Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Chloe Bennett and her mother moved into the Hale estate.

Lorraine Bennett stood in the middle of the living room ordering the staff around. The moment she saw me coming down the stairs, she gave an ugly little snort. "Oh, you're still here? Aren't you embarrassed? A penniless woman with no family, clinging to somebody else's house like she owns it."

Satisfaction flashed through Chloe's eyes, though she tugged lightly on her mother's sleeve. "Mom, don't say that…"

"Am I wrong?" Lorraine shook her off. "Grant said it to my face — he's marrying my daughter. That one is an outsider with no ring, no official status and no place here."

I stopped halfway down the stairs, my fingers curling around the railing, and looked at Grant. "Is that what you think too?" I asked. "That I'm an outsider?"

Grant said nothing. He only came over and lowered his voice, trying to soothe me. "Right now everyone thinks Chloe's baby is mine. We can't let the truth get out before she gives birth. Think about what it would do to her. Just put up with it for a while, okay?"

That night, Grant came to find me. "Serena, Chloe says the downstairs room is too damp and she can't sleep in it. Could you move into the little room by the staff quarters for a few months?"

I stared at him. "This is supposed to be our room."

We'd decorated it together for our wedding. Every piece of furniture, every lamp, every curtain had been picked out by the two of us, and Grant had built the cradle for our future child with his own hands. Now he wanted to hand the room to another woman.

His answer came as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We aren't getting married for a while anyway. None of it's being used. Chloe needs it more right now."

He'd already decided I wouldn't argue. I never did. I never made scenes. I never made his life harder.

Grant sighed. "She's pregnant. Just give her this one thing. Once the baby's born, I'll marry you and give all of it back."

I looked at him for a long moment. "Fine."

Relief loosened his shoulders. "Thank you. I knew you'd understand. Serena, I swear I'll make this up to you."

He didn't know that in two days, I'd be gone. There was no "after this" for us.

While I was moving my things, I happened to pass Chloe's doorway. She stood just inside with her arms folded, and as I went by she lowered her voice so only I could hear. "See it now, Serena? Grant only has room in his heart for me."

I quietly wiped the corner of my eye and kept walking.

The little room by the staff quarters was silent that night. A crack ran across the ceiling, from the light fixture all the way to the corner of the wall. Through the floor above me, I could hear Chloe laughing and Grant talking — he was reading stories to the baby in her stomach, his voice coming through the ceiling muffled and warm.

I had no idea how long I'd been lying awake when the door opened and Grant stepped inside.

"I knew you weren't asleep. You never sleep well in a new place." He sat beside me and pulled me into his arms. "I know this isn't fair to you. But you have to understand, Chloe really needs somebody right now. Just do me this favor. Once I get through all of this, I'll give you anything you want."

I looked at him. "Can you stay with me tonight? Because…"

Because I'd be leaving soon. The rest of the sentence caught in my throat, so instead I wrapped my arms around him.

Grant went still for a moment. Then he said, "Okay."

He lay down beside me and held me, his hand resting casually over my lower abdomen. He still didn't know I was pregnant, and that one small touch made my chest ache. For a moment it almost felt like the life we'd planned.

It didn't last. Someone started pounding on the door and Grant went out.

A few minutes later he rushed back in, his expression grim. "Serena, Chloe says her stomach hurts. I have to get her to the hospital. It's urgent. You'll have to sleep on your own tonight."

The commotion had jolted me so hard that pain was twisting through my own abdomen now. I grabbed his sleeve. "Grant, my stomach hurts too. Please… can you take me to the hospital?"

Annoyance flashed across his face. "Are you seriously still doing this? I told you, you only have to wait a few months. I'll make all of it up to you afterward. What are you trying to prove?"

"I—"

"Forget it. Chloe's situation is actually urgent. I don't have time to argue with you. Stay home and get some sleep."

"Grant…"

I called his name again and again. All he had to do was turn around once — if he had, he'd have seen how pale I was. There was a time when I could scrape my skin and whisper that it hurt, and Grant would come apart. Now he walked away without even looking back.

The pain in my stomach sharpened and my vision blurred. I bit down hard and refused to let myself pass out until I'd managed to call an ambulance. Only after I heard the dispatcher answer did I finally lose consciousness.