chapter 002

Nora POV

"Yes, I have a child." I snapped. "And it's none of your—OW!"

Eric had tightened his hold even further on my wrist, and now he was dragging me away from Jennifer and through the back exit of the venue, straight toward the VIP parking lot. His grip on my wrist felt like a handcuff.

"Get me my keys!" He yelled at a valet, who hurried away and returned with an embossed set of keys, and opened the back door of an expensive looking white car.

"What are you doing?" I yelled, but I could have been talking to a brick wall for all the good it did me.

Eric practically shoved me inside in the car. Before I could even slide across the leather seat to escape out the other side, he slammed the door shut, marched around the hood, and climbed in through the other door. He locked the doors with a loud click.

"Who is it?" Eric demanded, turning his entire body toward me. The shadows of the car couldn't hide the fury twisting his features. "Whose kid is that, Nora?"

"Let me out of the car!" I yelled as I grabbed the door handle. "I don't have time for this. I need to get my cash from the manager and leave."

"You disappeared for five years, yet you expect me to let you go like that? You’re not going anywhere until you answer me!" He slammed his hand against the headrest, making me jump. "You vanished into thin air, leaving only a note saying you found someone who could give you the life you deserved. And now I see you waiting tables, covered in booze, with a kid?, Did you get married the second you walked out on me?"Eric said as his lips curling into a slow, mocking smile

The accusation from him cut really deep. He thought I left him because I wanted a luxurious life. He had no idea about his mother's threats to my life, or the crushing debt that had threatened to drown my family.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I muttered, looking out the window to hide the tears gathering in my eyes.

"Like hell you don't. Look at me!" he barked, and I was forced to turn to him. There was pure pain in those eyes. "You owe me an explanation, because you threw away everything we had. I loved you, Nora, and you replaced me so fast. Hell, you practically had a baby milestone ready the moment you left my sight. Was he waiting in the wings the whole time? Was I just a placeholder for another guy? Why did you do this to me?"

His words were like physical blows, hammering away at the fragile wall I had built around my heart. Immediately, tears started to gather in my eyes before spilling over my eyelids. I hated myself for crying in front of him. I raised my hand and quickly wiped at my face with the back of my wet sleeve, trying to maintain a shred of dignity.

I knew that Eric noticed, but it didn't soften him. He only scoffed. "Oh, save the tears. Don't play the victim here. You made your choice, and clearly, it didn't pan out the way you planned if you're now working as a waiter."

My sadness instantly hardened into pure rage. I snapped my head around to face him. "Don't sit there and judge me. You don't know a single thing about my life, Eric. You have no right to speak to me like this. You don't know what I've been through, and you don't know anything about my family!"

"Then tell me!" he shouted back, his dark eyes flashing. "Who is the father?"

I thought of Liam, lying in that hospital bed, innocent and small. My poor baby. If I told Eric anything, his powerful family would try to tear my boy away from me. They would use their money and legal teams to erase me from my own son's life. I had to protect him.

"It has nothing to do with you," I said coldly, staring right into his eyes. "My child has nothing to do with you."

For a split second, a look of profound hurt crossed Eric's face, but it was quickly replaced by a vicious glare.

"Fine. Keep your little secrets. Go back to whatever pathetic life you built. Look at yourself, Nora. You're a mess. You're running around in a soaked uniform, probably rushing off to some cheap motel."

"I am trying to go to the hospital!" I yelled, finally losing my temper. "I don't want to engage with you. Unlock this door right now!"

Eric's eyes narrowed. He didn't even ask who was in the hospital or why. Instead, his jealousy spiraled out of control. He assumed the worst.

"The hospital? Let me guess. You're rushing to meet the child's father," he sneered, leaning back against his seat but keeping his eyes on me. "Is that it? Is he waiting for you? What kind of man lets the mother of his child work late-night catering gigs while he stays in bed? Or did you latch onto a wealthy old man with a higher status than my family, and now he's got you on a tight leash?” his jaw tightened.

He had said too much. Before I could even think, my hand flew across the space between us. A loud, sharp crack echoed inside the car as I slapped him across his cheek.

My breathing was ragged. Eric's head was turned to the side from the force of the slap. I didn't care that we were parked right outside the venue. In fact, when I looked out the window, I realized the noise had drawn attention. Valets and a few wealthy guests smoking cigarettes nearby were staring directly at the car.

But I didn't care what they thought. I reached over and forced the lock on the driver's side console, hit the unlock button, and threw my door open. I stumbled out into the humid New Orleans night air, desperate to get away from him.

But before I could take three steps, the phone in my hand started vibrating violently again. I looked down. It was the hospital's main line.

I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello? Is Liam okay? Is my son okay?"

"Miss Bellick?" a doctor's frantic voice came through the speaker. "You need to get to the pediatric wing immediately. Your son's condition has gotten much worse. His pneumonia has triggered an hemolytic crisis, and his red blood cell count is dropping dangerously fast."

I had no idea what any of that meant, but fresh tears flooded my eyes. I sank to my knees right there on the asphalt of the parking lot, broken.

"What? What does that mean? Please, tell me he's going to be okay." I started to beg. "Please, save my baby. Do whatever you have to do. I’m coming right now, I just... I just need to get a cab—"

"Miss Bellick, listen to me," the doctor interrupted. "We are trying to stabilize him, but he has an extremely rare blood type: O-negative with a rare phenotype variation. Our blood bank is out of it, and the regional donor center won't be able to deliver a match for at least three hours. If we don't find a compatible donor for a direct transfusion within the next forty-five minutes, his organs will begin to fail. You need to get here now and see if you are a match, or find someone who is. If you can't provide a donor in time, then... there is nothing more we can do."

The line went dead. She had ended the call.

"Oh, no!" I gasped for air, paralyzed by terror. Forty-five minutes. My boy had forty-five minutes.

A shadow fell over me. When I looked up, Eric was standing right there. He had followed me out of the car, his cheek still slightly reddened from my slap, but the anger in his face had vanished. It was replaced by a rigid intensity. He had been standing close enough to hear every word from the speaker.

"I heard the blood type," Eric said, his voice becoming dead serious. "O-negative with the rare phenotype. How critical is the situation?"

"He's dying!" I sobbed, forgetting my pride. "The doctor said his organs will fail in forty-five minutes if he doesn't get a transfusion. The hospital doesn't have the blood. I don't know what my blood type is, I don't think I'm a match, and I don't know what to do...!"

Eric reached down, caught me by the elbows, and hauled me to my feet in one swift motion. He looked straight into my panicked eyes.

"Come with me."