Chapter 1240:
Rylie pressed her lips together for a moment, lowered her gaze, and gently rested a hand over her stomach before quietly sharing the news. “I’m pregnant.”
The entire group went still.
Kendrick’s mouth fell open. Excitement and shock rippled across every face in the room, each person processing the revelation in their own way.
“P-pregnant?” Selah echoed, carefully placing her hands on Rylie’s stomach — but her smile faded quickly into worry. “Why did this have to happen right now?” Brad was still missing, with no confirmation he was safe, and Rylie’s pregnancy felt like yet another weight pressing down on an already impossible situation.
Felix spoke with quiet urgency. “We need to find Brad as soon as possible. Rylie shouldn’t have to face this alone, and the baby shouldn’t grow up without their father.”
Rylie knew everything was happening at the worst imaginable moment. She could no longer afford to take dangerous risks. She needed to stay safe, and the truth was that emotionally and physically, she didn’t have the strength to go searching for Brad herself.
She let out a slow breath, keeping her hand resting gently over her stomach. “I really hope you’ll be easy on me and not give me too much trouble.”
The moment the Owens learned she was pregnant, a thorough safety overhaul of the house began immediately. Plush carpets were laid over the slippery marble floors, sharp table corners were padded, and fragile antique vases perched on high shelves were carefully taken down and stored. The household staff worked methodically to remove anything that might pose even the slightest risk to a pregnant woman.
Rylie quickly became the center of everyone’s attention, rarely left alone, with family members hovering nearby at almost every hour. The sudden transformation of her home left her feeling strangely conflicted — deeply moved by their care, yet quietly overwhelmed by the constant watchfulness.
As the days passed, her thoughts drifted gradually away from the relentless anxiety over Brad. The research project in Marinth continued to advance, and Rylie supported it remotely, analyzing experimental data and helping push the work forward. She no longer insisted on actively searching for Brad — she stayed home, buried in her research, in part because she already had a general sense of where he might be.
о𝗿𝗴𝖺𝗇𝗶𝗓𝗲 уo𝘂r 𝗹𝗂𝖻𝗋𝖺𝗿y оո 𝘨𝘢𝗅ո𝘰ve𝘭𝘀.𝗰𝘰𝗺
Then the Owen family’s businesses began suffering a wave of unexpected setbacks in their international dealings. Felix lost several major semiconductor orders without warning. Marcus’s planned overseas concert tour was abruptly canceled due to organizer complications. Deandre’s underground network was disrupted by direct military interference. The losses were significant, and though none of them spoke openly about it, all their attention turned toward identifying who was orchestrating the attacks.
Every lead pointed to the same name — Luther, the powerful head of Havenridge Group.
Felix set a thick stack of documents on the table in front of Rylie. “Marcus, Deandre, and I looked into it carefully. The people responsible were operating under direct orders from Havenridge Group. Brad has been taken by the group’s leader and is being held with him. Give us a few days, and we’ll bring him home safely.”
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