Julian’s entire body went cold. For one horrible second, he could not move. Because all he could think was. She heard it. His chest tightened painfully. He had promised to protect her. Promised nobody would hurt her tonight.

And yet here she was standing in the doorway while his family ripped apart the woman he loved most. Julian suddenly felt like a complete failure. His fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

He should have stopped them sooner. Should have destroyed this conversation before it ever reached her ears. Should have ripped the cruelty out of every single one of them before Amara had to hear even one word.

Madam Vale looked between them once before speaking quietly. "Take Amara home." Her tone left no room for argument. "Let me handle this."

Julian could barely breathe. His eyes remained locked on Amara’s face. She looked calm at first glance. But he knew her too well. He saw the hurt hiding underneath. The humiliation. The heartbreak.

And somehow that hurt him more than any insult thrown at him tonight. Slowly, carefully, Julian walked toward her like approaching someone already wounded. The entire room watched in silence. But Julian only saw Amara.

Only her.

"Amara..." Julian’s voice came out barely above a whisper. Broken. The moment he reached her, he stopped just inches away, like he was afraid touching her might make this entire nightmare more real.

Amara looked up at him quietly. And somehow that soft expression on her face hurt him even more. Because she was trying so hard to act unaffected. "I wanted to lie down," she said gently. "But I couldn’t sleep."

Her voice was calm. Too calm. Then she gave him a small smile. Soft. Polite. Almost as if she had not just heard his family tear her apart downstairs. "You don’t have to worry," she added lightly. "I’ll call James to pick me up."

Julian stared at her. Every instinct inside him recoiled at the idea. Pick her up? Leave? After this? No.

Absolutely not. "I’ll take you," Julian said immediately. His voice was firm now, leaving no room for argument. He moved closer carefully and placed a protective hand against her back, pulling her gently toward him.

"Come on, baby," he murmured softly. "Let’s go home." Home. Not this place. Never this place. Amara looked at him for a second longer before nodding faintly. But even as he guided her toward the door, she spoke again quietly.

"I know all of this is messed up," she said. Julian’s jaw tightened instantly.

"And soon we’ll have answers." She hesitated briefly before forcing another tiny smile. "You’ll have your answers too." The room fell silent again. Because everyone understood exactly what she meant.

Paternity. Blood. The child. Julian stopped walking immediately. Slowly, he turned to look at her. And what shattered him completely was the fact that she looked almost apologetic saying it.

Like she felt responsible for easing his pain. Like she thought she owed everyone reassurance after being humiliated in front of an entire room. God. The ache in his chest became unbearable.

Amara lowered her gaze slightly after speaking. She had not meant to defend herself. Not really. But the words about the baby had cut deeper than she wanted to admit. Tainted blood.

Not a Vale. The insults kept replaying in her head no matter how hard she tried to stay composed. And worse. A tiny, cruel part of her wondered if they were right to question it. That thought alone made her feel sick.

Before she could spiral any further, Julian stopped her gently. "You do not owe anyone answers." His voice was low. Steady. Certain. Amara looked up at him slowly. Julian’s eyes burned with emotion as he held her closer against him.

"Not them," he said firmly. "Not this family. Not anyone." The room stayed painfully quiet as he looked around at every relative watching them. And suddenly the anger returned to his expression.

Cold. Protective. Terrifyingly calm. "My wife will not stand here and defend herself like she’s on trial," he said sharply. Nobody answered him.

Nobody dared. Julian looked back down at Amara immediately, his entire expression softening again the second his eyes landed on her.

"Come on," he whispered. This time, when he guided her away, he did not look back once. Not at his family. Not at the whispers beginning behind them.

Nothing mattered except getting her out of that room before the hurt in her eyes became impossible for him to survive seeing. As they walked through the long hallway of the estate, Amara stayed quiet beside him.

And Julian held her hand the entire way. Firmly. Like he was terrified that if he let go for even a second, the world would try to take her from him again.

The car pulled away from the Vale estate slowly, the massive gates closing behind them like the end of something ugly. Inside the backseat, silence settled heavily between them.

The city lights blurred past the windows in soft streaks of gold and white, but neither of them paid attention to them.

Julian sat close beside Amara, one arm still wrapped protectively around her shoulders like he was afraid she might disappear if he loosened his grip. Amara stared ahead quietly for a long moment.

Then finally... "I’ll call Sebastain tomorrow." Julian frowned immediately, turning toward her.

Amara kept her eyes forward. "We’ll do the DNA test." The words landed heavily inside the car. Julian’s entire body stiffened.

"What?" he said sharply.

"No." His answer came instantly. Firm. Absolute. "We’re not doing that." Amara finally looked at him.

"Julian—"

"No." He shook his head harder this time. "We already talked about this." His voice carried panic underneath the anger now.

"We decided not to risk the babies." His hand moved instinctively toward her stomach. "The doctor already said there’s no reason to put you through unnecessary procedures when we’re only weeks away from knowing naturally when they are born."

Amara’s eyes burned. "But I can’t delay this anymore." Her voice cracked softly. Julian’s chest tightened immediately. Amara looked down at her hands in her lap, twisting her fingers together anxiously.

"At first it was different," she whispered. "I wanted you far away from this mess." Julian’s expression shifted painfully.