Chapter 2

I was so close to breaking that my own voice barely sounded human.

Leo started crying at the noise.

Ethan’s expression hardened. Diane was shaking with anger.

She pointed at me.

“My son is wasting the rest of his life on someone like you.

“All I ever wanted was a grandson. If you hadn’t given birth to a weak, sickly girl who’s been nothing but a drain on this family, I’d have had one years ago.”

From the day Lily was born, Diane had blamed me for everything.

According to her, our daughter’s illness was my fault.

My genes.

My body.

My failure to produce the healthy boy she believed the Hale family deserved.

After another round of insults, she stormed out.

Ethan stayed a moment longer, still soothing Leo, and the look he gave me was hard to read.

Then the room finally went quiet.

Nurse Bishop came in later to start an IV.

I stared at the ceiling until I found enough strength to speak.

“Do you know where my daughter is?”

She paused.

“I want to see her.”

Her face changed.

“Ms. Morgan... I thought you knew.”

My stomach twisted.

“Knew what?”

"Your daughter’s remains were donated to our hospital. Her father has signed the paperwork on file.”

“Her body is being held in our anatomical‑specimen lab."

I didn’t understand the sentence.

“What specimen collection?”

I pushed myself upright.

“Where is Lily?”

She tried to stop me.

“You just had surgery. You can’t put weight on that leg.

“Your husband signed the authorization. It’s a contribution to medical science. Please, just breathe.”

I ignored her.

The moment my feet touched the floor, pain exploded through me.

My surgical wounds tore enough that blood seeped through the dressings.

She grabbed my arm.

“Please, Ms. Morgan.”

I clung to her instead.

“Take me to my daughter. I never agreed to donate her body.

“She was one month old. What gives this hospital the right to take her for research?”

Maybe it was the way I looked.

Maybe she felt sorry for me.

Eventually, Nurse Bishop took me downstairs.

I saw Lily immediately.

She was behind glass, suspended in formalin, her skin dark and bruised.

For a few seconds, my mind refused to accept that the tiny body in front of me was the baby I had carried for nine months.

I placed my fingertips against the glass.

She would never open her eyes again.

I started pounding on the case.

“This is illegal. You had no right. I never consented to this.”

Nurse Bishop tried to hold me back and couldn’t.

Security came when the noise drew attention.

They pulled me away while I screamed that the hospital had taken my child without my permission.

She looked sick with sympathy.

Then she showed me the paperwork.

There was Ethan’s signature.

His name.

His authorization.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said quietly.

I stared at the signature until something hot and metallic rose in my throat.

Eventually, I got myself up off the floor and stumbled back into the corridor.

That was when I saw Ethan.

Rebecca stood beside him, playing with Leo while Ethan held the boy.

To anyone passing by, they looked like a family.

I crossed the hall as fast as my injured legs allowed and grabbed Ethan’s collar.

“Why?”

My voice echoed through the hallway.

“Why would you do this to Lily? She was your daughter. I carried her for nine months. I nearly died bringing her into the world.”

People stopped to stare.

Ethan’s face darkened.

He tightened his hold on Leo and knocked my hand away.

“What is wrong with you? You’re injured. You should be in bed instead of making a scene in front of me.

“I already told you I’d find another treatment for Lily. The hospitals overseas are better. I’m not going to let our daughter suffer.”