acid. Email after email, spreadsheet after spreadsheet-all documenting Jes

e me. Her fingers dug into my shoulder as we scrolled t

ed. Meeting at the usual place ton

e weeks before I c

med the laptop shut, unabl

like copper in my mouth. "My marriage was just.

Samantha

ng room in frantic strides. "All this time I thought it was about sex

Five years of marriage had meant nothing-not to Jessica, not to Michael who fell for he

th this information?" Samant

stared out the window. Rain had started falling,

ming-hazily, distantly. "I need levera

ia, these people destroye

the press. Gold-digger. Unstable. A frigid wife who drove her husband to cheat." I pressed my fingertips aga

worried about you. When was the last time y

concern away

You're running o

ned away from the window. A wave of dizziness washe

ri

ame out slurred. Black spots danced at

rushed up

-

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt glued shut. A medicina

p." Samantha's

iling. Fluorescent lights. I blinked until the room came into focus-ste

oice sounded like I'd

utton to call the nurse. "You've

elt leaden. An IV tube snaked from my arm to

ies, kind eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses

re? What's w

cal exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition... You

me an I-told

st regular meal?"

gether since finding Michael and Jessica

We ran routine blood work when you were admitted." He pause

d spinning. "Tha

weeks, according

ll apart. The last round of fertility

ars," I whispered. "

smiled gently. "I'll have an OB come by to discuss the next steps. I

scended like a weight.

.. bre

g my breath. When I finally ex

still-flat stomach. "The Waltons have been des

voice turned fierce. "Not

nted all along. The missing piece in their dynastic puzz

verything," Sam

w I was carrying their heir, they'd never let me go. Elizabeth would sink her talons in so deep

to reconcile. The man who'd betrayed me with my sister w

decision crystallizing with su

and. "What about Micha

family drag my name through the mud?" My voice hardened

oom, footsteps approac

t the reception desk. Ask her to make sure no visit

the Walto

this hospital. All it takes is one loose-lipped nurse mentioning my

pressed my head back against the pillow, my mind

d hopes, and invasive procedures, a baby had fo

mach again. "It's just yo

r behind her. "Done. I told them you're recoveri

o a sitting position, ignoring th

you doing? You

ped faster as my heart rate increased. "This hosp

onable. You ju

" I swung my legs over the side of the bed. "I need to d

in her eyes. "You're not just talkin

king about leaving everything. Ne

sane! You

e slid out. "The Waltons have taken everything from me-my mar

I swayed on my feet. "This is

d, mapping possibilities. "Somewhere they'

he divorce isn't fi

my clothes from the chair where they'd been folded. "About t

jeans, her expression torn between

o this? Disapp

at I was considering hit me fully-leaving behind everything

d, voice breaking. "But I ha

dressing, my body protesting the su

d firmly. "I'm helping. And first order of business, you'r

relief and exhaustion

the room's small mirror-pale face, dark circles under my eyes,

he hallway. "Dr. Reeves and the nurse who

hy

e medical records can be altered

ed in her eyes. "C

This baby is mine. Not the Waltons'. Not Michael's. Mine.

e decision was made. "Le

hrouded in uncertainty but cradled in determination. The Walton dy