For a moment, her mind went blank.
"The pulse already showed it, but I tested with the pregnancy kit as well. It's certain—you are pregnant."
The doctor smiled brightly as if it were his own joy. But unlike him, Yuliana couldn't smile.
Too many emotions surged inside her—beyond words.
Pregnancy. The child she had longed for.
After eleven lifetimes, she was finally meeting her child again.
The baby she had desperately wished and prayed for all that time.
Yet, guilt and sorrow pressed down on her. It felt like she was dragging this innocent life into her hellish existence once again.
But at the same time, she felt gratitude and deep affection for the child who had come back to her.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
I'm sorry, my baby. I'm sorry for bringing you into this kind of situation again. For conceiving you with a man who never wanted you, who might put you in danger. For making you live your life in hiding, like a fugitive. I'm sorry…
And yet… thank you. Thank you for coming back to me, after wandering through so many years. Thank you for choosing me again.
She said nothing, only cried silently. The doctor quietly handed her a handkerchief.
He must have thought it was a child she had long struggled to conceive.
Though it had happened after her first union with Kallion, in truth, it was a hard-won child. She had prayed and tried for so long, yet this child had come only through him.
It felt like a cruel joke of fate.
She couldn't remember clearly how she had made it back to the mansion. When she saw Kate waiting anxiously by the carriage, she had burst into tears again.
Kate held her hand tightly and worried over her the whole way back. But Yuliana couldn't tell even Kate the truth about her pregnancy.
After learning she was pregnant, Yuliana quietly began preparing to leave.
No one could know. She had to go in silence.
The business she had been handling with the Bas Trading Company needed to be wrapped up. She could keep it going, but if she stayed too long, Kallion would eventually catch her.
The safest choice was to quickly withdraw her investments and cut ties.
She planned to send a final letter to Jared as well.
From the beginning, she had only asked him to report Kallion's movements. Now that she was nearly certain Kallion was behind the attempt on Denian, and now that she carried a child, she had to end everything and run as far from him as possible.
So she would contact Jared one last time, collect her money, and disappear.
With these thoughts, she walked down the corridor—when suddenly she saw two familiar figures ahead.
Kallion and Layla.
They had likely just returned from an outing. Reflexively, Yuliana placed a hand over her stomach.
Kallion noticed her and paused for a moment. Then, wearing a neutral expression, he walked past as though nothing was amiss.
Layla, as always, was at his side—so perfectly matched that anyone might mistake them for lovers rather than master and secretary.
Only Layla gave Yuliana a polite bow.
Watching them disappear down the hall, Yuliana clenched her hand tightly over her stomach.
I should have run the first time too, when I carried Denian.
She had no place beside him.
Yet in her first life, she had foolishly clung on, jealous of Layla, fighting for a position that was never hers.
How pathetic.
If she simply stepped aside, everything would be clean.
Resolving herself, she turned away. The first step was visiting the Bas Trading Company.
Meanwhile, in his office, Kallion met with the head butler, Cliff.
At Kallion's signal, Layla quietly left. Once she was gone, Cliff reported:
"The men you assigned to follow Madam yesterday lost her."
Kallion frowned. "They lost her?"
Since being disappointed by Layla several times, Kallion had entrusted all orders concerning Yuliana to Cliff—tracking her dealings with the Bas Trading Company and her movements.
But it wasn't because he wanted to control her. He only wanted proof that his suspicions were baseless. He hoped everything about her would turn out to be clean.
That fragile hope collapsed at Cliff's next words.
"She and her maid, Kate, swapped veils to throw them off. It seems Madam realized she was being followed and deliberately shook the tail."
Kallion's face hardened.
What was she doing that required evading surveillance?
Cliff added, "Today, too, it seems she went to the Bas Trading Company."
Again, the Bas Trading Company.
A secret deal he didn't know about. Hidden outings that slipped past Valdormer's watch.
Images of Yuliana secretly meeting with House Heister kept flashing in his mind.
The thought burned hotter and hotter, and Kallion clenched his fist tightly on the table.
After her trip to the Trading Company, Yuliana returned slowly to the mansion.
It would take about a week to retrieve her investment in pine bark. That would give her enough time to prepare to leave.
A letter from Jared was also waiting for her. He confirmed Kallion had placed a different shadow to watch her and was investigating her ties to the Bas Company.
But it didn't matter. By the time he found out anything, she would already be gone.
She left Jared her farewell letter at the company and headed back to the mansion.
That was when a hand shot out of the darkness and grabbed her wrist roughly.
Startled, she almost screamed—until she saw who it was.
Kallion, his face dark with fury.
Without a word, he yanked her into a nearby room and slammed the door shut behind them.
She shook off his grip, her breath unsteady.
He glared at her.
"What are you plotting?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What schemes are you weaving with the Bas Trading Company?"
Yuliana pressed her lips shut.
Kallion raked a hand through his hair, pacing restlessly. Then, his voice low and heavy, he asked:
"Are you supplying funds to Heister?"
"…What are you saying?"
"In Dalrot, when I asked if you were hiding anything—you dodged the question. This is what you were hiding, isn't it?"
She let out a hollow laugh.
"Is it true?" he pressed.
"No."
Her firm denial only deepened his scowl.
"Then what are you plotting with the Bas Company?"
"So that's why you've been having me followed?"
"If you had been honest, that wouldn't have been necessary."
Yuliana glared back, furious.
"What I do with my own money is none of your business."
Kallion scoffed coldly. "That's not your money. That's Valdormer's."
His icy words made her clench her fists.
"I earned it fairly, managing your great Valdormer estate."
She refused to back down.
Kallion stepped close, towering over her.
"Then tell me what you've been doing with that money."
His breath was hot against her forehead as he leaned in, their faces only inches apart.
Yuliana stared back without flinching.
"Say it, Yuliana," he growled.
She couldn't. She couldn't tell him she was preparing to flee. Not now, especially not while carrying his child.
At last, she said coldly:
"What if I told you I was funding Heister?"
His chest tensed at her words.
She pressed on:
"Would that satisfy you?"
Kallion's jaw clenched. Their eyes locked, dark flames rising between them—whether from rage, desire, or something deeper, neither could tell.
Suddenly, his large hand seized the back of her neck.
And before she could resist, his lips crushed down on hers.