They don't talk in the car.
The silence isn't uncomfortable, but it's heavy—weighted with everything Alexander just said. *I'm already there. Have been for weeks.*
Mia stares out the window, watching Manhattan blur past. Her heart hammers against her ribs. He loves her. Alexander Kane loves her. The man who built walls higher than his tower, who turned emotions into contracts and relationships into transactions—he loves her.
And she told millions of future viewers that she's falling for him.
There's no taking it back now. No pretending. No safety of distance.
They're free-falling together.
Marcus pulls up to Kane Tower. Alexander helps Mia out, hand lingering on hers. They ride the elevator in continued silence, the tension stretching like a live wire between them.
Inside the penthouse, Mia finally finds her voice.
"You said you're already there. What does that mean exactly?"
Alexander loosens his tie, a nervous gesture she's learned to recognize. "It means I'm in love with you. Completely. Terrifyingly. In a way I didn't know I was capable of."
"When did you know?"
"The gala. When you stood up to Victoria. When you defended yourself without apology." He moves closer. "But honestly? I think I've been falling since that first night. When you laughed at something on that balcony and it was the most genuine sound I'd heard in years."
Mia's throat tightens. "We barely knew each other."
"I know. Which is why I didn't say anything. Why I hid behind the contract and practical arrangements and pretending this was business." Alexander's hands frame her face. "But it stopped being business the moment I saw you in that hospital waiting room, trying to figure out how to tell me you were pregnant. And it definitely stopped being business when I watched you throw up every morning and still show up, still fight, still be the strongest person I know."
"I'm not strong. I'm terrified all the time."
"That's what makes you strong. You're terrified and you do it anyway." His thumbs brush her cheeks. "I love you, Mia. Not because of the baby or the contract or the convenience. I love you because you're you. Stubborn and talented and kind and real. You make me want to be better than what my father made me."
Tears spill over. Mia doesn't try to stop them.
"I'm falling in love with you too," she whispers. "I think I have been for a while. But I was scared to want it. Scared it would disappear like everything else I've ever wanted."
"I'm not disappearing. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere." Alexander's forehead touches hers. "I love you. Present tense. No conditions. No expiration date."
"What about the contract?"
"Screw the contract. We'll tear it up. Rewrite it. Make it say what we actually want—forever, not two years. Partnership, not exit clauses." His voice drops. "If you want that. If you want me. For real this time."
"I want that." The words come easier than she expected. "I want you. For real. Forever."
Alexander kisses her.
Not the careful, questioning kisses they've shared before. This is different—desperate, claiming, full of everything they've been holding back. Mia kisses him back with equal intensity, hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer.
They stumble backward toward the bedroom, lips never separating. Alexander's jacket hits the floor. Mia's sweater follows. They're a mess of fumbling hands and breathless laughter and the kind of want that's been building for months.
"Are you sure?" Alexander asks, even as his hands map her curves. "The baby—"
"Dr. Okonkwo said it's fine. More than fine. Actually recommended." Mia pulls him down for another kiss. "Stop overthinking. I want this. I want you."
"Thank god," he breathes.
They fall into bed together, and this time it's not a champagne-fueled mistake. It's deliberate. Chosen. Real.
This time, they'll remember every moment.
---
Afterward, they lie tangled together, breathless and glowing.
Mia traces patterns on Alexander's chest, feeling his heartbeat slow under her palm. He plays with her hair, pressing occasional kisses to her temple.
"That was..." Mia starts.
"Better than the first time?" Alexander sounds smug.
"I don't remember the first time."
"I know. I do though. You were incredible then too." He tilts her face up. "But this was better. Because I get to keep you this time."
"You have me. Contract or not. Two years or forever." Mia's hand drifts to her stomach—rounder now, more obviously pregnant. "We're a package deal now anyway."
Alexander's hand covers hers, both of them cradling their growing baby.
"Have you thought about names?" he asks quietly.
"A few. Nothing concrete." Mia smiles. "We don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet."
"Do you want to know? Or wait?"
"I think... wait. One surprise in this very planned, very analyzed life might be nice."
"Agreed." Alexander is quiet for a moment. "I want to be a good father. Better than mine. But I don't know how. I don't have a blueprint for healthy parenting."
"Neither do I. We'll figure it out together." Mia shifts to face him fully. "We'll make mistakes. Probably lots of them. But we'll be present. Loving. That's already more than we had."
"What if I mess up? What if I'm too controlling or emotionally distant or—"
"Then I'll call you on it. And you'll try harder. That's how this works." She kisses him softly. "You're not your father, Alexander. You're already proving that every day."
His arms tighten around her. "I don't deserve you."
"Stop. We deserve each other. Both of us fought to be here. That's enough."
They stay like that, wrapped in each other and the afternoon light filtering through floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the city continues its relentless pace. Inside, time feels suspended.
Mia's phone buzzes on the nightstand. She ignores it.
It buzzes again. And again.
"You should check that," Alexander says. "Might be important."
Reluctantly, Mia reaches for it. Multiple texts from Sophie.
**Sophie: OH MY GOD**
**Sophie: MIA**
**Sophie: CALL ME RIGHT NOW**
**Sophie: THE INTERVIEW CLIP IS ALREADY ONLINE**
Mia's stomach drops. "They weren't supposed to release it until Monday."
Alexander grabs his phone. His expression darkens as he scrolls.
"Emma must have posted a teaser. It's everywhere." He shows her.
A thirty-second clip—Mia saying "I'm learning to love him. I'm taking my time about it." The vulnerability on her face is stark, raw. Real.
The video already has millions of views. Comments flooding in faster than Mia can read them.
*She's so honest. I love this.*
*Finally, someone who admits marriage is work, not just romance.*
*That's real love. Not the fairy tale kind. The showing up every day kind.*
*She's glowing. Pregnancy looks good on her.*
*Alexander Kane is a lucky man.*
But there are negative comments too.
*Still think she's a gold digger. Just a better actress than we thought.*
*Love? After four months? Please.*
*That baby trapped him. Now she's trying to make it seem romantic.*
Mia's chest tightens. "They'll never believe me."
"Some won't. Some people are committed to their narrative." Alexander takes her phone, sets it aside. "But millions just watched you be vulnerable and honest. They saw the real you. That matters more than a few trolls."
"What if the full interview makes it worse?"
"It won't. You were brilliant. Authentic. Exactly what people needed to see." He pulls her back down beside him. "Stop looking at comments. Come back to me."
"I'm here."
"Are you though? Or are you spiraling about strangers' opinions?"
He's right. She's spiraling.
Mia forces herself to breathe, to focus on Alexander's solid presence beside her. "Sorry. I'm not used to this. Being public. Being watched."
"I know. But you're handling it better than I did my first year in the spotlight." Alexander traces her jawline. "Want to know a secret?"
"Always."
"I still google myself sometimes. Read the articles. The comments. Even though I know I shouldn't." His smile is rueful. "So if you need to spiral occasionally, I understand. Just come back to me when you're done."
"Deal."
They order dinner in—Thai food because Mia's craving pad thai and Alexander will eat anything that makes her happy. They eat in bed, talking about everything and nothing. Baby names they hate. Nursery themes. Whether their child will inherit Mia's artistic talent or Alexander's business mind.
"Hopefully neither," Mia says. "Let them be something completely different. A musician or a teacher or a park ranger."
"A park ranger?"
"Why not? Steady job. Outdoors. Saving the environment. Sounds nice."
Alexander laughs, and the sound fills something in Mia's chest she didn't know was empty.
This is what she wanted. This easy comfort. This partnership. This feeling of home.
"I love you," she says suddenly. Not hesitant or careful. Just true.
Alexander's expression softens. "I love you too. Get used to hearing it. I plan to say it constantly now that I'm allowed."
"Who said you're allowed?"
"You did. When you kissed me like that earlier."
"Fair point."
They fall asleep tangled together, both phones silenced, the world's opinions temporarily irrelevant.
For tonight, it's just them.
A family forming.
A love growing.
A future unfolding.
---
Mia wakes at 2 AM to use the bathroom—pregnancy bladder is no joke.
On her way back to bed, she stops by the window. Manhattan glitters below, thousands of lights in thousands of windows. Behind each one, a life. A story. People fighting their own battles, building their own futures.
She's just one story among millions. But it's hers. And for the first time, she's not surviving it—she's actually living it.
Alexander appears behind her, arms wrapping around her waist, hands settling over their baby.
"Can't sleep?" he murmurs into her hair.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
"How different my life was four months ago. I was alone, struggling, convinced I'd always be an outsider looking in." Mia leans back into him. "And now I'm here. With you. Building something I never thought I could have."
"What's that?"
"A family. A real one. The kind that stays."
Alexander's arms tighten. "We stay. All of us. That's not negotiable anymore."
"Even when I'm difficult?"
"Especially then."
"Even when the baby keeps us up all night and we're exhausted and everything is chaos?"
"Even then."
"Even when—"
"Mia." He turns her around, eyes serious in the dim light. "There is no 'even when' that makes me leave. I'm here. Forever. You're stuck with me."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He kisses her softly. "Now come back to bed. You need rest. The baby needs rest. And I need you next to me."
They return to bed, to the warmth of shared space and shared future.
Outside, the city never sleeps. But here, in their bedroom, in their life, peace settles.
Monday, the full interview will air. The world will have more opinions, more judgments, more analysis of their lives.
But right now, none of that matters.
Right now, Mia is in love. Is loved. Is building a family with a man who chose her, who sees her, who promises forever.
Right now, she's exactly where she's supposed to be.
"I love you," she whispers into the darkness.
"I love you too," Alexander whispers back. "Always."
Always.
Mia falls asleep smiling, one hand on her growing bump, the other linked with Alexander's.
They're writing their own story now. Not the one the media assumed or the contracts dictated or the circumstances demanded.
Their story. Built on honesty and choice and the terrifying, beautiful decision to love anyway.
And it's only just beginning.