Chapter 1

The same day I found out I was pregnant, I walked out of my appointment and saw my fiancé, Grant Hale, sitting in on a prenatal checkup with his childhood sweetheart, Chloe Bennett.

"Grant, feel that. The baby kicked me," Chloe said.

Grant bent down and pressed his ear against her rounded stomach, smiling.

A second later, a nurse hurried after me, calling my name and waving the test results I'd left behind.

Grant's head snapped up and our eyes met. The smile on his face froze. He rushed over and grabbed my arm.

"Serena? What are you doing here?"

"Getting checked out." I kept my voice as steady as I could.

"Are you sick?" His gaze dropped straight to the papers in my hand.

I didn't answer. I looked past him at Chloe, who had one hand cupped protectively over her stomach.

"Whose baby is it?" I asked.

Chloe smiled at me, and there was something unmistakably triumphant in it. "It's Grant's. He's very excited about it."

I bit down hard on my lower lip. The moment Grant saw the color drain from my face, he reached for my hand.

"Serena, you've got it wrong. Chloe's baby isn't mine. I was just worried about her coming here alone, so I came with her."

"Then why is she telling me it's yours?"

I wanted to give him a chance to explain. Instead, Grant looked away.

"Because…" He hesitated. "Chloe can't do this alone. Her father already told her he'd cut her off if she embarrassed the family. So I'm going to marry her. If everyone thinks the baby's mine, nobody asks questions."

He took my hand again. "Just give me a few months, okay? Let people believe the baby's mine until Chloe gives birth. After that I'll explain everything to the family. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Before I could answer, Chloe grabbed his sleeve and burst into tears. "Grant, you promised you'd give me and the baby a home. Are you taking that back because of Serena?"

Grant turned to comfort her. "I'm not taking anything back. I gave you my word." Then his voice softened even further. "And the doctor said your pregnancy's unstable. Stop getting worked up. You could hurt the baby."

Chloe's tears fell faster. "If Serena won't agree, then I'll leave with my baby. I'd rather disappear than stay here as the family disgrace and watch my child grow up as the kid nobody would claim."

"As long as I'm here, nobody is going to touch you or your child," Grant said firmly.

Only after calming her down did he look at me again, and this time his face carried a hint of exhaustion, as though I were the one making things difficult.

"Serena, you can see Chloe needs more help than you do. Everyone already knows you're with me. Nobody would dare disrespect you. Even if people talk for a few months, just let it go. Once I take over Hale Group, you'll be Mrs. Hale. That's yours."

My hands curled into fists. "But I'm pregnant too," I said. "If you marry her, what happens to our baby?"

Grant stared at me for a second, then his brows pulled together. "Serena, this isn't the time to say things just because you're angry."

He didn't believe me. And after scolding me, he lowered his voice again, as though he were patiently soothing a difficult child.

"You've always been the sensible one. You're not fragile like Chloe. Even if you were pregnant, you could wait a few months. You'd be fine. Once Chloe has the baby, I'll give you the wedding you deserve. All right?"

Sensible. That was what I'd always been to him. The woman who would understand. The woman who would wait. The woman who would never cause trouble.

What Grant didn't know was that three years ago, I'd walked away from the Cross family for him. I'd given up my place as the heiress to one of the most powerful mafia families in the country and made a deal with my father: if Grant and I failed to marry before the three years were up, I'd go home and leave him forever.

I gave a bitter little laugh and said nothing.

Grant took my silence as agreement, and relief crossed his face. "Come on. I'll drive you home."

He put an arm around my shoulders and hurried me toward the parking lot, as though he couldn't wait to get out of there.

Chloe followed us. She opened the front passenger door and climbed in without hesitating, and there was a thick cushion on the seat that hadn't been there before.

Chloe looked back at me with a smile. "Don't mind me, Serena. My back's been hurting, so Grant bought this specially for me."

Grant opened the rear door for me without a word. Then he leaned toward Chloe. "Put your seat belt on."

"It squeezes my stomach," she complained with a pout.

Grant frowned, then reached over and adjusted the seat for her. "Fine. There."

Chloe caught my eyes in the rearview mirror, and the corner of her mouth lifted. "Grant, you're so good to me. Serena isn't going to misunderstand, is she?"

Grant didn't even hesitate. "Don't worry. Serena doesn't think like that. She's always been sensible."

Sensible. There was that word again.

I looked out the window. When the car stopped at the next red light, I took out my phone and sent a message.

Dad, I lost. Just like we agreed, I'm coming home.

His reply came almost immediately.

Good. We'll come get you in three days. It's time the Cross family heiress came home.