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Amelia cursed her fate.

She’d been feeling very faint cramps and hadn’t thought much of it, but now it was undeniable.

They had been period pains.

Damn it!

But also… considering just how insane she and Marc had been a little while ago, it was a darn relief, wasn’t it?

That didn’t change how bloody inconvenient it was! She tracked her period, but this had come a week too early, she was losing her mind.

Just as she and Marc got into the car to head back home, she’d realized with a start that her period had started.

Biting her lip, she sat in tense silence as Marc drove. Luckily, she was wearing black pants but she prayed she didn’t leak through. They hadn’t needed to leave the neighbourhood because the café was close enough, so it didn’t take long to get home, but the few minutes it took were enough to have her sweating bullets.

He drove into the driveway and before the car had even fully stopped, she leapt out and made a run for the lift.

Knowing now how to open it, she shoved her thumb against the metal plate on the side and watched the doors slide open.

Running inside, she peeked out but Marc was nowhere in sight. Hopefully, he wouldn’t come in now, she had to get herself sorted out.

*********

Elizabeth and Thomas were seated up by the tea table, looking down at the living room where James played.

“He doesn’t know me at all…” he said, every word tinged with misery.

“What did you expect? It’s not like you ever bothered to meet him.”

He looked at her, eyes filled with a poignant sense of injustice. “Elizabeth, you told me not to. You forbade me from approaching you, you made me promise…”

Her chin quivered with tightly withheld emotions but she forced herself to meet his eyes. “Yes, because… because I knew it was what you wanted. I just made it easier for you.”

“Liza…” He was shaking his head. “Why would you ever think that?”

“We both aren’t brave enough to go against our fathers, Tom. Don’t act like anything will change now.”

He went silent. She wasn’t wrong. She was right, but he was sick of it.

“How much longer?” She slowly turned to look at him but said nothing. He sighed. “How much longer, Elizabeth? I love you.”

Her eyes filled up, her body tensing.

“I want you, I want my son,” Thomas said. “If it means risking Marc killing me, then I’ll risk it, but I can’t stay away any longer.”

“Will you give up the company?”

He stopped.

She watched him calmly through the blur of her tears. “Will you give up the company, Thomas?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You know bloody well. Your father’s snatching your shares away the moment you say you want to be with me. My father’s also coming after us both. Isn’t that the entire reason you wanted to stay away?”

He said nothing.

A bitter smile curved her lips. “No answer. *That…* is my answer.”

He sighed. “Elizabeth—”

Amelia came running into the house.

Jolting, Elizabeth stood. “Amelia—”

She zoomed through the living room and past a confused James, not looking back once.

There was no time for a chat! She had an emergency! Racing up to her room, she dashed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Yeeting away all her clothes, she jumped into the shower and turned on the hot water.

Harsh pants puffed out of her mouth, relief finally loosening her tense muscles. She’d made it. With minimum embarrassment too.

She washed up for another ten minutes, letting the hot water melt away all the cramps. What rotten luck. How much worse could this get?

It was only when Amelia was out of the shower that she realized she didn’t have any pads.

Searching her toiletries on the bathroom counter, she frantically tried to find even a single pad.

“Fuck.”

Giving up, she straightened, looking at her red-cheeked face in flat resignation. The day wasn’t going well.

She had no choice.

Sighing, she hurried into her bedroom. She would text Elizabeth and ask her to—

Amelia stopped. Blinking, she looked at the plastic bag on her bed. That hadn’t been there when she’d ran in. Had it?

Walking over to it, she cautiously opened it to inspect the contents.

Her eyes widened. Reaching in, she snatched up a fat pack of pads, staring at it. When had this gotten here?!

Wait, there was no time to wonder. She ran back into the bathroom to wear one. She’d worry about where it came from after she was well-shielded.

When she’d finally wore one and had put on the fuzziest pyjamas she had, she wrapped herself in a furry robe and, donning her giant bunny slippers, emerged from the bathroom.

A low groan left her mouth. She was officially in period mode. Also known as her womb raining its wrath upon her for not making a baby.

With a sigh, she returned to the plastic bag and opened it. There were about five identical packs of pads in it, but what was more surprising was the pile of snacks in the bag. Blinking, she picked up a random slab of chocolate and inspected it.

Seriously, where had it come from? Had Amelia finally gotten a fairy godmother?

There was a knock at the door.

Trotting over, she pulled it open. “Oh.”

Damn, she’d nearly forgotten about Marc.

He seemed a bit strange as he stood in her doorway. Tense and mildly nervous, but still casual in a way. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Mm-hm. Why? Oh, by the way, did someone come up to my r—”

Amelia broke off. With a silent start, she realized. *He’d* brought the plastic bag. Marc was the fairy godmother.

Quietly, he looked down at her. Stretching out his hands, he offered her the hot water bottle he held. “This.”

She looked down at the red bottle in mild shock. “Oh. Oh, uhm… thank you.”

She took it, holding it to her chest as she looked up at him. “You brought the stuff on my bed, didn’t you?”

He glanced behind her and nodded. “Yes, I assumed you would need it. Or… not? Did I go too far?”

He’d rushed to a store and had grabbed everything he thought she would need. He didn’t consider that it could’ve made her uncomfortable.

“Did I make you uncomfortable?”

She stared at him and, it happened slowly, but her eyes soon pricked with tears. Pursing her lips, she shook her head. “No, you didn’t. Not at all. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She sniffed. “How did you know that I… started my period?”

He stared at her. Putting his cold hands in his pockets, he tried to warm them. He should have used warm water to clean the car seat.

“I could just… tell. Your face was flushed and you seemed to often flinch, it was clear you were in pain.”

Running out of a moving vehicle had also been a clear indication.

She looked amazed, her eyes widening. “Really? Wow. Wait, how did you know what to buy? You’ve done this before? For your sisters?”

He shook his head. “Arson would do this for Lisa, I just bought everything he used to. The chocolate is supposed to comfort you in your time of hardship and the hot water bottle helps with cramps. As a chemist, I don’t recommend using painkillers, but I will get them if you need them.”

He watched her eyes glimmer with tears and hummed. “The emotions are also a part of the trouble, aren’t they?” He nodded gravely, offering compassion as best he could. It was the least he could do after angering her with the issue over her father. “Do you think you’ll need a hug?”

She scoffed out a laugh, wiping her eyes. “Are you offering one?”

He straightened. “Of course. Your scoff indicates scorn, probably because you think I’m lying, but I’m being quite serious. I’ll hug you anytime you need it, I’ll even hold you. I know you’re in pain.”

The words held no pretence, only soft sincerity. It may have been at that moment that it happened, Amelia didn’t know. She could barely tell if it was just her hormones riling up her emotions or if she really was feeling it. Love. For Marc Aryan.

Staring at him, she swallowed hard. “How many hugs are you offering?”

“How many do you want?”

She lifted her chin. “Unlimited!”

Raising his brows, he simply nodded.

She leaned a little closer, her gold eyes wide. “Really? You promise?”

Marc vaguely wondered why he had to promise on something he was already determined to do and then remembered she couldn’t see into his mind. His promise would serve to reassure her.

With a faint smile, he nodded. “Yes, I promise.”

**********

Marc was on his way to the kitchen to make Amelia tea when he saw Elizabeth seated at the table with James beside her.

He must’ve been completely out of his mind because he didn’t even remember that she and Thomas had been there. He’d run straight past them and, by the time he’d come downstairs, Thomas was gone.

“Did you talk?” he asked.

She looked at him. “Yeah.”

“And?”

Raising one shoulder, she shrugged weakly. “There was no point. Nothing came of it.”

He could see the disappointment in her eyes and so chose to not say anything. When someone was already disappointed, apparently it only made things worse to point out how their predicament was their own fault. Swallowing his words, Marc went on to the kitchen.

James and Liza had been coming in to make a snack when Marc finally finished making Amelia’s tea.

Placing it on a tray, he made his way back to her room.

He knocked on the door and waited.

There was no answer, so he went in.

Amelia was seated on her bed, her phone in her hand and a cold expression on her face.

He stopped. “Is something wrong?”

She slowly raised her head and looked at him. For a moment, she looked like she would say something.

Strangely, she only shook her head. “No.”

He knew it wasn’t true. “Is your pain getting worse? I can get you painkillers.”

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

He put her tea down and left the room. When he was gone, Amelia’s attention returned to her phone and the message that had just filled the screen.

A text had suddenly come in and she’d opened it without thinking. The message it contained made her freeze and she suddenly remembered, with a flood of thoughts rushing into her head, the entire purpose of her stay in Marc Aryan’s house.

The reminder had been a startling, alarming text from one Belinda Harris.