blinding fluorescent lights of the clinic ceiling. The sterile smell of

was

athing. The flat plane of her abdomen met her palm, still there, still intact. She pressed ha

ain radiated from her lower back and deep within her abdomen, a horrific reminder of the fall. But beneath t

. We're bot

he city lights outside. He was holding a medical chart in his hand, his knuckles white against the clipboard. He must have been speakin

ope. Just a dull, distant recognition that the secret she had guarde

His jaw was clenched so tight the muscles jumped beneath his skin. He tossed the

did not check her injuries. Instead,

voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Staging a dramatic sui

ne dry. She forced out

pushe

the windowsill. The loud smack made

tion instantly. "You are a pathological liar. Brenda

ked the bedroom door and pocketed Julieta's phone. Her testimony would be seamless, rehearsed, unshakeable. And Denver wou

t a tear of surrender. It was a tear of pure, bone-deep exhaustion. She was trapped in a room with a man who h

is tall frame casting a dark, oppre

ropping to a freezing register. "Tel

hit her li

space between heartbeats, th

dark bedroom, the too much whiske

o sleep the moment it was over. She had slipped out of his bed before dawn, retreating to her own

mory of what they had done. She had never corrected him. She had been too proud, or t

It was about the pregnancy. It was about the wife who had not only tried to kill his mistress but had

fter the gala. You don't remember, but it happened. I have been carrying your child for weeks, and

would be

in perfect detail, he would say she was delusional. She had spent three years trying

e who would never love her back. If he knew the child was his, he would use it to control her. He would us

as an admission, as far as he was concerned. She was not denying it. She was not naming a father

h disgust. He let out a short, bitter laugh. "Three years of

d mattering the moment he chose Aisha over her. It had stopped mattering the mom

ere, at this private facility. And after he deals with the bastard, the doctor can check your spine to make sure

, his eyes devoi

er man's bastard ruin th

l instinct flared in sheer, unadulterated panic. Her

There was no mercy, only cold calculation. He was not asking. He was not

ith a look of deadened, hollow submission. She let her eyes go blank, let h

gning complete agreeme

only if you grant me the divorce right now, and you leave this

capitulation, his brow furrowing for a second. But the d

s expression resol

, his eyes locked onto hers. "They will be delivered to you first thing tomorrow morning

alked out of the room, leav

shaky breath. Her eyes darted wildly around the sterile

nothing. Fine. She would walk aw

er aching body, the doo

and a blue surgical mask, stepped into the

behind him with a h

monitor, the machine beeping rapidly as t