Chapter 159

Her voice carried reassurance, yet the information she had just shared made the room feel impossibly heavy for Roshanay. She was certain she had heard her own heartbeat, but the sound was stronger, steadier, and somehow entirely separate from her own chest.

A beat?

Roshanay blinked rapidly, her mind struggling to understand. Her chest tightened as disbelief, shock, and a strange flicker of curiosity flooded through her all at once. The sound continued, steady and persistent, filling the space around her with a life that was impossible to ignore. Her body felt suddenly fragile, her hands shaking slightly, and a lump formed in her throat as the weight of the revelation began to sink in.

“My… heartbeat?” she whispered, her voice barely audible, trembling with uncertainty and disbelief. She could not bring herself to look at the monitor yet, fearing that if she did, she might understand the reality of what was happening. Her heart raced, not from fear alone, but from a