Chapter 1

During the seven years of her marriage, Claire Bennett secretly had a child.

Her daughter was five now.

And her husband still had no idea.

Claire had never given Adrian Sterling the chance to be a father.

During a break on her night shift, Claire listened to the soft, sweet little voice message from the daughter she was quietly raising in a neighboring state.

"Mommy, why haven’t I ever met Daddy? Is he dead?"

Claire actually gave that some serious thought.

No.

But close enough.

Lately, little Ellie Hart had started having thoughts of her own. New questions had begun filling that small, clever head of hers.

For one thing, she had never met her biological father.

And day by day, her curiosity kept growing.

So much so that Claire had started seriously wondering whether she should tell Adrian the truth, that they had a five year old daughter, and that he could skip the hardest years of parenting and become a father without lifting a finger.

After exiting Ellie’s chat window, Claire checked the time.

It looked like she and Adrian only had three months left...

After carefully thinking over her wording, Claire typed a line into the nearly empty text thread she shared with her husband, Adrian.

If we had a child, would you...

She had not even sent it yet.

The door flew open.

A young nurse rushed in and called out, "Claire, we’ve got an ER patient. Suspected early pregnancy complication after overly vigorous activity. Possible corpus luteum rupture."

Claire immediately locked her screen.

She got to her feet and strode out with the nurse, her brows knitting together. "That’s reckless. You can’t be having sex in early pregnancy. Seriously, could they not hold off for a while..."

But the moment the nurse pulled back the curtain around the hospital bed and Claire saw the woman lying there, the rest of her words died in her throat.

After a two second pause, she called the woman’s name in surprise.

"Sienna Cole?"

It was actually her husband’s cousin’s fiancée.

When Sienna saw Claire, she seemed to pause for a moment too, though she gave no response.

Claire instinctively looked her over.

Sienna was engaged to Adrian’s cousin.

But her fiancé had been sent to prison five months ago over issues with company accounts. He had been sentenced to a year and a half.

Sienna’s stomach was still flat. If she really was pregnant, she could not have been far along.

So where had this mistimed baby come from?

Still, Claire had never been the type to pry into other people’s private lives. She pulled on a pair of medical gloves with practiced ease.

"Lie back down. I’m going to examine you first."

But Sienna suddenly sat up, visibly displeased by Claire’s presence.

"No. I’m transferring."

The young nurse immediately turned to Claire with an anxious look.

Claire kept her tone calm. "If you don’t want this turning into something more serious, lie down. I can at least do a basic exam."

Sienna frowned. She had never liked Claire’s composed, aloof manner.

Claire did not waste time. She was a doctor. She could not delay treatment just because a patient was being difficult. She bent down and reached for the hem of Sienna’s shirt.

Sienna let out a cold laugh and slapped her hand away.

The crack rang through the room.

Hard.

It hurt.

Claire lowered her eyes. The back of her hand was already red.

Before she could react, Sienna suddenly softened her voice and called toward the doorway behind her.

"Adrian..."

At that familiar name, Claire forgot the sting in her hand and turned to look.

The man stepped in with calm, unhurried confidence. His overcoat hung over one arm. He was tall, polished, impossible to overlook. As he walked over, his gaze shifted slightly and met Claire’s.

Only for a second.

Then he looked away and kept walking.

Like she was a stranger.

He passed right by Claire and stopped on the other side of the bed.

His deep voice carried the faintest trace of concern.

"How is she?"

Claire truly had not expected this.

The family member who had shown up for Sienna was her husband, the man she had been secretly married to for seven years.

For a split second, as she watched Adrian standing there with all his attention on Sienna, only one thought crossed her mind.

Had he seen Sienna slap her just now?

And the moment Adrian turned his attention to her, Sienna darted a subtle glance at Claire’s stiff, silent figure.

Then she tipped her face up toward the man beside her, her voice softening into the kind of sweet, spoiled tone only lovers used.

"You know why I came to the hospital. My stomach was hurting."

That one sentence was enough.

Everyone around them understood instantly.

Was she not practically admitting that the man involved in the so called rough sex was the one standing right there?

Adrian did not deny it.

He did not explain it either.

Claire stared at the scene in front of her.

For a moment, she forgot how to react.

All she could do was watch as her husband showed that kind of care and indulgence toward his cousin’s fiancée.

Adrian had always been hard to read, but women noticed things. How could she not feel how wrong this was?

Especially when Sienna had come into the ER for something so humiliating, and Adrian clearly knew exactly why.

Only now did Claire feel the cold spreading through her body.

All this time, she had told herself Adrian was simply cold by nature. That it was not that he could not love someone.

Now she understood.

It was not that he could not love.

It was that the person he loved had never been her.

And given the situation, given who they all were to each other, the whole thing was so absurd it was almost laughable.

Anyone with eyes could guess who Sienna had been with tonight.

When Claire remained frozen in place, Adrian’s gaze finally landed on her.

That look jolted her back to herself like a poisoned needle.

The gloved hand she had been about to use for the exam trembled almost imperceptibly.

It was as if the venom from Sienna’s slap had only just hit her bloodstream, leaving her lightheaded and breathless.

Did she really need to humiliate herself further by asking for confirmation when the answer was already this obvious?

Sienna had clearly noticed the way Adrian treated Claire like a complete stranger. A faint smile tugged at her lips.

"Adrian, I want to transfer. Take me to a better hospital. Somewhere more reputable."

"Okay," Adrian said without hesitation, as though he would agree to anything she asked.

There was an intimacy between them that left no room for anyone else.

And from the perspective of a wife who had loved this man for years, Claire felt it all too clearly.

It was blinding.

It was tearing her apart, inch by inch.

And that line about a better hospital was nothing more than a pointed insult. Sienna was making it perfectly clear that she did not think Claire was qualified to treat her.

Adrian handled the transfer quickly and efficiently.

From start to finish, he did not say one extra word to Claire.

Not one.

And certainly not a trace of shame.

Even after the two of them left the exam room, Claire still could not shake off what had just happened.

Around her, though, the coworkers who had witnessed everything were already buzzing.

"Oh my God. Young people these days are wild."

The young nurse looked downright dreamy. "Still, that guy is seriously gorgeous. The kind that makes your legs go weak. And honestly, he really does look like he’d be incredible in bed."

Claire lowered her head and slowly peeled off her medical gloves, too distracted to even hide it.

"Does he?"

The nurse missed the edge in her tone. Then she seemed to remember something and leaned in, lowering her voice.

"By the way, Claire, haven’t you been married for years too? How’s your husband? Do you guys have kids?"

Claire dropped the gloves into the trash.

"My husband has erectile dysfunction. He’s still getting treatment."