Chapter 2

“I want Mommy and Daddy to be together!”

Kiki wrapped her arms around Bruce’s leg, her sweet little voice melting his heart.

Whatever hesitation he had felt vanished completely.

He scooped Kiki up with one arm and slipped the other around Xena’s shoulders.

“Xena, you’re too kind. Once we’re back home, I’ll announce who you and Kiki really are at her birthday party.”

Xena leaned against him, a flash of satisfaction passing through her eyes.

But when she spoke, her voice was full of concern.

“What about the baby Lottie’s carrying?”

Bruce’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

“She loves me too much to tolerate carrying another man’s kid. That bastard child is probably already in a hospital trash can.”

He was certain Charlotte would never be able to live with the humiliation.

And even more certain she wouldn’t have the nerve to keep another man’s baby.

*

When Charlotte woke up, she was in the ICU.

Her first instinct was to look down at her stomach.

The moment she saw that it was still round and swollen, relief washed over her.

Her baby was still there.

Two young nurses walked into the room, unable to hide the admiration in their voices.

“Dr. Jenkins is incredible. The patient in Bed Two was in such bad shape, and he still managed to save both her and the baby.”

“That’s Dr. Jenkins for you. He’s one of the biggest names in medicine. I’m telling you, the patient in Bed Two got incredibly lucky.”

“Shh. Dr. Jenkins is here for rounds.”

Their whispers stopped immediately.

Zac walked into the room with several older doctors behind him.

His presence alone seemed to command the entire room. Without anyone saying a word, the others instinctively fell in behind him.

Charlotte was still hooked up to several monitors. Even the slightest movement sent a dull ache through her chest.

She looked up and unexpectedly met Zac’s cool, unreadable gaze.

She blinked at him, looking a little lost and helpless.

Zac studied her for a moment before turning slightly toward the group behind him.

“She just woke up after surgery and needs to rest. Everyone out.”

No one questioned him.

The group that had entered together obediently filed back out, closing the door behind them.

“All right. What is it?”

Zac tugged lightly at his collar, his tone as cool as ever.

Charlotte’s throat hurt too much to speak.

She picked up her phone from the nightstand, typed out a message, and held it up for him to see.

“Dr. Jenkins, please help me deliver this baby safely.”

“Are you trying to hire me personally?”

Even with his mask covering most of his face, Charlotte could hear the faint mockery in his voice.

She hurriedly typed another message.

“No! I’m begging you. Please help me keep this baby safe until I can deliver. I’ll do anything if you can save my baby.”

“You don’t need to beg me. Keeping my patients safe is my job.”

Zac’s sharp gaze settled on her.

“Of course, that assumes the medical bills get paid.”

Charlotte’s cheeks flushed.

He had seen right through her.

She really didn’t have any money.

Bruce was rich, but he never spent any of it on her.

Whenever she asked him for money, Bruce always gave her the same answer.

“Everything you need is already paid for. What do you need money for?”

And knowing Bruce, if she asked for a divorce now, he’d probably try to make sure she walked away with nothing.

Charlotte couldn’t accept that.

Why should she?

For three years, she had put her education and career on hold to take care of Bruce and their home.

Why should she be the one left with nothing after everything she had sacrificed?

If their marriage was over, then she was going to fight for everything she was entitled to.

“I’ll pay the medical bills.”

Her voice was hoarse, but there was a stubborn determination in her eyes.

Zac studied her for a moment.

She looked fragile lying there in the hospital bed, but there was nothing fragile about the look in her eyes.

His gaze darkened slightly.

For some reason, she reminded him of the woman who had stumbled into his room seven months ago, the night he had been drugged.

It had been her first time.

She had trembled from the pain when they slept together, but she had gritted her teeth and never made a sound.

He’d had people look for her afterward, but it was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth.

Seven months later, he still hadn’t found her.

Zac tugged absently at his collar.

Then he reached over and took Charlotte’s phone from her.

When he handed it back, he had added a new number to her contacts.

His.

“I’m very busy.”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up.

“Thank you, Dr. Jenkins!”

Once Charlotte was alone in the hospital room, her expression turned cold.

Growing up, whenever she did something wrong, her parents would throw her out of the house. Years of that had taken a toll on her health, and doctors had long warned her that she might never be able to carry a pregnancy to term.

Bruce had known that.

That was why he had been so confident in his plan.

He could humiliate her by arranging for another man to sleep with her without ever having to deal with the possibility of her actually giving birth to someone else’s child.

Even if he didn’t love her, a man like Bruce would never tolerate his wife having another man’s baby.

He thought he had everything under control.

Well, if Bruce had gone so far as to arrange for her to sleep with another man, she hoped he’d still be smiling when that man’s baby was born.

Charlotte spent two days in the ICU before being transferred to a regular room on the third day.

She had only just started getting out of bed and walking around when her phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID read “Xena”.

Charlotte took a deep breath before answering.

“Lottie, I’ve sent you so many messages. Why haven’t you answered me?”

Xena’s gentle voice came through the phone.

Hearing that familiar voice again made Charlotte’s hand tremble around her phone.

Her sister.

The person she had trusted and depended on more than anyone her entire life.

And in the end, Xena had been the one to betray her most cruelly.

A soft sigh came through the phone.

“I never meant to take Bruce away from you. Mom and Dad knew how hard things were for me living overseas by myself, and Bruce was worried about me too, so they told him where I was.

“Lottie, if this upsets you, I can give Bruce back to you.”

Her voice began to tremble as if she were about to cry.

“Kiki’s birthday is in three days. We’re having the party at the Majestic Hotel. I want to explain everything to you in person. Will you come?”

Charlotte forced down the emotions churning inside her.

“I’m in the hospital right now. I won’t be able to make it.”

“Give me the phone.”

Bruce’s cold voice suddenly came through from the other end.

“We’re letting you attend Kiki’s birthday party as a courtesy. Don’t push your luck.”

His words hit Charlotte hard enough to make her chest ache.

She actually laughed.

“You want me to go to a birthday party for my husband’s child with his mistress, and you’re calling me shameless?”

“So what?”

Bruce gave a contemptuous laugh.

“Your body can’t even carry a baby to term. Kiki is my only child now.”

Charlotte went ice-cold.

So he had known all along.

He knew she was pregnant.

He had known exactly how desperately she had been trying to keep the baby, all while knowing the child wasn’t his.

The last tiny bit of hope Charlotte had been clinging to finally died.

She laughed again, this time out of pure fury.

“Bruce, what makes you so sure I can’t carry this baby to term?”

The other end of the line went silent.

“The baby I’m carrying is still legally your child,” Charlotte lowered her voice, her laugh full of mockery. “Unless you’re actually shameless enough to tell everyone that you personally arranged for your own wife to sleep with another man?”

Then she hung up.

Back at the Ford estate, Bruce stared at the phone, his expression turning livid.

Then he hurled it to the floor.

The phone shattered on impact.

“She didn’t get rid of it!”

She already knew the baby wasn’t his.

And her body wasn’t supposed to be capable of carrying a pregnancy.

So why the hell hadn’t she gotten an abortion?

Bruce’s outburst made Xena flinch, but she quickly recovered.

She walked over and gently tugged at his sleeve, looking pitiful.

“Bruce, Lottie’s probably only keeping the baby because she wants your attention. She wants you to care about her.”

His rage slowly cooled at her words.

Bruce let out a contemptuous laugh.

“She’s carrying another man’s bastard and still thinks she can threaten me?

“She really has some nerve.”