Chapter 4

Once Alex went to the restroom, I pulled out the abortion pill I had prepared in advance.

I hadn't told the doctors.

Clenching my jaw, I swallowed the pill.

It didn't take long for the severe cramping to start. A sharp, twisting agony ripped through my abdomen, and I felt the warm slide of blood between my legs.

But I braced myself against the wall and forced myself to walk toward the private suite in the pediatric wing.

I needed to confront Veronica face-to-face.

She was right where I expected her to be.

When she saw me standing in the doorway, she shot up from her chair.

"You still have the nerve to show your face?"

I rested a hand on my swollen belly and looked at Ethan lying in the bed.

"This poor kid. Stuck with a mother who treats him like a bargaining chip. He was never your priority to begin with."

Veronica's face contorted.

"Are you insane? You came all the way here to start a fight?"

"Am I wrong?" I stared her down. "You saw it yourself out there. In private, Alex treats you like a prize, but the second I'm around, he doesn't even have the guts to look at you."

"Once my baby is born, I'll still be Alex's wife. And you? You'll still be nothing but his mistress."

"Don't think Ethan is going to magically make you Mrs. Sterling."

"He might be Alex's son, but a kid doesn't automatically make you a wife. You can't use him to force Alex to end his marriage and marry you."

That was the match in the powder barrel.

"Say that again, and I'll rip your mouth off!"

I looked at her with pure ice.

"Everyone knows I am Mrs. Sterling. Who are you?"

"He has you today. He'll have another woman tomorrow. And another one after that."

Down the hall, security guards heard the nurses shouting and began sprinting our way.

Before they could reach us, Veronica lunged. She grabbed my arm, yanked me forward, and violently shoved me to the floor.

The back of my head slammed against the tiles. My vision flashed white, and a catastrophic, tearing pain ripped through my stomach.

The bleeding, which had already started, became an uncontrollable hemorrhage the second I hit the ground.

A second later, security tackled her.

Nurses slammed the emergency button, and a medical team rushed me onto a gurney.

The agony in my abdomen was blinding. Blood was pouring down my legs, soaking the floor.

I couldn't move.

But as they wheeled me away, a bloody smile stretched across my face.

"Veronica, you're never getting the man you love."