Chapter 72: The Distance Returns

Three weeks of bed rest had turned Harper into someone she barely recognized.

She snapped at Sebastian for small things. The way he arranged her pillows. How he checked on her every hour. His constant hovering that felt suffocating instead of caring.

"I'm fine," she said for the thousandth time as he brought her lunch. "You don't need to watch me eat."

"I'm making sure you're eating enough. For three people."

"I'm pregnant, not incompetent." Harper pushed the tray away. "I can manage to feed myself, Sebastian."

He stood there looking hurt and frustrated. "I'm just trying to help."

"I know. But your help is smothering me. I need space."

"You're on bed rest. How much more space can I give you?"

Harper felt tears threaten, the hormones making everything feel bigger than it was. "I don't know. But this constant surveillance is making me feel like a prisoner instead of a patient."

Sebastian left the room without another word. Harper heard his office door close. Hard.

She'd hurt him. Again. But she couldn't seem to stop herself.

The bed rest was destroying her mentally. She couldn't work on the Adriatic. Couldn't prepare properly for the trial. Couldn't do anything except lie here feeling useless while everyone else managed her life.

And Sebastian bore the brunt of her frustration because he was the one constantly present.

That evening, Sebastian brought dinner but set it on the nightstand without comment and turned to leave.

"Wait," Harper said. "I'm sorry. For earlier. I'm just going crazy being stuck here."

"I know. But Harper, I don't know what you want from me. You say you need help but then you push me away when I try to provide it."

"I don't want to need help. I want to be the person taking care of things instead of the person everyone takes care of."

Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed. "What if we're supposed to take care of each other? What if that's what partnership actually means?"

"Then I'm failing at partnership because right now you're doing all the caretaking and I'm just lying here being helpless."

"You're growing two humans. That's not helpless. That's the hardest job either of us have right now."

Harper felt her chest tighten. "It doesn't feel like a job. It feels like imprisonment. Like my body has betrayed me at the worst possible time."

"Is this about the trial? About not being able to testify in person?"

"It's about everything. Claire gets to leave her house arrest for court appearances. Meanwhile, I'm confined to bed unable to defend us properly. She's winning and I can't even fight back."

Sebastian was quiet for a moment. "What if winning isn't about the trial? What if it's about keeping our babies safe and letting the legal system handle Claire?"

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one stuck in bed."

"No, I'm the one managing the company, preparing for trial, taking care of you, and trying not to fall apart from the stress of all of it while pretending everything's fine." Sebastian's voice cracked. "Harper, I'm barely holding it together. But I can't show you that because you need me to be strong."

Harper looked at him, really looked, and saw the exhaustion. The weight he'd been carrying while she'd been focused only on her own limitations.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I've been so focused on what I can't do that I haven't noticed what you're handling."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just saying we're both struggling. And taking it out on each other isn't helping."

They sat in heavy silence. The distance between them felt vast despite the physical proximity.

"I feel like we're falling apart," Harper admitted. "Like the stress is undoing everything we've built."

"We're not falling apart. We're just in survival mode. Again." Sebastian took her hand. "But Harper, we need to figure out how to survive together instead of separately."

"How do we do that when I'm confined to bed and you're managing everything else?"

"We communicate. We're honest about how we're feeling instead of letting resentment build. We remember we're on the same team."

"Even when I'm horrible to you?"

"Even then. Though maybe try to be less horrible?" Sebastian smiled slightly. "I can handle you being frustrated. I can't handle you shutting me out."

Harper squeezed his hand. "I don't want to shut you out. I'm just scared. Of failing the babies. Of letting you down. Of Claire winning because I'm physically unable to fight."

"You're not failing anyone. You're doing exactly what you need to do. And Harper, Claire isn't winning. She's under house arrest facing serious charges. We have the evidence. We have the truth. We just need to get through the next few months."

"And if I can't testify? If the twins come early and I'm recovering?"

"Then we use your deposition. We present the evidence without your live testimony. We adapt."

Harper wanted to believe it would be that simple. But nothing about their relationship had ever been simple.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Detective Morrison.

"Claire violated her house arrest. Removed her ankle monitor and disappeared. Officers are searching but she's been gone for three hours. Heightening security around your building. Stay inside until we locate her."

Harper's blood went cold. She showed Sebastian the text.

His face went pale. "She's coming for us. She knows you're vulnerable. Stuck in bed. Easy target."

"We don't know that. She might have just run. Left the city. Gone somewhere she can't be extradited."

"Claire doesn't run. She plans. And three weeks of watching us from house arrest gave her plenty of time to plan."

Sebastian was already on the phone with building security. "Lock down the building. No one gets to the penthouse floor without clearance. I want guards on every entrance."

Harper felt the babies kick, responding to her fear. "What do we do?"

"We wait. Let the police find her. Stay safe until—"

The power went out.

The penthouse plunged into darkness. Emergency lights kicked in after a moment, casting everything in eerie red.

"That's not a coincidence," Sebastian said, moving to the window. "Claire did something to the building's power."

Harper tried to sit up but Sebastian stopped her. "You need to stay in bed. Doctor's orders."

"Sebastian, if Claire's in the building, bed rest isn't my biggest concern."

"Ryan's team is already responding. They'll find her before…"

Glass shattered in the living room.

Sebastian grabbed his phone, but it had no signal. The power outage must have affected the cell towers too.

"Stay here," Sebastian said, moving toward the bedroom door. "Lock it behind me. Don't open it for anyone except me or the police."

"Don't leave me. Please."

"I have to check what that sound was. I'll be right back."

He left before Harper could argue. She heard the lock click and then silence.

Harper lay in the dark bedroom, hand on her stomach, trying to calm her racing heart for the babies' sake.

Footsteps in the hallway. Too light to be Sebastian.

Then Claire's voice, sing-song and terrifying. "Harper? I know you're here. Stuck in bed like a sitting duck. How convenient for me."

Harper grabbed her phone even though it had no signal. Texted 911 anyway, hoping something would get through.

"I just want to talk," Claire called. "About the trial. About what you're going to say. About how this all ends."

The bedroom door handle turned. Locked.

Claire laughed. "You think a lock will stop me? Harper, I've been planning this for weeks. I know every detail of this penthouse. Including where Sebastian hides the spare keys."

Harper heard metal scraping in the lock. Claire was picking it.

She looked around for a weapon. Anything. But she couldn't get out of bed. Couldn't run. Couldn't fight.

The lock clicked open.

The door swung slowly inward.

Claire stood silhouetted in the emergency lighting, holding something Harper couldn't quite see.

"Hello, Harper," Claire said. "Let's talk about what really happens when my trial starts. And what you're going to say on that witness stand."

She stepped into the room.

And Harper realized with horror that what Claire was holding wasn't a weapon.

It was a syringe.

"Don't worry," Claire said, moving closer. "This won't hurt the babies. Just enough sedative to keep you unconscious until trial starts. Can't testify if you're asleep, can you?"

Harper tried to scream but fear had stolen her voice.

Claire was three steps away.

Two steps.

One.

And Harper, trapped in bed with twins depending on her staying calm, could only watch as her worst nightmare approached with a needle and a smile.