The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 527

Chapter 259-2

+25 Points

Pointe

Locke steps out into the passage. My boots stall out against the floorboards.

Before I can even react, Xena launches herself forward.

There’s no hesitation, no restraint. She just throws her entire body at him in utter delight, he tail

whipping so hard it thumps wildly against the walls as she whiningly shoves her head against as

waist, wriggling and trying to climb right up his chest to reach his face.

Locke stumbles back half a step, caught completely off guard. His broad shoulders hit the doorframe, but his hands react on pure instinct: catching her, his fingers burying deep into her fur

as he steadies her.

“Woah… hey, calm down,” Locke mutters. He looks bewildered, but his long fingers automatically scratch her behind the ears in the exact, firm rhythm she craves. “Hiya.”

Swallowing down the sudden lump in my throat, I step forward, keeping my voice soft.

“Xena’s missed you,” I tell him. “She hasn’t understood where you’ve been.”

Locke looks down at the dog, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitches in his cheek. He keeps

his hand on Xena’s head, but his eyes snap up to meet mine, and the sheer, raw frustration burning

in them takes my breath away.

“Zara,” he says. The name sounds heavy on his tongue, carefully pronounced, like he’s handling a piece of glass he’s terrified of dropping. “Hi.”

“Locke,” I reply. “You shouldn’t be standing around with those ribs. Stitch said you discharged

yourself early.”

Locke lets out a short, harsh breath. “Stitch talks too f*****g much. I’m fine.”

He isn’t fine. The tension in his forehead speaks to a blinding headache he’s pretending does

exist, but his mind is clearly working overtime.

“You’re mapping Vane’s network?” he asks, his gaze shifting to the thick folder clutched in my

hands. “Cobra said you were picking apart the connections.”

“Just untangling who’s still answering to him,” I say. “Putting together the paper trail so we know

who we’re dealing with.”

Locke nods slowly, a flash of his natural sharpness returning.

But then his focus snaps back to me, his stiff posture returning, a man trying desperately to play a role he knows he’s supposed to fill, grasping at duty because memory has failed him,

<Chapter 259-2

+25 Points

He steps an inch closer, his eyes searching my face with a desperate, pleading intensity. “You shouldn’t be pushing yourself this hard right now. You need rest. How… how are you feeling? How’s

the baby?”

The question hangs between us, stiff, careful, and polite. It feels like a blow to the sternum

‘How’s the baby?‘

It’s the question a considerate stranger asks.

I swallow the sharp spike of pain. “We’re both fine. The baby is healthy. I had my check–up last

week.”

It’s bittersweet, a cruel consolation prize that makes my heart bleed even as I respect the honor

“Dad already has a tail on me,” I say, keeping my tone soft so it doesn’t sound like a rejection. “I’m well protected. You don’t need to stress yourself over me right now. You need to heal.”

“It’s not stress. It’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”

Job.

The word slices quiet and deep, but I don’t let it show on my face. I refuse to let him see how much that single word stings.

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