A billion thoughts rushed through Ella's head as she tried to dissect the unbelievable information she just received. When one didn't bleed for a month, it only meant one thing; she was with child. And for one to be with child, it meant they slept with a—

Heavens! Did Juliet have a secret lover? Juliet she never told Ella she did. Why would Juliet hide such a thing from her? Ella felt angry but also sad for her friend.

"How did this happen?" Ella's throat constricted.

Juliet locked her hands together and fiddled with her metacarpals. "I met him five months ago. I was at a bookshop and he walked up to me." She smiled. "He was handsome and had a good sense of humour. I began sneaking out at night to meet him and at times we communicated with letters."

A flashback from a week ago hit Ella's mind. Her eyes widened with realization and she inclined her head in disbelief.

"That night you refused to join me at the ball, was he the one you wanted to meet?"

Juliet hesitated, giving Ella the obvious answer. Her friend had been meeting this man and she didn't deem it fit to tell her. Ella wondered if she was a bad friend.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ella asked.

"I didn't want you to judge me. You know you've always told me that men were a distraction to achieving one's dreams and I didn't know how you would react if I told you I had a lover."

Ella was taken aback. Her friend thought her to be judgemental. At least that judgement would've protected Juliet from this disaster. Look at her now, she was with child. Whatever dreams her friend must've had would vanish into thin air.

"You cannot say I was wrong," Ella defended. "You're with his child and he will stop you from discovering your full potential. Soon you'll have a baby to be taking care of and you'll barely have time for yourself."

Juliet's eyes held an ocean of regret. "We love each other, Ellie. He even supports my dream of writing. He's a publisher. He promised he'll make me as famous as Jane Austen."

"You want to be an Author?" It was surprise after surprise for Ella.

"That book you saw in my house..." There was a momentary pause. "it was a manuscript I had submitted to him earlier. If I had shown you, you would've discovered about the both of us."

"It doesn't matter what I discover Jules, he's a man and they always lie." Ella looked her dead in the eye. "Does he know about the child?"

"I told him about the child. He was happy and promised he would marry me. But after the night I informed him, I never heard from him again. I wrote him letters and he didn't reply. I even went to his publishing house and the men at the entrance refused me entrance."

Ella's body became flooded with rage. All she wanted to do was find whoever this bastard son of man was and shove a pipe up his arse. How dare he? He put a child into her friend and wants to leave her to die a disgrace to her family. She would never let that happen. She was right all along; men were distractions. And from what she had discovered, they were incapable of change. None of them was different; an image of Robert popped up in her mind.

What if he was like this man? She knew how she felt around him and forbade those feelings. If that man could do something like this, then a rake like Robert could do something worse. From now on, she was going to be strictly professional with him. No more wanting to know about his personal life. She was going to focus on her goal and wouldn't let a man she was scared she might be falling for, ruin that.

"Have you told your parents?" Ella asked.

Juliet shook her head and Ella sighed.

"Good," she pursed her lips. "Don't tell them anything yet. I would want to have a chat with this lover of yours."

The next morning, Ella was prepared for work, her tailcoat ironed and in pristine condition. After giving Juliet one last hug, she made her way down the alleyway that sided Juliet's home. Out of the blue, the sharp neighs of horses pierced her ear as a black carriage blocked the road before her. She looked up, noticing a familiar Ducal crest on its doors.

Who in the queen's name was this?

Before her eyes could process this early morning madness, the door swung open, introducing Robert neatly fitted into a tailcoat, his powerful shoulder taking half the width of the carriage.

"Get in," he said.

Ella was too busy trying to understand why he came to pick her up that she didn't hear what he said.

"Didn't you hear me?" He inclined his head.

Her eyes batted repeatedly. "No sir. If I may ask, why are you here?"

"To pick up horse shite."

Ella did a phoney gasp.

"It was a joke, Mr Law."

"I know," she placed her hands on her hips that were too wide to belong to a man.

"Get in," he commanded.

She narrowed her brows, "No, I don't take orders from you."

He was so fast she didn't see his veined hands coming. They gripped her by her forearms and launched her onto the seat next to him. He was inches away from her face now and she could feel her chest rising and falling before his immaculate exterior. She thought she was strong enough to face him. Apparently, she was not. He made her weak to her knees. But she wasn't going to give in easily.

"What is wrong with you this morning?" He growled.

The doorman shut the door and the carriage began to move.

"What is wrong with me?" She scoffed. "My problem is that I despise your gender."

His blue eyes took her in with one sweep and she felt like he was stripping her naked.

"Yet you dress like them." He smirked. "How ironic."

She wanted to yell curses at him. She wanted to pound her hands on his chest repeatedly. But something seemed to be restricting her. His intense gaze seemed to freeze all the muscles in her body and all she could do was just look at his beautiful face. This was the second time he was this close to her. The last time was at his office when he blamed her for the missing letter.

"You forget I'm only in this uniform because of you," Ella hissed, her stare dropping to his lips, his hot breath airing on her face.

"I'm only protecting you."

"How easily you men lie," she purred. "I know you're doing this for yourself. You wonder what society would think of you if they find out I'm a woman working for you. Lord Robert Stark, the rake of London has a woman working under his employ. I could already see the headlines. How scandalous it shall be."

He was so close now that their lips could touch. "Call me a rake one more time and I'll show you why I earned the title."

"R-a-k-e," she smirked, "Rake."

What happened next, Ella didn't believe would happen in the nearest future or even at all.

Lord Robert Killian Stark, kissed her.