Shattered Vows - The Empty Barrel Sounded Loud

usiness takeovers, but the words barely registered. Her mind was elsewhere-trapped in an endless loop of anxiety and confusion. Her period was late. She had been trying to ignore it for day

en, Isla forced herself to stand, her legs trembling. She took a deep breath, reached for the test, and turned it over. Two pink lines. Her stomach dropped. The air was sucked from her lungs. Pregnant. She was pregnant with Killian Blackwood's child. A strangled sound escaped her throat, and Elena yanked open the door. "What? What does it say?" Isla turned to her, the test still clutched in her shaking hands. "It's positive." Elena froze, then slowly exhaled. "Okay. Okay. We can handle this." Isla let out a hollow laugh. "How? How the hell do I handle this, Elena? The father is a ruthless billionaire who left me without a word! He doesn't care. He won't care." Elena crossed her arms. "You don't know that." Isla stared at her best friend, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Yes, I do. If he cared, he would've at least sent a damn text. He would've acknowledged what happened." Elena hesitated but didn't argue. Tears burned at Isla's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to hate him and move on. Now I'm tied to him forever." Elena softened, pulling Isla into a hug. "You're not alone in this. We'll figure it out." Isla clung to her best friend, but the fear remained, gnawing at her insides like a relentless storm. Because no matter how much she tried to deny it, one unavoidable truth re