“I abandoned you for four months, yes. It’s my way of breaking you with solitude and loneliness—molding you until you’re utterly mine. But there’s no world where I’d know you’re carrying my child and not claim you immediately. I am heartless, Penelope, but not when it comes to what’s mine. You’d be under my watch, every breath, every heartbeat monitored. I’d never let you slip away like that.”
