Oops! My Secret Baby Is Caught By His Top-Lawyer Daddy! Novel

---- Clara woke to a deafening crack of thunder. She peeked out the window. The sky was pitch black, tom open by lightning, and rain lashed down in sheets, hammering the glass like an angry beast. Out of nowhere, Asher Nash's crazed face flashed through her mind. Clara's heart lurched, and she dove under the blanket, curling up tight. Not long after, the mattress dipped beside her. Strong arms, warm and familiar, wrapped around her. The sudden comfort only made her feel more wronged. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks. What had she done wrong? She was the one who got hurt.

She was the one who was terrified. Why did it feel like she was being punished? Aaron mistook her trembling for fear. He stroked her back gently. "It's okay. Don't be afraid." Soon, the front of his shirt grew damp with her tears. Aaron stiffened like he'd been burned. "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?" He tried to pull her up out of the blanket, but Clara clung to it, burying herself deeper. "You're being mean to me! You're bullying me!" Aaron froze, too afraid to tug hard in case he brushed ---- her wound. His voice dropped low. "I'm not." Her sobs broke into words.

"You're giving me the cold shoulder!" Aaron fell silent. She cried harder, blurting, "If you don't like me, then just say so! Stop giving me that face every day!" Aaron felt his chest tighten. If only he really didn't like her. Life would be so much simpler. "That's not it." "Then what are you mad at me for?" she demanded. "I'm not mad at you," he said quietly. Clara poked her tear-streaked face out from under the blanket, her eyes swollen and red as she stared at him. Aaron grabbed a tissue and gently wiped her cheeks. Then he admitted, "I'm mad at myself. I didn't protect you.

Your life used to be simple, happy. Because of me, you got dragged into danger. And I can't even promise you it won't happen again. As a husband, if I can't protect my own wife, what am I? A failure." Yes. That had been the thought gnawing at him all along. He'd studied law out of passion-driven by a hunger for fairness and justice. ---- Losing cases, facing complaints, celebrating wins, even enduring retaliation-he'd always been able to take it on the chin. But when that retaliation touched his family? His calm shattered. "So what then?" Clara shot back.

"You planning to give up on me and Leo?" "Never!" Aaron's denial was instant, fierce. The mere thought of losing them made it hard to breathe. Clara's tears returned in a rush. "People die in car crashes, Planes go down, earthquakes happen... You can't torture yourself over every freak accident! This isn't your fault! Monsters like Asher don't show up every day. And you freeze me out over thi: Her tears streamed again. "I'm so disappointed in you! Do you think I'ma burden? That I'm your weakness, and now you regret marrying me?" "I don't!" Aaron's voice cracked. "I've never thought that!

I'm only angry at myself. I'm sorry. I've hurt you again." Clara sobbed harder. "Of course you're not wrong. You're a brilliant lawyer-you can't be wrong. It's me! I'm not strong enough to face all this with you." ---- Aaron panicked. "No, I swear, I've never thought that. I just want to protect you, to give you everything good. Forgive me! I promise, I'll never do this again." Deep down, Clara knew the truth. They hadn't even lived under the same roof for a full year yet. They didn't know every corner of each other's hearts. Misunderstandings were inevitable.

Even parents and children clashed sometimes-so how could a husband and wife escape it? But her anger still burned. So she sniffled, "I'll forgive you, but you'd better fix this problem of never talking to me!" Aaron nodded like a schoolboy. "I'll fix it, I swear!" It wasn't that he couldn't. He really didn't dare. Coming from a stiff, by-the-book lawyer like him, that finally melted more than half her anger. Clara sniffed again. "If you ever push me away again, I swear I'll remarry on the spot." Aaron didn't waste a second. He bent down and captured her lips in his.

Between husband and wife, there was nothing a heated kiss couldn't fix. And if one kiss wasn't enough? Then you just kept kissing until it was.