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Chapter2
Ethan’s taut anger eased, and he suddenly looked at me pleadingly‘.
“Vivian, please. Let me hold him, will you? He’s must want his dad for crying like that‘.”
A sharp ache warmed my chest.
I hesitated, then reluctantly handed over the swaddled bundle. Before the baby reached his arms, Sloane, who had been hiding behind Ethan, clutched her belly and screamed.
“It hurts–my stomach…”
Ethan’s face went white. He spun around and gathered her into his arms, frantic.
“Your baby’s still unstable. I told you to rest at home and you insisted on coming-
Sloane’s brow pinched as she leaned against his chest; her face was deathly pale. Then, without warning, she dropped to her knees before me.
“Mrs. Sterling, I’m so sorry. I acted on impulse. I hurt myself and the baby. I kept Mr. Sterling from getting here for the delivery. It’s my fault‘ ”
Her voice broke; she sobbed in a way that felt almost practiced. Tears fell onto the polished floor. Ethan’s fists tightened until his knuckles whitened.
“Vivian,” he said softly, “this isn’t her fault. She’s pregnant–of course she’s unsettled.”
The baby’s cries pierced the room, raw and desperate, but Ethan’s pity was aimed entirely at Sloane. A coldness seeped through me, as if the blood in my veins had been chilled.
When he found out I was pregnant again, Ethan held me and wept with stunned joy–saying, through his tears, that finally we would have a family. We had both been orphans and longed for a proper home. And yet now, while the child he had so wanted screamed for breath, he didn’t even
look our way‘‘.
Seeing my silence, Derek Lane stepped forward, as though to fill the breach.
“Mrs. Sterling–if I may–Miss Quinn is blameless. She’s a pure girl. She took a risk to save Mr. Sterling from a poisoned needle. If our people hadn’t arrived when they did, who knows what would have happened to her.”
He swallowed his respect and continued, loud enough for the room to hear. “We all saw how she
Chapter2
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saved him. We call you ‘Mrs., ‘ but you and Mr. Sterling aren’t legally married. The title of ‘Mrs.
Sterling‘ isn’t yours alone.”
“Shut up!” Ethan snapped, cutting him off.
“Vivian Hart is my wife. Don’t say that again‘.” His voice hardened to steel. “As for Sloane -I’ll protect her and her child for life.”
He pulled Sloane into his arms with an almost fussy tenderness, his face soft with indulgence. The sight felt like someone thrusting my heart into an open flame; pain shot through my limbs.
Others might not have known the full story, but Ethan did. He had run with dangerous circles for
years; the reason they hadn’t registered their marriage was to shield me. Still, I had not been spared the carnage.
Five years earlier, when I was carrying our first child, Ethan had been kidnapped–nearly killed—
by his enemies.
I had stormed into the den alone, a pregnant woman moving into a nest of vipers, trading my
life for
his. By the time his men arrived, I had been tortured to the brink of death; blood soaked my lower clothes and the child I carried was gone.
Ethan had placed a memorial marker for that unborn baby and, with red–rimmed eyes, vowed to cut ties with the underworld. He dismantled his gray enterprises and spent five years clawing his way into Northbridge City high society.
Everyone said I was lucky; they didn’t see the blood and tears behind that façade.
I parted my lips to speak and only a hollow, bitter smile escaped me.
Sloane seemed startled by that smile. Tears broke free and cascaded down her cheeks.
“Derek, please, don‘ t say any more. I don‘ t deserve this, for me or my baby. I’ll go right now. I’ll
leave him and disappear from Mr. Sterling‘ s life‘‘”‘”
She ran from the room in a tangle of sobs.
Ethan bolted after her and swept her up without regard for anything else, pressing his lips to her
tear–slick cheek.
“Don’t be ridiculous. The child in your belly is mine, too. Whether it stays or not is my decision.”
He turned then, his gaze sharp with reproach.
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“Vivian, calm down. Don’t make this a stunt.”
The ward felt suddenly vast and empty.
