Chapter 2

I sat in the car and watched my mother-in-law recede from view.

I was more confused than ever.

The car soon reached my parents’ neighborhood.

As soon as I got back to Starview Apartments, I called my husband. “What was your mother trying to do? Are you seeing someone else?”

“Have you left?” Quinn Miller interrupted, as if he couldn’t wait for me to finish.

I took a deep breath and held back my anger. “Did I have a choice? Your mother made me hand over my key!”

“Good.” He sounded relieved. “Listen to her. Don’t go back.”

“What do you mean?” I shot to my feet. “Are you cheating on me?”

“No!” His voice grew urgent. “I can’t explain it right now. I’m just glad you left.”

“Are you afraid I’ll cause a scene at the station if you tell me?”

I scoffed. “Was that soup meant for the other woman?”

“No, I… I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back!”

He hung up before I could answer. When I called again, his phone was off.

He did turn his phone off when he was on a case.

I rubbed my belly and swallowed my anger. When my parents came home that evening, I told them everything my mother-in-law and Quinn had done.

Dad slammed his hand on the table. “If he’s willing to throw you out today, he’ll bring another woman home tomorrow!”

“Divorce him,” Mom said firmly. “You have to.”

“Don’t worry. Your mother and I will go to his mother tomorrow and demand an explanation.

“Cheating on you while you’re pregnant? I was wrong about Quinn. He’s a bastard!”

My parents grew angrier as they talked. They looked ready to go confront them that night, so I hurried to stop them. “It’s late. We’ll disturb the neighbors. Let’s go tomorrow.”

They calmed down after I talked to them.

They agreed to demand an explanation for me the next day.

Early the next morning, Mom made me breakfast, then went to see my mother-in-law.

But after I ate, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. I saw the spare key in my bag and decided to go home again.

When I opened the door, I heard rustling in the kitchen.

I picked up the fruit knife from the coffee table and crept toward the sound. My hands shook, and I swallowed hard. Then I saw Quinn, and my fear turned to anger.

“Why did you hang up on me yesterday without an explanation?”

Quinn paused, then gently rubbed my head. “I got called out on a case.”

He held out a bowl of chicken soup. “My mother was so nervous yesterday because you got caught up in a case. It’s been resolved now. You’re safe.”

That eased my mind a little. He couldn’t tell me the details of a case, and I didn’t feel like asking.

If he hung up because of work, I couldn’t really blame him. I took a photo of the chicken soup and sent it to my parents.

I texted: [Dad, Mom, yesterday was a misunderstanding. Quinn made me soup today, so let’s leave it alone.]

I put my phone away after sending the message. Quinn was busy with work, so he left soon afterward.

He had barely stepped outside when my phone began vibrating over and over.

The first thing I saw was a message from Dad: [Run!]

A second later, my mother-in-law called.

Her voice was urgent. “Did you say Quinn made you soup?”

“Yes.”

I had barely answered when she shouted, “I told you to leave yesterday! Why did you go back?”

Before I could make sense of it, the door flew open. My mother-in-law knocked the bowl from my hand.

Soup splashed all over me.

I held back my anger. “This is my home too. My family helped pay for the renovations. Why shouldn’t I come back?”

“Leave.”

She pointed at the door. Her eyes were red. “Go back to your parents’ house!”

“So your family is throwing me out?”

I sat down instead. “Fine, we can get divorced. Tell Quinn to come say it to my face. We’ll discuss how to divide everything, and he can answer for cheating on me.”

“Ayla.”

My parents’ anxious voices came from outside. It sounded as though they had rushed over.

The moment I saw them, I felt my hurt rise to the surface. “Mom, Dad, Quinn cheated on me. I helped pay for this place, and they still want to throw me out!”

I waited for them to stand up for me, but they grabbed my hands and pulled me toward the door. “Come home with us. Hurry!”

“This is my home!” I stared at them in confusion. “Why should I leave?”

Mom’s voice faltered. “Just come with us. They’re trying to protect you.”

“That’s not what you said yesterday!” I went rigid as I looked at them.

I remembered exactly how determined they had been to stand up for me the day before.

Just yesterday, they promised to demand an explanation for me. Why had they changed their minds?

Tears filled my eyes. “Even you are taking his side!

“Quinn cheated on me, and all of you are trying to silence me and protect him!”

Then my mother-in-law’s phone rang.

She answered it, and her expression changed at once. “All right. I’m coming right now!”

Her face went pale, and she rushed toward the door.

I blocked her way.

She hesitated, then said, “Quinn was hurt on a case. He’s in the hospital!”

My head buzzed. I followed her to the hospital on unsteady legs.

The doctor said Quinn had been stabbed near the heart.

The attacker had meant to kill him, but his team leader found something strange: Quinn showed no sign of struggling or fighting back.

It was as though someone stabbed him while his guard was completely down.

It seemed more likely that the attacker was someone he trusted, but every teammate nearby had an alibi.

At last, the light above the operating room went out, and they wheeled Quinn into the hall.

I hurried over. The doctor removed his mask. “We’ve saved his life, but he’s still unconscious. He’ll probably wake up in about a week.”

Relief washed over me.

I turned to his team leader and asked quietly,

“What case was Quinn working on? Did it have something to do with me?”

He looked uncomfortable. “It did. But, Ayla, the case is still open. We can’t share the details.”

“Please believe me, though. Quinn would never hurt you, and he would never cheat on you. More than anyone, he wants you and your baby to be safe.”

His words left me bewildered. If Quinn hadn’t cheated, why had everyone been so desperate to get me out of the house?

For the next two days, I barely left Quinn’s bedside. He kept a photo of me close to his heart and carried it whenever he went out on a case.

Mom and Dad took turns urging me to go home, but I refused.

Finally, my mother-in-law came to speak to me. “Quinn will wake up. When he does, he won’t want to see you or the baby come to harm.”

My due date was getting close, so I finally agreed to go home and rest.

I spent two days at my parents’ place, but I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened. When I saw the spare key in my hand, I wanted to go back to our home again.

Quinn would need a change of clothes. I would collect some and leave without staying long.

I went back to the house I shared with Quinn. The moment I opened the door, I froze and began to tremble.

The kitchen light was on. I heard the pressure cooker hissing as it cooked chicken.

I gripped the doorframe.

My fingertips went numb as I edged toward the kitchen. The tiles were cold beneath my feet, but I felt as though I were walking on cotton. My knees wouldn’t stop trembling.

Someone stood in the kitchen with his back to me. My parents couldn’t be here, and my mother-in-law was at the hospital. That left only one person—Quinn.

He turned around, and I went rigid.

But wasn’t he supposed to be hospitalized?