Chapter 3

Those two words, "our baby," struck like a thunderbolt, incinerating the last, pathetic, laughable shred of hope I'd been clinging to.

A faint, physiological cramp tightened in my own lower abdomen. Vanessa... was pregnant too?

After our wedding, I had dreamed of a child, but Graham had always said his career was at its peak, that a child was a sweet burden, and he wanted to enjoy a few more years of just the two of us.

Touched by his "thoughtfulness," I had quietly taken birth control pills.

Now I understood. It wasn't that he didn't want children. He just didn't want a child with me.

Inside the lounge, Graham's hand closed around Vanessa's.

"I told you I'd take care of you and the baby."

"Then why am I still hiding?"

"Because tonight is my anniversary with Claire."

Vanessa's fingers tightened around his tie.

"What about tomorrow?"

Graham was silent for a moment.

"Nothing can happen to you or the baby. I'll arrange for the best obstetrician to examine you first thing in the morning."

I stepped back from the door before either of them could see me.

I sat down slowly, my hand coming to rest over my own womb.

I'm so sorry, little one. Mommy was so foolish. I couldn't give you a home full of love.

The recreated chapel was still waiting when I returned to the ballroom. The priest stood beside the altar, speaking quietly with Miles.

Graham returned a few minutes later.

He came directly to me and took my hand.

"Vanessa ate something she shouldn't have. She's resting upstairs now."

His thumb moved over my knuckles.

"I'm sorry I left you standing here."

I looked at the man I had loved for ten years.

"It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded.

Graham turned toward the priest.

"We can continue."

The priest opened the vow book again.

Graham repeated his vows without hesitation. He promised to love me, protect me, and choose me for the rest of his life.

Then the priest turned to me.

"Claire?"

Every face in the ballroom was watching.

I closed the vow book.

"We made our promises ten years ago. I think ten years has already said everything for us."

Graham searched my face.

Then he lifted my hand and kissed it.

"Ten years is only the beginning."

He had no idea that after tonight, he might never see me again.

Near the end of the evening, I left the ballroom and entered the powder room.

Vanessa followed me inside.

The pale ivory dress made her look almost bridal beneath the bright mirrors. She closed the door behind her and rested one hand over her stomach.

"I suppose you're wondering why Graham left your little ceremony."

I looked at her reflection.

"Should I be?"

Her smile tightened.

"I'm pregnant, Claire."

I said nothing. What she didn't know was that none of it could cause even a ripple in me anymore. My heart was a wasteland, scorched bare, utterly desolate.

"Graham and I are having a baby. He said he'd take care of both of us."

She stepped closer.

"You've had ten years with him. Maybe it's time you made room for someone who can give him what he really wants."

I looked at her, suddenly struck by the sheer absurdity of it all. A low laugh escaped me, though my eyes remained cold.

"Oh? Graham's baby..."

My gaze swept over her still-flat stomach.

"Are you absolutely certain it's his? Are you quite clear on your... itinerary over the past few months?"

Vanessa went pale. Her eyes flicked toward the door, and she took a step back.

I had only meant it as a careless retort, but her reaction was far more extreme than I'd anticipated.

"I... I suddenly don't feel well."

She turned and hurried out of the powder room.

I didn't follow her.

My attorney was waiting in the hotel lobby with the papers.

I signed where she indicated, placed the documents back inside the envelope, and returned to the penthouse.

Graham hadn't come back.

The tenth-anniversary album he had prepared was resting on the desk in his study. I opened it and turned through ten years of photographs until I reached the last page.

I placed the divorce papers inside.

Then I went to the bedroom and packed the few things I intended to take with me.

At five that morning, the research center's car arrived.

I left our tenth-anniversary album on Graham's desk, picked up my suitcase, and walked out without looking back.

"Happy divorce, Graham. We won't be seeing each other again."