Chapter 4

Tabitha's POV

The tears came instantly, hot and blurring the tiny flickering speck on the monitor until it was nothing but a smear of white light. I couldn't stop them. My hands flew to my mouth, a muffled sob shaking my entire chest as I stared at the screen. It was a miracle, but it was a terrifying one.

The doctor's hand stayed on the ultrasound wand, his face etched with deep professional concern as he looked from the screen back to me. "Mrs. Norwood, please try to take a deep breath. I need you to understand exactly what we are dealing with here. This pregnancy is officially considered extremely high-risk. The trauma from the crash left a pocket of fluid right next to the gestational sac, meaning the baby's attachment is incredibly weak."

"What does that mean for her?" Ava asked, her voice cracking as she reached over to wipe a tear from my cheek.

"It means caution," the doctor explained, turning off the monitor and handing me a piece of tissue to wipe the cold gel from my stomach. "Any elevated heart rate, any spike in your blood pressure, or any severe emotional distress could trigger another wave of bleeding. High levels of stress could literally cause you to lose the baby at any given second. You need to remove yourself from any toxic environments immediately."

I nodded quickly, my hand automatically dropping to my lower stomach, a fierce, desperate protective instinct wrapping around my heart. "I'll do whatever you say. I'll stay in bed. I'll stay calm."

Once the paperwork was processed and the doctor gave me a strict prescription for prenatal vitamins, Ava guided me out of the examination room. We walked down the quiet, carpeted hallway of the clinic, our footsteps muffled.

Ava leaned in close, her eyes searching mine. "Tabby... What are you going to do about Bradley? He deserves to know, doesn't he? It's his kid, too. If he finds out you're carrying his baby, he'll drop all this divorce nonsense in a heartbeat."

I stopped walking, my fingers tightening around the strap of my purse. The memory of Bradley holding Rachelle in that luxury suite flashed behind my eyes, cold and brutal. "No," I whispered, shaking my head slowly. "I'm not telling him."

"Tabitha, are you crazy?" Ava gasped, grabbing my arm. "He's a billionaire, he has the best medical resources in the world, and he wanted a family!"

"He wanted a family with the woman he loved," I said, my voice dropping into a flat, empty tone. "He told me to my face that he never loved me, Ava. He said I was just an obligation. I refuse to use an innocent child to trap a man who has already chosen someone else. If he stays with me just because of a pregnancy, our entire life will be filled with resentment. I won't do that to myself, and I definitely won't do that to my baby."

Ava stared at me for a long moment, seeing the finality in my eyes, before she let out a defeated sigh. "Okay. If that's what you want, I'm behind you."

We took the elevator down to the lobby, but the moment the sliding doors opened, any sense of peace I had vanished. Standing right near the pharmacy counter, looking effortlessly chic in an expensive cream-colored trench coat and oversized sunglasses, was Rachelle.

Since Bradley wasn't anywhere nearby to play the hero for, the sweet, fragile act disappeared instantly. She spotted me, pulled her sunglasses down to the bridge of her nose, and walked straight over, her high heels clicking sharply against the polished tile.

"Well, look who it is," Rachelle sneered, her voice dripping with venom as she stepped right into our path. "Still hanging around the hospital, Tabitha? Let me give you some advice. You need to stop embarrassing yourself and just sign those divorce papers already. Clinging to Bradley isn't going to make him love you."

Ava immediately stepped in front of me, her chest puffed out as she glared at the model. "Shut your mouth, Rachelle. You're a home-wrecking leech who only showed up the second his career hit an all-time high. Step away from us before I make you."

Rachelle didn't even blink at Ava's threat. Instead, a slow, arrogant smirk spread across her perfectly painted lips, and she looked past Ava's shoulder straight at me.

"Oh, think whatever you want, sweetie," Rachelle purred, crossing her arms. "But the reality is already set in stone. Did Bradley mention that he's already planning to announce our relationship publicly the exact second the divorce is finalized? He's already talking to his PR team about it. Everyone in his circle already sees me as the woman who truly belongs beside him anyway. You were just a temporary business arrangement to please a dead man."

The words sting, burning like acid in my veins, but I forced my heart rate to stay steady. I thought about the doctor's warning. Stress could cause you to lose the baby. I couldn't let this woman get under my skin. My baby's life depended on my calm.

I took a slow, deliberate breath, stepping out from behind Ava. I looked Rachelle dead in the eye, keeping my face expressionless.

"You can celebrate all you want, Rachelle," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm and even. "But as of right now, Bradley is still legally my husband. I am still the only Mrs. Norwood. Remember that before you start talking about who belongs where."

Rachelle's smug smile vanished instantly, her eyes narrowing into slits as her face flushed with sudden anger. She opened her mouth to snap back, but the tone of our voices had already drawn attention.

Two heavy-set hospital security guards were already marching over from the front desk, their eyes darting between the three of us. "Is there a problem over here, ladies?" one of them asked, his hand resting near his radio.

I didn't waste another second. I didn't want a scene, and I certainly didn't need the stress. "No problem at all," I told the guard quietly.

Without giving Rachelle another glance, I turned on my heel and walked straight past her, pushing through the sliding glass doors into the cool morning air. Ava followed right behind me, tossing one last glare over her shoulder at my stepsister's favorite icon.

Once we were safely inside Ava's car, the doors shutting out the noise of the city, Ava put her hands on the steering wheel but didn't start the engine. She turned to look at me, her expression serious. "Okay, Tabby. She's a nightmare. What's your actual plan now?"

I looked out the passenger window, watching the pedestrians walk by on the sidewalk. My mind was made up. The hesitation was gone.

"I'm going to accept the divorce," I said, my voice steady, filled with a cold, quiet determination. "I'll take the settlement money he offered. Every single cent of it. I'm going to use his fortune to disappear completely, move to a new city where nobody knows the Norwood name, and raise my baby alone. He wanted his freedom, and I'm going to give it to him. But he loses us in exchange."

Ava looked at me, a mixture of sadness and immense pride on her face. She reached over, squeezing my hand tightly. "Then let's get you out of here."

That evening, the penthouse felt larger and emptier than ever. Bradley's hockey gear was still sitting in the hallway closet, a painful reminder of the life I thought we were building. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my phone for a long time.

My fingers didn't shake as I opened his contact thread. I typed out a short, emotionless message, keeping it transactional.

"I'll sign the papers tomorrow."

I pressed send, turned the phone face down on the nightstand, and closed my eyes, ready to leave this life behind.