Chapter 289: The Queen’s Pain

(Three Months Later – Labor Day, Skylar's POV)

The world outside was celebrating.

Parades. Fireworks. Cheers echoing across the empire as the people honored Labor Day—a day meant to recognize hard work and sacrifice.

But inside Classic Castle, Skylar was fighting her own battle.

A sharper pain ripped through her body, forcing a gasp from her lips. She gripped the silk sheets beneath her as another contraction took hold.

"Breathe, Skylar," the doctor instructed firmly. "You're progressing quickly."

Sweat clung to her forehead, her body trembling as she exhaled in sharp bursts. She barely registered the hands adjusting the IV, the voices murmuring around her.

Her mind was spinning. Everything was happening too fast.

Where was Chris?

"Where is he?" she finally choked out between breaths.

The room fell into a tense silence. Then—

"I'm right here."

The deep, commanding voice sliced through the air, steady and unshaken.

Skylar turned her head just as Chris strode into the room, his black suit pristine, his expression unreadable. But his eyes—his eyes burned with something raw.

He was always in control. Always unshaken. But now? There was something different.

"You're late," she whispered, her voice strained.

Chris came closer, taking her hand in his. His grip was firm—an anchor.

"I'm here now," he said, voice low. "And I'm not leaving."

Another contraction hit, and Skylar nearly crushed his fingers.

Chris didn't flinch. He simply watched her, his jaw tightening, his mind calculating—as if even now, he was trying to figure out how to control something uncontrollable.

But there was no strategy here. No negotiations.

Only pain. And the life they had created.

The doctor's voice cut through the haze. "It's time."

Skylar barely had a moment to process before another wave of agony crashed over her.

Chris bent closer, his lips near her ear. "You've survived worse. You can do this."

Skylar's breath hitched. For a moment, she hated him—hated the calm in his voice, the certainty in his words.

But then she realized… he wasn't just saying it for her.

He was saying it for himself.

Because for the first time, Chris Blackwood was powerless.

And he didn't know how to handle it.