CHAPTER 1: The Announcement.

Amelia Carter knew something was wrong the moment the ballroom went silent.Not the ordinary silence that came when a speech was about to begin.This was different.Conversations died one after another, as though an invisible hand had swept across the room.Amelia slowly lowered her champagne glass.She had been standing near the enormous windows of the Vaughn Hotel for almost twenty minutes, pretending she wasn’t checking the entrance every few seconds.Her husband was late.Again,she shouldn’t have been surprised.

Damian Vaughn had been late to their wedding.Late to their first anniversary dinner.Late to her father’s funeral,And tonight, on the evening of the Vaughn Foundation’s biggest charity gala of the year, she had once again arrived alone.Five years of marriage had taught Amelia not to expect much from her husband.Still, a small part of her had hoped tonight would be different.She hated herself for that hope.

“Mrs. Vaughn?”Amelia turned,A middle-aged woman stood behind her, smiling politely.“Are you waiting for Damian?”Amelia returned the smile.“Yes.”The woman glanced toward the entrance.

“He certainly knows how to keep his wife waiting.”There was something pointed about the way she said it.Amelia ignored it.  “He’s probably been held up at the office.”The woman gave a knowing smile.

“Of course.”She walked away.Amelia’s smile disappeared.She looked down at her champagne,she hadn’t taken a single sip.Around her, people were whispering,she knew what they were saying.Everyone did.Damian Vaughn had never hidden his indifference toward his wife.And Amelia had never given them enough of a reason to stop talking about it.Then,the doors opened and every head in the ballroom turned.   A murmur swept through the crowd.Damian had arrived.Amelia’s heart betrayed her.It always did when she saw him.He was dressed in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo, his dark hair neatly styled, his expression as unreadable as ever.Powerful,composed,untouchable.The man Amelia had spent five years loving.

Her husband.For one brief second, she smiled.Then she noticed the woman beside him.The smile vanished,the woman was beautiful.Not merely beautiful.Striking.She wore an elegant ivory gown and carried herself with the effortless confidence of someone who knew exactly where she belonged.Her hand rested on Damian’s arm.

Amelia stared.Damian didn’t remove it instead,, he leaned slightly toward the woman when she whispered something into his ear.And he smiled,a real smile.Amelia had seen Damian smile perhaps a dozen times in five years.She had never been the reason for one.Her fingers tightened around the glass.“Who is that?”

“I don’t know.”

“She came in with Damian.”

“Look at the way he’s holding her.”The whispers grew louder.Amelia couldn’t hear them anymore.Her entire attention was fixed on Damian,he looked across the ballroom,his eyes found hers immediately.For a moment, neither of them moved.Amelia waited.Surely he would come to her,surely he would explain.Instead, Damian’s expression remained completely calm,he looked away.Something inside Amelia cracked.Then he guided the woman toward the stage.The crowd parted for them.Amelia didn’t move.She couldn’t.A member of Damian’s security team approached the stage and handed him a microphone.Damian turned toward the room.“Thank you all for coming tonight.”His voice was steady,professional .As though this were nothing more than another business announcement.Amelia’s heartbeat became painfully loud.Damian placed his free hand against the woman’s waist.

“This evening,” he continued, “I’d like to introduce someone very important to me.”The woman looked at him.Damian looked at her.Then he said her name.

“Sophia Blake.”A round of applause broke out.

Amelia didn’t clap,she couldn’t.Damian waited for the room to settle.Then his next words changed everything.

“Sophia and I have been together for some time.”Amelia’s breath caught.

   Together?

For some time?Her eyes searched his face.There was no apology,no hesitation,nothing .Damian continued.

“And tonight, I want to make our relationship public.”Someone behind Amelia whispered, “Oh my God.”Then Damian’s hand moved from Sophia’s waist to her stomach.The ballroom erupted,cameras flashed.People gasped.Amelia stared at the hand resting against Sophia.No She couldn’t have heard him correctly,Damian looked directly at her.

And said,“Sophia is carrying my child.”The champagne glass slipped from Amelia’s fingers.It shattered against the marble floor.But she barely heard it.Her husband had just announced another woman’s pregnancy to the world.While Amelia was still wearing his ring.

For five years, she had begged herself to believe that Damian’s coldness didn’t mean he didn’t love her.Now she finally understood.It wasn’t that he couldn’t love her.He simply chose not to.Someone touched Amelia’s arm.“Mrs. Vaughn…”She pulled away.

Her eyes remained on Damian.He was still watching her.And for the first time in five years, Amelia saw something in his eyes.Not guilt,not regret,warning .Then her phone vibrated inside her clutch,once,twice,she ignored it.It vibrated again.With trembling fingers, Amelia pulled it out.A message from her doctor appeared on the screen.

AMELIA, PLEASE CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU SEE THIS. YOUR TEST RESULTS ARE IN.

Her heart stopped,she stared at the message.Then slowly looked back at Damian.At Sophia,at the hand resting on Sophia’s stomach.And finally down at her own.

She had been feeling strangely sick for weeks.

She had thought it was stress,she had thought.

No.

Her fingers trembled as she opened the attached result,her eyes moved across the screen.Once,twice.Then everything around her seemed to disappear.Positive.Amelia’s hand flew instinctively to her stomach.She was pregnant.

And Damian had just announced another woman’s pregnancy to the entire world.

He didn’t know he was about to become a father twice.