two agonizing seconds. His jaw tightened,

denly doubled over, her hands clut

nstantly shifting from suspicion to panic. He crouched down, his hands hove

No, it's just a cramp. The baby is kick

like a second, freezing layer. She watched as Danial guided Daria to a plush sofa right across the lobby, jus

they were filled with wet cement. The adrenaline crash, combined with her failing heart, left her w

a sweet, sticky purr. "I'm so tired, Danial. I just want th

en care of it. I had the lawyers set up an irrevocable trust fund in the

ng he had never even offered for their unborn daughter, Lily. He had never once spoken of trust funds or futures for the baby the

dre? I hate feeling like this, Danial. I hate that our child w

any warmth. "Deidre is just a placeholder. A decoration to keep the Wall Street board happy. She's a Guthrie,

at. She pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her breaking heart. It wasn't just emotio

etter than you are to her. I still remember two years ago, when she had that ectopic pregnancy. It wa

that up. It was an unfortunate accident. I do

th. An accident. The loss of their daughter was just an annoying blip in his day, a mo

he screen, and his expression turned to stone. "It's

her lips against his, kissing him deeply, right there in the pu

h, biting back a dry heave. She watched her husband kiss another woma

tonight," Danial said, pullin

" Daria w

omi

f the lobby without a backward glance. The glass doo

vanished. Her face smoothed into a mask of cold arrogance. S

receiver, her voice sharp and commandin

en Daria all along. She had sent the photo to lure Dei

ard appeared from the hallway, escorting her toward the VIP e

l, collapsing onto the cold marble floor. Her

anitor with a mop paused,

ll, pulling herself upright. She didn't feel the cold of the fl

was a dark, churning mass of grey, and fat snowflakes were plummeting to

epped out into the storm, letting the freezing snow hit her face,

decoration. I'l

orm. She replayed the image of Danial kissing Da

dle. Freezing, dirty water soaked the hem of her coat, but she didn't f

life was growing. A life she was supposed to terminate. A life she was suppose

ped at a crosswalk, the wind whipping her hair around her face. She pulled her ph

atal yoga classes. Baby name ideas. Months of desperate, ho

all. Every single entr

it de

shoved the phone back into her bag. She looked up into the sto