28. Courtney
CHAPTER 28
COURTNEY
S tanding before Jakob’s imposing figure, I feel like I’m caught in the middle of a winter storm — vulnerable, exposed, and quaking in my boots. The opulent room swirls around me, but all I can focus on is his intense gaze, searching mine for answers I’m not sure I’m ready to give.
“Jakob,” I begin, my voice a mere breath against the magnitude of what I’m about to divulge.
The silence stretches between us, thick as the velvet drapes framing the windows behind him. I worry he might fill it with words of dismissal or disdain — or worse, the cold chime of gold coins meant to silence me forever.
I brace myself for his anger, the possibility that he’ll lash out or turn his back on me, on us. I can almost hear the sharp intake of breath, the harsh words that will cut deeper than anything else ever could.
But then, he breaks the silence first, his voice carrying a note of something unreadable. “I thought you’d left Bergovia for good,” he says, and there’s an undercurrent of something like relief in his tone.
His expression softens, just slightly, as if the idea of my permanent absence had been a blow he wasn’t prepared to take.
The admission cracks the dam holding back my own resolve. “I— I came back because I have something important to tell you,” I manage to say, my voice steadier now. It’s the truth that propels me forward, the undeniable reality that has grown within me since those two lines appeared.
His eyes lock onto mine, waiting, anticipating.
“Jakob, I’m pregnant.”
The words hang in the air between us, fragile and momentous, and I search his face for any sign of what comes next.
His eyes widen, and for a heart-stopping moment, he looks as if someone has knocked the wind out of him. He steps back, his hand raking through tousled hair as he processes my revelation. I’m frozen, waiting for the storm, but it doesn’t come.
“Okay,” he breathes out, and there’s a firmness to his voice that wasn’t there before. “I’m here for this — for you and our baby. No matter what.”
His words wrap around me like a blanket, warm and unexpectedly protecting. But can I trust them? The Jakob I knew was always caught in the tangle of family expectations. Yet, here he stands, looking at me with resolve in his eyes.
“Even with your family?” My skepticism hangs between us, an unspoken challenge.
“Even with them.” He steps closer, closing the distance I didn’t realize had grown. Reaching into his jacket, he pulls out something that shines even in the soft light.
My breath catches when I see it — the necklace, my grandmother’s. The same necklace his family claimed as their heirloom.
“Is that…?” I can’t finish the sentence; emotions knot in my throat.
“It belongs to you,” he says, his voice laced with conviction, and there’s something rebellious in his gesture, something beautifully defiant.
This act, reclaiming what’s mine from the clutches of his own blood — it’s more than just metal and stone. It’s proof. Proof that he’ll stand with me, even against the gilded walls of his legacy.
“I love you, Courtney,” he breathes. “I am sorry for what happened, for hurting you. This necklace… it should have always stayed with you.”
I’m on him before I know it, my arms wrapping around his neck, holding him close. “I love you, Jakob.”
In this embrace, in the beat of his heart against mine, I find the truth I’d been searching for. He’s all in — just as scared, just as giddy, but all in. And with this, we step into the unknown together, bound by something far stronger than fear or obligation. Love .