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By the time the officers pulled them apart, Sam's lip was split, Mark's eye was swelling shut, and both men were breathing like enraged bulls.

When the police asked me what happened, I told the truth.

It didn't matter—they cuffed them both anyway.

“Just procedure,” one officer said, as if that made it okay.

As they led Sam to the squad car, our eyes met. He didn't look angry, just calm, steady—like this was just another obstacle we’d overcome.

“Don’t worry,” he mouthed.

I glared at Mark as I clutched my belly and watched them both being driven away in the police cruisers.

Tears spilled down my cheeks. I didn’t even try to stop them this time.

Mark had lost his damn mind.

That wasn’t what love was supposed to look like.

But Sam fighting for me, protecting me, made it feel like it was.

Chapter 32- Sam

I hadn’t stepped foot in my parent's restaurant since meeting Zane. My mother had opinions about everything—especially how I lived my life—and I wasn't in the mood to hear her mouth. But after the fight with Mark went viral—some neighbor had posted the whole damn thing on TikTok. We knew we had to face the tell out parent's before they heard it from someone else.

Zane sat beside me, quiet but composed. Back straight, legs crossed, eyes watching the front entrance. She looked calm on the outside, but I knew she was unraveling inside. I saw the way her fingers tapped against her thigh—three quick beats, then a pause—the same rhythm they always followed when she was holding herself together by a thread.

First through the door were her parents. Her mother looked like her—but with longer hair. Her curls bounced with every step. She was heavier than Zane but had the same curvy shape. Her father was one of those Morris Chestnut types, in a suit that looked expensive against his dark skin. Expensive glasses. Expensive shoes. His naturally frowning face deepened when he saw me. They looked at Zane, then me, then each other. Not a word. Just judgment humming in the air like a slow burn. They definitely gave off the high-powered lawyer vibe.

Then came mine.

My mother was first—light-skinned, tall, with an expensive wig flowing down her back. Not a wrinkle in sight, even though she’d spent her childhood running in the Jamaican sun and her adult life running a busy restaurant. My father trailed behind her—pale as a ghost, bald, and still looking like he didn’t know how he ended up married to a Black woman from the islands.

Zane waved her parents over. She’d seen them before—before the pregnancy. She didn’t get up. They hugged her and took a seat, both wearing that“who in the hell is he?”look on their faces.

“Sam,” my mom said, slow and drawn out, eyes narrowing as she looked around. I made sure the restaurant was close to closing and that they were in town and not working before telling them what time to meet us.

“Sit down,” I told them all, gesturing to the table. “Please.”

Everybody looked around like this was a setup. Which… fair.

I sat down next to Zane and reached for her hand. Her fingers tightened around mine, steadying me the way she always did when I was ready to explode. She was the only person who could do that—silence the noise.

Her father cleared his throat first. “So… what is this?”

“This is a conversation we needed to have,” I said. “Face to face.”

Zane’s mother gave her a long side-eye. “I thought you said this man was just your boss, sweetheart. Why is he holding your hand?”

Zane shifted but didn’t let go. “That’s what I told y’all. Before.”

Her father folded his arms. “Before what?”

I leaned forward. “Before we fell in love. Before I got herpregnant. Before I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.”

Zane stood up and showed everybody her belly.

You could’ve heard a damn pin drop. Her mom blinked rapidly. Her dad looked like he wanted to throw a chair. My own father looked like he needed a drink. And then there was my mother—who sat back in her seat like she was watching an episode ofScandalunfold.