Chapter 2

The woman who took me to the emergency room did not even know my name.

She had driven me from the airport through the storm. A nurse brought a wheelchair, then helped me onto an examination bed.

The doctor checked the bleeding and turned up the ultrasound sound. A heartbeat filled the room. Fast. Small. Still there.

I let out a long breath. Relief weakened every bone in my body.

"The bleeding has slowed," she said. "Rest tonight. If it increases or you have pain again, come back immediately."

I nodded slowly.

A nurse handed back my phone in a dry sleeve. . I checked my messages and missed calls.

Zero.

There were zero notifications.

Adrian did not call me once. Two hours passed since he locked me out of his car. He did not wonder where his pregnant wife was.

The nurse asked for my emergency contact. Adrian's information was already saved in my file. I watched the cursor blink beside his name.

"Change it to Emma Hart," I said. "My sister."

It was after ten when Mara drove me home. She walked me to the door beneath a wide blue umbrella. Before leaving, she pressed a card into my palm.

"If the bleeding gets worse, call an ambulance," she said. "If you cannot get one, call me."

Warm light spilled from the house when I opened the door.

Adrian sat beside the fireplace. Claire sat on my expensive leather sofa, drinking soup from my mother's porcelain cup. A heating pad rested against her stomach. A folded towel and a glass of water waited on the table.

They looked like a happy couple. They looked like the masters of this house.

No one had prepared anything for me.

Then, my eyes moved to Claire’s shoulders. My heart stopped beating for a second.

She was wearing a robe. It was a pale blue silk robe with embroidered white flowers. It was not a generic guest robe.

My mother had given it to me on my last birthday before she died. I kept it in a box at the back of my closet and wore it only when I missed her.

And now, Claire wore it. She sat by my fire. She drank my husband’s soup. She wore my dead mother’s clothes.

Claire looked up. "Olivia, you’re soaked."

"Why are you wearing that?"

Claire pulled the fabric closed at her throat. "My suitcase went to the wrong terminal. Adrian said I could borrow something."

Adrian noticed the hospital bracelet around my wrist.

"What happened?"

"I was in the emergency room," I said. My voice was completely flat and empty. "I collapsed at the airport. I was bleeding."

Adrian frowned. A quick flash of concern crossed his face. He looked down at my stomach.

"Is the baby okay?" he asked quickly.

"The baby has a heartbeat," I answered. "But I have a threatened miscarriage. The doctor ordered strict bed rest. I almost lost the baby."

Adrian let out a long sigh. His broad shoulders relaxed. The tension left his body completely.

"So the baby has a heartbeat," Adrian concluded as if the matter had been settled. "You should have told me you were going to the hospital."

He heard the word "heartbeat". He completely ignored the word "bleeding".

I looked past him. I looked directly at Claire.

"Take off that robe," I said.

"Oh, this?" Claire whispered. "But my clothes got completely soaked in the rain. I was so cold, Olivia."

Adrian frowned.

"It is just a piece of clothing, Olivia," Adrian said. "Do not humiliate a guest over an old piece of fabric. You are being unreasonable."

"My mother gave me that robe." I stepped around Adrian and held out my hand. "Please change."

Her face fell. "Of course. I didn't know it was special."

Claire disappeared into the guest room and returned in an oversized shirt. Her eyes were bright with tears. Adrian watched her instead of me.

"I am so sorry, Adrian," Claire sobbed quietly. "I did not mean to cause a fight. I should not be here. I will just leave."

She grabbed her designer purse from the table and turned toward the front door.

Thunder shook the windows just as she touched the cold metal lock.

Claire gasped loudly. She froze at the door.

Adrian moved instantly. He grabbed Claire's arm. He pulled her hand away from the metal lock.

"Let me go, Adrian," she whispered. "Olivia doesn’t want me here."

Adrian covered her hands with his.

Then he looked at me, as if my consent was already irrelevant.

"You’re staying here tonight," Adrian told Claire. Then he looked at me. "We can discuss this in the morning."