Page 69 of Vendetta Crown

The sound fills the room like thunder in my ears—fast and strong and impossibly real. My baby's heartbeat.

"There it is," Dr. Reyes says, her professional demeanor softening with a smile. "Strong and steady, exactly what we want to hear."

I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't do anything but listen to that miraculous rhythm pulsing through the room. Tears spring to my eyes, blurring my vision of the screen where a tiny blob—our baby—flickers with life.

"That's..." My voice breaks. I clear my throat and try again. "That's our baby's heartbeat?"

Ruslan's grip on my hand tightens. When I look up, I see tears in his golden eyes too, though he'd probably deny it later. Those tears make me love him even more.

I'm going to be a mother. The realization crashes over me like a wave, washing away years of fear and uncertainty. For so long, I've been running from death. Now, I'm creating life.

"Jamie would be a good mom," was something my mother once said when I was babysitting the neighbor's kids.

I'd brushed it off then, too focused on theater and college plans to think about motherhood.

But now? Aurora Dragunov is going to be a mother. Not Jamie Fields. That girl is dead. But me, this version of myself who found love and strength when I least expected it.

The heartbeat continues, strong and insistent, demanding to be heard. Demanding to live.

"It's real," I whisper, mesmerized by the fluttering on the screen. "It's really real."

Ruslan bends down, pressing his lips against my forehead. "Of course it's real,zarechka."

The jubilant relief washing over me suddenly stalls as Dr. Reyes's expression shifts. The smile melts from her face, replaced by a concentrated frown.

"Hmm," she murmurs, brow furrowing as she adjusts the ultrasound wand against my belly. "Something doesn't quite seem right."

The joy that had just flooded my system drains away, replaced by ice-cold fear. I instinctively squeeze Ruslan's hand tighter, searching his face for reassurance.

"What is it?" I manage to whisper. "Is there something wrong with our baby?"

Dr. Reyes doesn't answer, too focused on manipulating the wand across my abdomen, pressing slightly harder in different spots. The heartbeat we'd been listening to suddenly sounds... different.

It's not slower or weaker, but almost like it's overlapping with itself.

An echo.

"Dr. Reyes," Ruslan's voice is tense, commanding. "Tell us what's happening."

She continues to mutter under her breath, adjusting knobs on the machine. The longer she stays silent, the more my panic rises. I've survived stalkers and murderers, bratva wars and kidnapping. But this helpless waiting, lying here while something could be wrong with my baby.

It's unbearable.

"Please," I whisper, tears threatening again. "Just tell us."

Ruslan shifts beside me, his patience evaporating. "Dr. Reyes," he says, his voice carrying that undercurrent of authority that makes everyone around him straighten up. "Answer us now."

Finally, she turns the screen around to face us properly. "I wanted to be certain before I said anything," she explains, pointing at the grainy black and white image. "Look here."

I scan the screen desperately. I can make out the little blob that's our baby. I see tiny appendages that must be hands, the curve that forms little feet.

And then I see it.

"Wait," I breathe, my eyes widening. "Is that...?"

"Two," Dr. Reyes confirms with a nod. "There are two babies."

"Twins?" Ruslan sounds stunned, his golden eyes fixed on the screen.

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