Chapter 1771:


    Gillian opened her mouth, searched for the right words, and found none.


    “Go ahead and say it,” Christina said gently.


    Gillian hesitated, her thoughts churning, before leaning in and lowering her voice. “I can’t shake the feeling that Henrik’s interest is excessive. I keep wondering if there’s something behind it — some hidden motive I’m not seeing.”


    She had watched himvish attention on Adide with an enthusiasm that felt out of proportion, and the worry had been quietly building ever since. The more she turned it over in her mind, the tighter the anxiety wound itself around her. She had finally secured a chance to stay by Adide’s side, to be present for her recovery, and the thought of someone from outside disrupting that — of something going wrong — was almost more than she could bear.


    Christina hadn’t nned to raise this yet, but Gillian had opened the door herself, and it seemed right to be honest about what she suspected.


    “Before I answer that, I need to ask you something first,” Christina said. “Who is Adide’s father?”


    The questionnded with unexpected force. Gillian went still.


    After a moment, she said quietly, “I honestly don’t know.”


    ???????? n????е??? ??n ??????????????????.со??


    Seeing the look on Christina’s face, she added quickly, “I’m not making that up. I mean it.”


    She went on to exin, in brief terms, how several years ago she had spent a single night with a man she barely knew. It wasn’t until weekster, when her body began to change, that she understood what had happened. She had considered ending the pregnancy, but in the end she couldn’t bring herself to, and Adide hade into the world.


    The silence that followed felt long to Gillian, and she rushed to fill it. “I promise I’m telling you the truth. Every word.”


    “I believe you,” Christina said, resting a hand lightly on her arm. “I’m just working through it in my mind.”


    “What does this have to do with Henrik?” Gillian pressed.


    “Quite a lot, actually,” Christina said, with a quiet, measured calm. “Have you ever considered the possibility that Adide might be Alban’s daughter?”


    “No.” The word came out immediately, almost before Gillian had processed the question.


    The idea of having been intimate with Alban all those years ago — without knowing it — was a thought her mind refused to settle on. But what terrified her far more than the shock of it was the consequence. The Martel Group was the second most powerful force in Lionesspaw. In terms of wealth and influence, it existed in a dimension entirely beyond her reach. Against Alban, she was nothing. If the Martels decided they wanted Adide, she would have no means of stopping them — no leverage, no legal standing, nothing. They had resources she couldn’t begin topete with, and every one of them could be turned toward taking her daughter away.


    Even imagining it — standing by helplessly, watching Adide be taken — drained the color from Gillian’s face until she looked hollowed out entirely.


    Christina took her time before speaking. “Then how do you exin Henrik’s behavior? He tries to rein himself in, but the affection he shows Adide is far beyond anything you’d expect from a man with no connection to her. Unless there’s some other exnation — and there isn’t one that makes sense — the most logical conclusion is that Adide shares blood with the Martels.”


    .


    .


    .