Chapter Twenty Seven

Kyla

The steady beep of the heart monitor is the only sound in the room when the door swings open again. I don’t need to look up to know who it is. The air shifts, thickens, the way it always does when he’s near.

Jake Donovan.

I steel myself, dragging in a breath, but my pulse betrays me, climbing frantically as his footsteps draw closer.

“Kyla.” His voice is gravel, low and rough, and it makes my name sound like a curse.

I glance at him, and the storm brewing in his eyes steals the strength from my lungs. He doesn’t sit this time, doesn’t try to play calm. He just looms over me, larger than life, all fury and unanswered questions.

“What did you mean?” His jaw is tight, his fists clenching at his sides. “Back in my office, you said children. What the hell did you mean by that?”

My stomach knots. The room feels smaller, suffocating, and every instinct screams at me to run but I can’t. Not this time. I’m trapped, bruised and broken in this bed with nowhere to hide.

I wet my lips, stalling. “Jake”

“Don’t you dare spin me in circles,” he snaps, leaning closer, his voice sharp as broken glass. “I have had hours to think, and it all keeps coming back to the same damn question. Did you leave me carrying my child?”

The words slice through me. For a split second, I forget how to breathe. My hands tremble under the blanket, and I curl them into fists, fighting to steady myself.

If I tell him the truth, everything unravels. If I lie no, if I redirect, maybe I can keep the walls intact.

I force myself to meet his eyes, even though it feels like standing in the middle of a storm without cover. “No, Jake. You have got it all wrong.”

His brows slam together. “Then explain. Because I’m not walking out of here without answers.”

I inhale shakily, my mind scrambling for a lifeline. “I wasn’t talking about our children,” I say finally, my voice trembling just enough to sound believable. “I was talking about yours.”

His head jerks back. Confusion flickers, then disbelief. “Mine?”

“Yes.” I swallow hard, my pulse pounding in my ears. “You moved on. You got the life we used to dream about, the family, the child. Just not with me.”

The silence is suffocating. His eyes narrow, suspicion etched into every line of his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

I let out a humorless laugh, bitter and sharp. “Don’t act like you don’t know. You had a child, Jake. With Amina. My sister. The child we always wanted.”

The words hang between us, heavy, poisonous.

For a moment, he just stares at me, stunned. His lips part like he’s about to argue, then close again, his breath ragged. I can almost see him replaying the past, the memories, the betrayal twisting in his gut.

I keep my face steady even as my insides quake. If I break, if I falter, he’ll see through me.

“That’s what I meant,” I whisper, my eyes stinging. “When I said children. I wasn’t talking about secrets. I was talking about the fact that the man I once loved built a family with my sister.”

His hand rakes through his hair, his chest heaving. “Kyla” He shakes his head like he can’t make sense of it. “You can’t just drop something like that and expect me to”

The door slams open cutting him short

I flinch at the sharp sound, my heart leaping to my throat.

And then she’s there. Amina.

Her presence is like fire licking at dry timber loud, consuming, impossible to ignore. Her heels strike against the linoleum, her face twisted with fury, her voice already raised before she’s even halfway into the room.

“You son of a bitch!” she screams, pointing a trembling finger at Jake. “How dare you?”

Jake stiffens, his head whipping toward her. “Amina please”

“Don’t you dare say my name!” she shrieks, her voice cracking with venom. “You think you can just parade into her hospital room, play the hero, and what? Have her fall back into your arms?”

I freeze, stunned, as she rounds on him, her words sharp enough to cut flesh.

“All these years, Jake, and you still can’t see it, can you? She’s been doing everything in her power to get your attention! Running into your office, playing the victim, saying just enough to keep you hanging on. And you” She laughs bitterly, tears of rage glistening in her eyes. “You still let her.”

My blood runs cold. “Amina”

“Don’t!” she snaps, her glare swinging to me. “Don’t you even try to act innocent, Kyla. You’ve always been like this. Always needing to be the center of attention, always dangling yourself where you don’t belong.”

Her words sting like lashes across my skin. I grip the blanket tighter, my chest aching. “That’s not true and we all know it, if anything you are the one inserting yourself where you don't belong, this is my husband.”

“Isn’t it?” she spits. “You couldn’t stand seeing me with him, could you? You couldn’t stand that he chose me. That he stayed with me when you ran. So now here you are, broken and bruised, hoping he’ll save you. Hoping he’ll love you again.”

Jake’s face hardens, but he doesn’t speak. His eyes flick between us, caught in the crossfire, searching for truth in the chaos.

The air in the room crackles with tension, heavy and dangerous. My pulse pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears.

Amina steps closer, her finger stabbing the air between us. “But let me make one thing clear, sister. You won’t win. Not this time. I won’t let you steal what’s mine.”

Her words hang like a blade above us, and in the silence that follows, the heart monitor beside me beeps louder, faster, matching the frantic rhythm of my pulse.

Jake’s jaw tightens, his eyes narrowing. “Enough.” His voice is low, sharp, and commanding, cutting through the air like a whip.

"Amina, he didn't choose you and deep down you know he never will. You are only here with him because I was not. So you can tell yourself whatever you need to, to sleep at night but deep down you know, to him you will always be a reconciliation prize, now get the hell out of my room."