Chapter 7
There was endless darkness and cold.
And that relentless, bone-deep pain that gnawed at her.
Emily came back to herself, retching, her stomach cramping.
The ceiling above her was white, and the air was thick with disinfectant.
She was in a hospital bed with an IV in the back of her hand and cold fluid going into her. Her stomach kept seizing, and every seizure took her back to the hallway.
"You're awake?" There was something close to concern on Margaret's usually cold face. She sighed hard. "The Lowells have someone coming this afternoon. Are you ready?"
Emily didn't say a word. Tears streamed down her face, soaking the pillow.
"Go see Lucas one last time. After this, the two of you are finished."
Margaret was right. It was time to end all of this.
Emily took hold of the cold IV pole and shuffled out of the room like an old woman.
The VIP ward corridor was eerily quiet, the lights dim and shadowy.
Emily's legs felt frozen in place as she watched through the crack in the door.
Anna was half-reclining on the hospital bed, her face still pale, quietly sobbing, looking so vulnerable.
Lucas sat beside her, holding her hand, and Emily had never once seen that much patience in him.
"All right, Sweetheart, no more crying. The doctor says you and the baby are fine. You only had a scare." His voice was low and indulgent, and it used to belong to her.
"But I'm still scared. Lucas, does Emily hate me? Why did she make me drink?" Anna was crying so hard that her shoulders were shaking.
Something dark went through Lucas' eyes as he stroked her hair. "Don't waste yourself on her. It's handled. I made her pay for it, and she won't try anything again."
So it really had been him.
Emily's legs went out from under her, and she put her back against the wall.
Everything she'd become was his doing, and at the end of it, he was the one calling her difficult.
"But..." Anna lifted her wet face and put a hand on the curve of her stomach, and her voice went thin with fear.
"Our baby almost didn't make it today. Lucas, I'm frightened. I don't want to stay here. She's everywhere I look. What if the baby ends up..."
"Don't let your mind run wild," Lucas interrupted her, his tone still gentle. "When the baby is born, Emily will be the one to raise it."
"What?" Anna's head came up, and she stared at him, too shocked to keep crying.
Lucas' voice was calm to the point of cruelty, as if he were discussing the ownership of some object. "Once the baby's born, it'll be registered as hers. Think of it as compensation for her not being able to have children."
Compensation?
He was going to compensate her with a child he'd made with another woman.
Emily felt her stomach churn, the nausea rising uncontrollably. She gagged, but with nothing left in her stomach, only bitter acid came up, burning her throat and esophagus with searing pain.
"No." Anna begged him. "I carried this baby for nine months. I can't hand it over."
Lucas rubbed her back, and his voice went soft and coaxing. "Think about it. You're my wife in the eyes of the law, and one day you'll run this family. It's only a loan."
He kissed her forehead, and there was longing in it with cold arithmetic underneath. "Sweetheart, look at the whole board. You're the one I love, and only your child gets the best of everything. Hold on for me."
Anna nestled into his arms, looking like she'd finally been convinced.
"Good girl. I promise neither of you will ever go without."
*****
Out in the hallway, Emily's world came down.
It wasn't only betrayal, and it wasn't only humiliation.
It was a lie all the way through.
Sweetheart?
The name had been hers, and he'd handed it to another woman.
How could he be so cruel?
She slid down the cold wall and sat on the floor.
She had nothing left.
So there was nothing to stay for.
She stumbled her way to the hospital entrance.
"Excuse me, are you Ms. Carter? We're with the Lowell family. We're here to pick you up."
Emily didn't look back. She took one breath.
Whatever had existed between her and Lucas was over. From that day forward, they would go their separate ways, and she would never see him again.