te Jenn

e' s grim-faced driver. I stared out at the glittering lights of New York, but saw nothing. My mind was a chaotic storm of betraya

e city skyline a dramatic backdrop to his distress. He had shed his jacket and ti

ed in, his eyes search

oor-to-ceiling windows and stared down at t

ice he used to close billion-dollar deals and charm skeptical investors

ice flat. "Don' t you dare tal

ttie! It' s everythin

holding you up when you were ready to quit. I was the one who believed in you when your own family called y

ward me. "Harper is... she' s fragile. She has no on

carrying your child? Or does our baby not matter

avy and poisonous. He flinche

before me, taking my hands in his. His touch felt alien, wrong. I didn' t pull away, my bo

the man I loved kneeling at my feet, an

inalized, everything will go back to normal. We' ll expose the truth, I promise. I' ll tell the world that you are

son in secret, only to "adopt" him later, all to protect his public image and his company' s stock price.

ed, pulling my hands from hi

ther is already on board. Your parents, too. They all agree thi

en me as an accessory to her son' s success. And my adoptive parents, the Jennings, who had taken me in as a child but never truly loved me, were soc

ling. "You discussed the fate of my chil

nage the cri

voice cracked on the last word. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, a

rustration boiling over. "I am protecting h

down my face. "He needs a father who will acknowledge him! A fa

e finally breaking. He looked cornered, desp

en he was trying to distance himself, to turn

I said, the words

solutely not. A divorce right now is out

your disaster, Gabe.

on painful. "You are not divorcing me. You are not leaving this apart

in my own home. His home. He had the money,

ve sound that made us both jump. Ga

n overnight bag at her feet. Behind her stood Gabe' s mother, Eleanor, her face a mask of c

rrived. And the

ord to him, her icy gaze landing on

y hands. It was a business transaction