Chapter 3

I ignored the voices and got straight into the car. Jason and Chloe rode with me the whole way, both of them visibly tense, until we reached the hospital.

The doctor checked my fetal heart rate as usual, then handed me my file. "The results will take a while. Why don't you wait outside?"

Jason caught my hand gently. "Miley, the baby can't wait, even if you can. You're not going to abort her just because she's a girl, are you?"

The question caught me off guard. "I never said I'd abort her for being a girl. I just want to know my baby's gender."

The doctor glanced at my stomach, his tone edged with disapproval. "You're six months along. What good does knowing the gender do you now?"

I stayed quiet. I knew exactly what he was thinking—that I was the kind of woman who'd abort a daughter this far along.

"You're already six months pregnant, and you're in such a rush to find out the sex. If it turns out to be a girl, are you planning to terminate? That's against the law this late in a pregnancy!"

I listened to the accusations piling up around me, took a deep breath, and didn't bother arguing. I walked out to the waiting room instead.

Jason hovered beside me, sweating with anxiety, but no matter what he said, I wasn't agreeing to the C-section until I had my results.

A second later, Chloe came rushing toward me, clutching a printout. "Ma'am, we need to transfer you for an emergency C-section right now! This just came off the fetal monitor. The heart rate's dropped to 90—it's crashing! One more minute of delay and the baby could die!"

Jason shot to his feet the moment he heard it. "What are we waiting for? Tell the doctor to prep for surgery immediately!"

I stared at the words printed on the sheet: immediate termination of pregnancy recommended.

Denise showed up out of nowhere too, begging me to get the surgery done. My breathing grew ragged as I sat there, torn.

That was when the girl's soft voice rose up again, 'Mommy, they're lying. That report is fake. It's her son who'll die if he doesn't get cord blood within the hour. She's trying to rush you into that operating room.'

My hands curled into fists.

The family members and nurses gathered around began muttering to each other.

"Her heart rate's dropped that low, and she's still worried about the baby's sex? What kind of mother has a heart that cold?"

"Is finding out the sex really more important than the baby's life? If something happens to that baby, she'll be crying her eyes out and it'll be too late."

"I've never seen a pregnant woman this heartless—six months along and she's treating her own child's life like a joke."

Seeing that I still wouldn't budge, Denise dropped to her knees right there in front of everyone.

"Miley, I'm begging you—please, just get the surgery done. That baby's six months along. That's a living, breathing life we're talking about.

"If I've ever done anything to upset you, hit me, yell at me, I don't care—just don't gamble with that child's life. I'm that baby's grandmother. I can't stand by and watch something happen to the baby. Please, I'm begging you."

The voices around me grew louder, more accusing. I frowned. "Mom, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?" Jason turned to me, his eyes bloodshot. "Miley, my mother is almost seventy years old, and she just got down on her knees in front of everyone for you. All she wants is for you and the baby to come out of this safely. Are you really going to keep pushing her until she breaks?"

Looking down at Denise, sobbing on the floor, I felt a chill spread through my hands and feet. The stares around me felt like they were closing in, ready to swallow me whole.

Still talking, they wheeled me toward another private hospital instead.

"Honey, if you really need to wait for the results, let's just transfer you now. That way, the second the results come in, we can go straight into surgery. No more wasted time."

Worried something might actually happen to the baby, I agreed. But the moment we reached the hospital, they had me strapped to the operating table, and a doctor beside me was already holding up a prepared syringe of anesthetic.

That was when the girl's voice came back, this time cracking with tears. 'Mommy, that's not anesthetic in that syringe—it's a lethal dose of potassium chloride! One shot and I'll be dead within minutes. They were never planning to let me live. All they want is my cord blood.'

I broke free of their grip and snatched the syringe out of the doctor's hand. "What is this? And why does this label look like it's been peeled off and replaced?"

Chloe froze.

Jason rushed forward. "Miley, can you please stop this? Every syringe in this hospital is strictly regulated. Are you really going to cancel the surgery over a label?"

His voice gentled as he looked at me. "Don't be scared. I already arranged for the family to be present during the delivery. I'll be right here with you the whole time."

He reached to push me back down onto the bed. I wrenched free and looked around at all of them, my voice ice-cold.

"I'm the beneficiary of the Sheldon Medical Trust. Any medical procedure performed on me requires my own signed consent. If any of you try to force treatment on me, I have every right to call the police right now."

Jason's face went stark white. "Miley, we've been married for years, and this is you throwing your money and status in my face? I'm this baby's biological father. I have every right to decide whether she gets a C-section too. Just listen to me for once, honey."

With that, everyone closed in and started pulling at me. I fought with everything I had, but it wasn't enough against all of them. Just as they were about to drag me into the operating room, a voice rang out from the stairwell.

"Stop!"

My assistant, Marcus, came rushing in, a folder clutched in his hand. "Ms. Sheldon, we have the results! The baby in your belly is a girl!"