"Duncan, please…" Annie's voice cracked as she fell to her knees in front of him, clutching desperately at the legs of the man who now looked at her like a stranger. "We're practically already a family. My father poured millions into your company. Can't you overlook just this once? For me… for the baby?"
Duncan stared down at her, jaw tight and expression cold.
"Get up, Annie," he said, voice low but firm. "Don't humiliate yourself more than you already have. I won't marry you. And I won't claim that child as mine."
Annie's breath hitched.
"I ruined my life, my family, my future—all because of greed and lies. Because I believed in you. Because of that child," Duncan continued, his tone heavy with self-loathing. "And I'm not making it worse by tying myself to you forever."
