Chapter 5

Elara said, "Too bad. I'm not interested in taking you back. Soren is the twins' father now. Although… if you're willing to get down on your knees and apologize to us, maybe I'll let the kids call you Dad. One of them is yours, after all."

I stared at her. Had she always been this full of herself?

"Don't flatter yourself. I wasn't following you. We happened to run into each other. I'm in a hurry, so if you don't mind, get out of my way."

I stepped around them, but Soren moved in front of me before I could leave. "A hurry? Surely you're not meeting someone? I saw you the other morning when I was picking up breakfast for Elara. You came out of your hotel with some woman. The two of you looked pretty cozy..."

He deliberately left the rest unsaid. How typical of Soren. He'd give Elara just enough to work with, then let her imagination do the rest.

Soren hadn't offered a shred of proof, but Elara believed him anyway. Her face changed instantly.

"So that's why you've been ignoring me. That's why you were suddenly so desperate for a divorce. You've been seeing someone else this whole time! How could you do this to me? To your own child?"

Before I could answer, she started hitting me, shouting over anything I tried to say.

Then my phone rang. It was the immigration office calling.

I had barely answered when Elara snatched the phone out of my hand.

"So you're the woman he's been sleeping with?" she snapped into the phone. "Calling him in broad daylight now? Have you no shame?"

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line.

"Ma'am, I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm calling from the immigration office regarding Mr. Vane's application.

"He needs to come in and provide an additional document today. Please let him know there's a deadline. If he misses it, we won't be able to process his application in time."

Elara froze. "What immigration?"

The person on the phone sounded even more confused. "You weren't aware? Mr. Vane submitted his application to move abroad ten days ago."

The call ended. Elara turned to me, stunned. "You're leaving the country? And you didn't think to tell me?"

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Since when have you ever believed anything I told you? Now move. I have paperwork to file."

Instead, Elara grabbed my wrist. "No. You're not leaving. You lied to me, Callum. You said I was the only woman you'd ever love. You promised! And now you're just going to leave me behind and disappear?"

That was rich.

"You really want to talk about broken promises? You broke yours first. Now let me go."

Elara didn't let go. If anything, her grip tightened. Then her face suddenly went pale. "My stomach… something's wrong."

A moment later, she started bleeding.

Soren panicked. He shoved me aside, swept Elara into his arms, and headed for the exit. "Elara, stay with me. I'm taking you to the hospital."

But Elara reached for me again, catching hold of my sleeve and refusing to let go. "Callum, you're coming too. If you leave now, I swear I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what happens to me."

I wasn't about to risk a medical emergency just to prove a point. So, against my better judgment, I went with them to the hospital.

Elara was rushed in for treatment at the hospital. The moment she came around, she grabbed the doctor's arm. "My babies… Are they okay? Both of them?"

Soren visibly tensed. "Elara, don't worry about that right now. You're in good hands. I'm sure the babies are fine."

The doctor frowned. "Babies? There's only one fetus."

Elara went completely still. "What? No. That can't be right. I'm carrying twins."