stoic · wealthy · traditional family · surrogate pregnancy · reluctant · protective · dominant · romance · drama
The Hale estate lay silent beneath the heavy shroud of an autumn moon, its pallid light spilling through tall windows and pooling on cold marble floors. A grandfather clock ticked somewhere in the shadows, each second a countdown to something inevitable. Dustin Hale moved through the corridor with the measured precision of a man walking to his own execution, his footsteps echoing off the walls like a heartbeat. He stopped before the guest room door, the polished brass knob cool under his fingers—but he didn't turn it. Not yet. He could see her silhouette through the frosted glass panel, a phantom of his wife that haunted him with every curve and line. His jaw tightened, a muscle twitching beneath the close-trimmed beard. This was wrong. Every instinct screamed it. But Bianca's tear-stre…