eturn. When her phone rang with a call from an unblocked number she recognized as Julian's o

d sleepy, a little lazy, as i

tion. "Adalynn, where the hell are you? Mrs

at a woman with her name had nearly died in this very hospital, and he was still pretending everything was normal.

ed a yawn. "Oh, sorry. I was at Sloane's. We were watching o

nd rooted in past behavior. She h

ll there. "Well, the family dinner is tomorrow night. Mot

ictured her mother-in-law, Eleanor, her thin lips permanently purs

can't, darling. I completely forgot to tell you. Sloane and I are already on our way out to the H

emember. He never paid

The dinner is important, Adalynn. Is a weekend on

at his child had been born two months early because of his betrayal, that she knew about the hospital, knew he had asked the nurses about her a

l he failed to detect. "I thought my primary obligation was to provide you with an heir. Which

idea, she thought. You have no idea that your child is already here, figh

nancy would make him look like a monster. "Fine," he clipped out, unable t

th escaping her lips. Round one was hers. She had

tectively on her bandaged abdomen. The pain was a constant, grou

ed me. Played my part perfectly. Told him to bring you

face since the night she'd watched her husband give away her blessing to anothe

nge sense of being off-balance. For the first time, Adalynn wasn't immediately folding to

e murmured. "She's just throwin

t didn't make it." He wanted to ask Carlene-had she heard it too? Did she think it could be real? But he didn't ask. Because if he ask

the unsettling feeling away. Carlene

e every bite, methodically, turning the food into fuel. The phone call had proven something to her. As long as she rem

to rest, but to strateg