Fredric’s POV

The shrill ringing of my phone dragged me out of the shallowest sleep.

It was Paula.

My eyelids felt like lead, my head heavy and clouded from barely two hours of rest. The clock on the screen confirmed it—2 a.m.

Fatigue and irritation mixed like poison in my chest. I didn’t want to answer.

Not because I hated her, but because I needed peace—just a moment of silence to think.

The secret I’d been keeping was eating me alive. Mathilda’s pregnancy.

And I was terrified that my restlessness would make me blurt it out.

But Paula was relentless. If I ignored her, she’d just keep calling. She was stubborn like that. And the last thing I needed was for her to show up at my house in the middle of the night.

“Hey, babe,” I answered, my voice low and rough, my body still numb from sleep.

“Ahh, yes, baby, deeper!”

The sound that followed made my blood run cold.

For a split second, I thought I was still dreaming. But then I heard it again—her moans, breathless and eager, laced with th