The garden was exactly as she remembered it. Eloise had imagined some of the shine would have come off, due to the fact that she was meeting Masoud under much less happy circumstances, but to her surprise, it seemed as magical a place as it had the night of the ball. The starlight sparkled off the pond and the cool marble of the benches set around it, and the wind rustling in the bushes seemed to whisper benevolently.

She’d expected to have trouble getting here in the middle of the night, but to her surprise, it had been easy. She’d been able to walk right onto the promenade around City Hall—it wasn’t closed or locked in any way, and there was no security. Once there, she’d simply followed the path around until it led her to the garden.

She had the uneasy feeling that perhaps she wasn’t supposed to be here, and she hoped that Masoud would arrive soon. If someone found the two of them there together, it would be awkward, but Masoud would know what to say to defuse the situation. But if Eloise was found in the City Hall garden alone in the middle of the night, she would probably be kicked out, at best, and arrested at worst.

Could this be illegal? she wondered. It wasn’t like she’d broken in. She’d just walked right in off the street. Still, that didn’t mean it was open to the public. After all, there was no one else here.

No. Masoud wouldn’t have sent me here if I wasn’t allowed to be here. It would have been all too easy for him to arrange somewhere else for them to meet, but he’d picked the garden. There had to be a reason.

She glanced at her watch. It was two minutes past midnight. What if he wasn’t coming? What if he’d changed his mind after sending the letter? Or what if he’d never intended to meet her? That seemed like such a petty way to get revenge, if it was what he was doing. To send her out here in the middle of the night on a fool’s errand? Frustrating, sure, but really, it wasn’t even embarrassing. No one would see her. She would just go home annoyed.

Unless…unless he knew she wasn’t supposed to be here? And maybe he was tipping off the authorities so they would confront her in the garden?

Eloise swallowed hard. If she got in trouble with the police, Patrick would have to bail her out. Not only would he be angry at having had to spend time and money rectifying her mistake, he would probably put two and two together and realize she’d been trying to talk to Masoud. He would deny her the severance package and turn her away with nothing.

Maybe I should get out of here.

But what if Masoud was coming? What if he arrived and she wasn’t here? He would never believe, going forward, that she hadn’t wanted to be a part of Patrick’s plan if she walked away from this opportunity to explain herself.

Eloise sat down on one of the benches beside the pond. The air was spangled with fireflies, and as she gazed upward, it became hard to distinguish where the fireflies stopped and gave way to stars. The sky was so bright here. She remembered taking this in with Masoud beside her. Their night together had been so magical. Would she have given it up, she wondered, if she’d known what would come of it?

No.

The answer came to her immediately. Whatever happened now, whatever the future held, it had been worth it. She was glad to have known him, glad to have spent such a romantic night with him. She placed a hand over her belly. She was glad to have these babies, even though they were making things so complicated. Even if Masoud never forgave her, even if Patrick did end up firing her, she was grateful.

As she watched the sky, a star seemed to break loose from its position. It shot across the night sky and Eloise tracked it with her eyes. She had never seen a shooting star so clearly. The sky back home was too obscured. It seemed like a miracle, suddenly—a strange natural occurrence that was happening just for her benefit.

Make a wish, Eloise.

She closed her eyes. There was only one thing to wish for.

I wish for his forgiveness, she thought, imagining Masoud. I wish for his understanding. And that when I explain what’s happened, he’ll have an idea for us. I wish for a solution that allows us to get him out of Patrick’s unfair deal. I don’t want this to hurt him. It’s such a wonderful thing for me. Please, don’t let it be a terrible thing for him.

Though she couldn’t articulate it—it was too much, and she was too afraid—her heart sang out for something else. She wished for Masoud to love and want the babies as much as she did. She wanted them to have their father, and she wanted him to be happy about their existence. She would be patient with him. She would gladly accept whatever he was willing to give. But she wanted him to be in their lives.

Maybe we can still figure out a happy ending, she thought desperately. Maybe he’ll love them but not try to take them away from me. Maybe we can get rid of Patrick. Maybe Masoud will know what to do and it will all work out. We could be happy.

Even in her mind, it sounded too unreal. A fairy tale. Eloise had to temper her expectations before he arrived, or she was sure to be let down.

A rustling in the leaves behind her pulled her attention back down to earth, and Eloise turned to see Masoud stepping into the center of the garden.

So, he hadn’t been setting her up. He really did want to talk.

Eloise was flooded with relief. Even though she had no idea how their discussion would go, even though this could still end badly, at least he had been sincere in wanting to hear her side of things. She shouldn’t have doubted him, she realized. Masoud had always been gracious and honest with her. Of course this meeting hadn’t been a trick. He wouldn’t do something like that.

If only she could say the same about herself.

He glanced at her and then walked slowly around the perimeter of the pond, finally taking a seat on one of the benches.

She noted that he sat right in the center, leaving only marginal space on either side of himself. He wasn’t inviting her to sit with him. That seemed fair enough, but it still hurt a little. The last time they’d been here…but this wasn’t like that. It could never be like that again.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi.”

“Thank you,” she said. “For meeting me, I mean.”

Masoud looked up at her. It was the first time he’d truly made eye contact since that morning in in the office, before Patrick’s announcement, when he had still been happy to see her. She was stunned by the pain in his eyes.

“Tell me everything,” he said.

She sat on the bench adjacent to his.

“I never meant for any of this to happen, Masoud.”

“Was Patrick telling the truth?”

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s…?”

“Yours. Yes. They’re yours. It’s twins.”

His head darted up. “Twins?”

“Yeah. I have a sonogram picture.”

“Can I see it?”

“I don’t have it with me. Patrick took it, actually, but I have another copy at home. I can email it to you.”

He frowned. “Patrick took it? Why?”

“Masoud, this whole thing, the way he’s using it against you…this was all his idea. And I’m so sorry. I didn’t even mean to tell him about it.”

The words came out in a rush. All the ways she had imagined telling him the truth seemed to be falling out of her mouth at once, tripping over each other.

“I tried to email you, but I messed up and sent the email to him instead, and once he knew the truth…well, you know how mad he was about the morality clause. All he saw was something he could use against you. I didn’t want any part of it. I’m so sorry. You have to believe me.”

He shook his head. “But you were there. In the meeting today. Why didn’t you say any of this then?”

“It was a choice between getting fired or a severance package. You know I need the money.”

Masoud frowned and tilted his head.

“Really?” He sounded so disappointed, it made Eloise want to disappear. “That’s why? You let him buy you off?”

“You don’t understand. Money isn’t a problem for you, but I have to support my parents. And now I have to support these babies, too. And I don’t have anybody. He’s not going to let me keep working for him,” she explained. “If I played along, he’d fire me with a severance package, but if I didn’t, I’d get nothing. That’s what he told me. I hated doing it to you, but the babies…they’re helpless, Masoud. I’m all they have. If I don’t have enough money to put food on the table…”

He nodded slowly. “I see.”

She wasn’t sure he did. Masoud had never been poor. How could he possibly understand the desperation of not knowing if you could feed your children? But he was trying. She could see that. She remained silent, allowing him to process what she’d said.

Finally, he spoke.

“You could have told me,” he said. “In that meeting. You could have stood up right then and told me all of this. Do you know what it was like having to hear about it from that man?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” she protested. “He warned me. If I said anything, I’d be fired immediately. I’d have been left with nothing. The babies would have had nothing.”

“They would have had me,” Masoud said.

“Well, how could I know that? I didn’t know what you would do. I still don’t. For all I knew, you’d just deny they were yours at all. Maybe you still will. I don’t know.”

She heard the desperation in her voice, causing it to crack.

Masoud shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that. You don’t have to worry about that. And I wouldn’t leave them with nothing, Eloise. Whatever else this is, they’re my children, too.” He looked at her. “Twins? Really?”

“Really,” she said softly.

“And is everything okay? Are they okay? Are you?”

“We’re fine.”

“How could you have thought I’d abandon them?” He shook his head. “I’d never do something like that.”

“I just…Patrick kept saying how important the appearance of morality is to you. To your company. You have a whole clause in your business dealings about it! Anything to avoid someone associated with you being involved in a scandal. Right? And this is definitely going to be a scandal. You know it will.”

He stood abruptly and closed the space between them, taking the seat beside her on her bench.

“I don’t care about that.”

“You don’t?”

“That morality clause was my father’s, not mine. I keep it around to honor him, not because it means anything to me.”

She couldn’t square this information up with what she already knew of Khan Capital.

“But you were so insistent,” she said. “You weren’t going to have anything to do with Patrick unless he signed it.”

“Well, I can’t stand him,” Masoud said. “He plays games with people and treats them like they don’t matter. Look what he’s done to you. To us. The morality clause was a perfect tool in this instance. If Patrick pledged to rectify his behavior, we could work together, but until then, he would always be a liability. But Eloise”—he cupped her cheek—“that doesn’t mean I don’t understand that sometimes things happen between people.”

She stared up at him. Could he be saying what she thought he was saying? That he wouldn’t be ashamed of his children and reject them, even though they were the product of an affair?

Masoud shook his head. “After the time we spent together, Eloise, I thought you knew me. I thought you knew I wouldn’t turn my back on you.”

“Well, I thought you wouldn’t,” Eloise stammered. “I just…I couldn’t be sure.”

“You can be sure now,” he said softly. “I’m not like my father. I respect the foundations he chose to build his company on, but I don’t hold to all the same values. In my opinion, it’s more important to support someone who needs you than it is to save face. Especially when that person is family.” He glanced down at her stomach. “These are my children, Eloise.”

She couldn’t help it. She began to cry. For the past twenty-four hours, she had been so afraid, so ashamed, and now, here was Masoud telling her he understood the position she’d been put in and that he wasn’t angry. Not only that, he wanted to help her. She couldn’t have possibly asked for more.

He wrapped his arms around her and she allowed him to pull her close. Resting against his broad chest, all the memories of their night together came flooding back. For the first time since learning she was pregnant, Eloise truly felt as if she wasn’t alone. Whatever happened, Masoud was in this with her.

“It’ll be okay,” he said, his hand moving in slow circles on her back. “We’ll figure out what to do, and everything will be fine.”

“But how?”

“Leave that to me.” She felt his muscles tense. “You don’t need to worry about money, okay, Eloise? These babies will be taken care of. I can promise you that much right now.”

She nodded, knowing he could. “Thank you.”

“Of course. And listen.” He held her by the arms, looking her in the eye. “We’ll be okay, too. Patrick Gainsborough isn’t going to get the best of either of us.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked him.

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “But I’m not going to let him win. I’m not going to allow him to intrude on our business and use you as a trading token.”

“He has you in violation of the morality clause, Masoud. Even if the clause isn’t important to you, that’s still a fact.”

“Do you trust me?” Masoud asked.

Eloise met his eyes and nodded.

“Then try not to worry. I’ll find a way out of this.” He kissed her forehead. “I promise, everything will be all right.”