight.
Not like the brutal tension of Chapter 7: War in the Boardroom.
This silence was different.
Sacred.
Terrifying.
Adrian didn’t speak immediately.
He just stood there—tall, composed, unreadable.
The same man who had turned marriage into strategy in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage.
The same man who negotiated boundaries in Chapter 2: The Price of a Signature.
The same man who nearly lost control in Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire.
The same man who chose her publicly in Chapter 7.
Now standing in a sterile white room—
Facing something he couldn’t acquire, outmaneuver, or restructure.
Life.
His Reaction
When the doctor left, the door clicked shut softly.
Lena finally looked at him.
“Say something.”
He exhaled slowly.
One controlled breath.
Then another.
And then—
He stepped forward.
Not cautiously.
Not strategically.
He knelt in front of her.
Adrian Blackwood did not kneel.
Not to boards.
Not to markets.
Not to rivals.
But here—
He did.
His hand rested gently against her abdomen.
As if testing reality.
“We’re having a child,” he said quietly.
The words weren’t dramatic.
They were steady.
Certain.
Emotion rose unexpectedly in her chest.
“You’re not angry?”
His gaze snapped up instantly.
“Angry?”
“It complicates everything.”
He almost smiled.
“Everything was already complicated the moment you signed that contract.”
The contract that started it all in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage.
The contract later weaponized in Chapter 6: The Clause He Never Meant to Use.
And now—
Irrelevant.
Because this wasn’t paper.
This wasn’t leverage.
This was permanent.
The Leak
By noon, the market reacted.
Not to an announcement.
To speculation.
Financial blogs lit up.
“Sources confirm possible Blackwood heir.”
“Is the pregnancy real—or another strategic move?”
Lena stared at the headlines in disbelief.
“We didn’t tell anyone.”
Adrian’s expression turned lethal.
“No.”
The only people who knew:
The doctor.
The private nurse.
And—
His internal security team.
The realization hit simultaneously.
“This is coming from inside,” Lena whispered.
Not the board.
Not Victoria.
Not outside rivals like during Chapter 5: When Power Becomes Personal.
Internal.
A betrayal far closer than either of them expected.
The Name He Didn’t Want to Say
“There’s only one person who would gain from this,” Adrian said quietly.
She watched his jaw tighten.
“Who?”
He hesitated.
A rare thing.
“My uncle.”
Lena blinked.
“You told me he retired.”
“He did.”
But power in families like the Blackwoods never truly retired.
His uncle had once expected to lead the company.
Until Adrian outmaneuvered him years ago.
“If I appear distracted,” Adrian continued, “or emotionally vulnerable—shareholder confidence shifts.”
“And a baby makes you vulnerable?”
“In their eyes? Yes.”
The board once tried to prove he was emotionally compromised in Chapter 6.
Now reality had handed his enemies something stronger than a clause.
An heir.
The Confrontation
Adrian didn’t wait.
By evening, they were inside a private office at a secondary Blackwood property downtown.
Across the table sat his uncle—Richard Blackwood.
Calm.
Polished.
Smiling faintly.
“I heard congratulations were in order,” Richard said smoothly.
Lena felt Adrian’s hand tighten around hers.
Not possessive.
Protective.
“You moved quickly,” Adrian replied evenly.
“I have friends,” Richard said lightly. “Doctors talk.”
The lie was effortless.
Cold.
Calculated.
“This child changes things,” Richard continued. “Legacy becomes emotional. Decisions become softer.”
Adrian leaned back slightly.
“You mistake me for someone sentimental.”
Richard’s eyes flicked briefly to Lena’s stomach.
“Don’t I?”
The insult was subtle.
But sharp.
The implication clear:
Love weakens empires.
Lena felt something shift inside her.
She wasn’t the girl who signed away her name in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage anymore.
She wasn’t the uncertain bride navigating clauses in Chapter 2.
She wasn’t even the woman learning the cost of power in Chapter 4.
She was carrying the future of this empire.
And she refused to be used as its weakness.
“Legacy doesn’t soften leadership,” she said calmly. “It stabilizes it.”
Richard’s smile thinned.
“You’re new to this family.”
“And you’re underestimating me,” she replied.
Adrian’s grip tightened slightly.
Approval.
Silent.
Unspoken.
The Real Threat
Back in the car, silence stretched between them.
“He won’t stop,” Lena said.
“No.”
“He’ll escalate.”
“Yes.”
She turned to him fully.
“Then we stop reacting.”
His eyes sharpened.
“You have a plan?”
“Not yet.”
But she would.
Because this wasn’t just corporate maneuvering anymore.
It was generational.
And if someone wanted to use her child as leverage—
They would learn quickly that she wasn’t a liability.
She was the turning point.
A Final Message
That night, another anonymous message arrived.
This time to Adrian.
“Bloodlines create division. Choose carefully.”
Attached was a confidential document.
Projected shareholder voting trends.
If the pregnancy was confirmed publicly—
Certain conservative investors would shift their allegiance.
Toward Richard.
The play was clear.
Force Adrian to choose between:
Publicly embracing fatherhood.
Or protecting his position.
A choice between power—
And family.
He stood on the balcony where everything first began shifting back in Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire.
Lena joined him quietly.
“You’re thinking,” she said.
“Yes.”
“About stepping down?”
He didn’t answer.
Because for the first time since the war in Chapter 7: War in the Boardroom—
It wasn’t an impossible scenario.
She stepped closer.
“This child isn’t your weakness.”
His jaw tightened.
“They will make it one.”
“Only if we let them.”
He looked at her then.
Not as leverage.
Not as risk.
Not as strategy.
But as partner.
Equal.
“And if I have to choose?” he asked quietly.
Her heartbeat thundered.
“Then choose us.”
The wind moved around them.
The empire was steady.
For now.
But blood—
Blood changed everything.
To Be Continued…
Richard Blackwood is moving.
Investors are shifting.
And Adrian may soon face the only battle he cannot win with strategy alone.
In Chapter 10, the pregnancy goes public—
And someone inside the Blackwood estate will betray them completely.